It's Always Somethin'.............

Rocco is now a week old and Thor is 10 days old. It sure seems like they've been here a lot longer than that. Anyway, I check the poop piles daily and noticed cria diarrhea. The vet says that Thor and Rocco have a case of Coccidiosis. Coccidia are microscopic one-celled organisms that live and reproduce within the cells that line the intestinal tract of the alpaca. They are parasites not worms.

While a coccidia infection may be seen in adult alpacas, younger crias are more at risk. A healthy alpaca keeps coccidia in check with it's own immune system. Young crias whose immune system is not fully developed can be susceptible to coccidiosis. For the next five days we will treat them with Albon which is a broad-spectrum, safe antibacterial.

Thor and Rocco seem to be doing fine, they are running and playing and show no signs of weakness. I snapped a few pictures this morning as the three crias (Ange, Thor & Rocco) were running around playing together.

Ange & Thor Popping 'Wheelies'

The Three 'Little Ones'