A Walk Through Moonwood

Help little Dee

Posted by roo on November 17th, 2009 — Posted in Fiber, Dee Dee

For those who follow me on Twitter or hang out at Ravelry, it is not news that Dee is ill.  If you have followed my blog in the past, you are already a little familiar with Dee and her history.  Here is what I posted in my Ravelry group yesterday:

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When you visit an alpaca farm you are usually surrounded by soft, healthy furry creatures, usually ‘elbowing’ each other out of the way in an effort to nibble at the pellets in your hand.

Imagine your surprise then, if suddenly a tiny black, bony animal would appear out of the crowd, shoving her velvety lips into your hand, then raising her head to look up at you with huge black eyes and… a twisted bottom jaw that makes her look like popeye as she busily works her mouth before lowering it again to eat some more. What washes over you - a startled senstation? revulsion? an eeewwwww?

hello!

This little creature belongs to the small number that alpaca farms ‘hide in the back’ as they usher potential customers to the pastures of show animals.

Meet Dee, who, after intially startling first time visitors, will win their hearts with her broken little body and strong, yet sweet spirit. She is not for sale, my ownership of her is the end of the road for her. I purchased her two years ago after meeting her and seeing the amazing silver grey female cria she had recently given birth to.

Her jaw, I was told, was an old injury she sustained while boarded out of State, and although the cause of it was unknown the vets did rule out that it was genetic, hypothesising that it was a kick from another animal, or some other forceful blow. They recommended against surgery seeing she was getting by very well, surgery may aggrevate the condition. But her babies were so pretty and the price was very attractive, that I purchased her with the intention of never reselling her, to use her as a companion animal, a gentle teacher to first-time sires.

For the first time since her old jaw injury, Dee had her teeth filed down at shearing last year

and was able to fully close her mouth!

Cuddling with my husband Jason after her ‘make-over’

Sadly, two months after I purchased her and brought her down from OH to join the rest of the herd, she contracted meningeal worm. I noticed she was staggering, as if drunk, through the pasture when I came to visit her at the farm she was boarded at. She would fall and roll every time she tried to take a corner, walk around a gate, or simply turn. Somewhat alarming when her belly was swollen with an unborn cria that was due in 2 months! Even more alarming when you hear from the boarding farm that she’d been like this for two weeks! Immediately I ordered veterinary attention.

She underwent aggressive treatment, I stayed in town to administer her medications myself, not fully trusting that she would otherwise receive them. Although the worm was killed, the damage it did to the spine while alive cannot be reversed, and Dee was left with partial paralysis in her hindquarters. She walked stiffly, but was well balanced and later even learned to run. And to my delight, gave birth completely UNASSISTED to a healthy baby girl.

Dee and her cria Myra

She was truly a little fighter when it came to her spirit!

I moved the entire herd to a new boarding farm much closer to home (to Linda’s) as soon as I was able to do so. And last month (october) I felt that she was ready to be bred again. She was the healthiest I’d seen her in a long time, even gaining more use of her hind quarters from walking up and down hills.

Sadly, Dee began to lose weight after the breeding. We checked her fecals, there were no parasites present to cause this. Then a few days ago Linda noticed a small decline in her mobility, and when she found her in the pasture suddenly unable to get up or stand on Saturday it was time to take emergency action.

To cut a long story short, Dee is now at the University of GA, at their large animal hospital. The vets, who are unfamiliar with her, were alarmed at her partial paralysis and although I assured them that this was residual damage from a meningeal worm several years ago, claimed that the worm was more than likely present again. I argued with them, telling them that I strongly felt her spine or hip had been injured from her breeding.

She’s receiving an anti-inflammatory drug right now that she’s already reponsponding well to, she’s able to stand on her own now and even take a few steps unassisted. This tells us that thre was obviously an inflammation going on somewhere, but where? They want to do a spinal tap to check for toxins that are released in there in response to an m-worm breaking through into there, followed by radiology to check for trauma. Both are expensive procedures that can actually be performed by our local vet at a much cheaper price.

I am awaiting a call from the university, they can tell me what my bill is so far, and I’m going to see if I can scrape together the funds to bail her out of the hospital and bring her home. It will depend on what the local vet has to say about her current stable condition, Linda has a call in to speak with her.

I’ll keep you updated - please send Dee some loving thoughts, I’m sure she would appreciate them right about now

Dee in the pasture at Linda’s

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Yesterday I checked Dee out of the hospital to bring her home.  I felt that the procedures at there were far too expensive and that they were concentrating too much on the residual effects of bout of meningeal worm she had almost 2 years ago, rather than focusing on what the problem is NOW, which I feel is trauma (the sire bringing her down for breeding may have dislocated or inflamed something in her physiology, maybe she fell and hurt her back).  She’ll be transferred to our local camelid vet this afternoon for further treatment.  Although Dee is able to stand and support her own weight when helped up, and is able to take a few steps now, she still needs to be helped back down into a cushed position.  Her body is responding positively to an anti-inflammatory drug (benamene) at this point.

Much still needs to be done. Ultrasounding, radiology, perhaps therapy.  It is very expensive.  With the help of my friends and customers, I’ve been able to scrape together the funds that were needed to check her out of the hospital and settle the bill there.  But I do not know what is yet to come.  Hence me following in the footsteps of a very caring lady who ran up huge vet bills in order to save her beloved dog, I am creating a big fiber raffle to raise funds for Dee’s veterinary care.

1st prize:
Membership to the 4 month moonbeam club that is kicking off in January
as well as Membership to the 3 month handpainted bamboo club that is kicking off in January
as well as 2 ounces of Dee’s fiber (which I can provide raw, or washed and carded, your choice)
Please keep in mind that Dee is an older girl, and although her fiber is soft, it is not baby quality.

2nd prize:
Your choice of a Membership to either the 4 month moonbeam club or the 3 month handpainted bamboo club, both of which are commencing in January

3rd prize:
4 ounces of handpainted milk protein fiber

4th prize:
4 ounces of handpainted bamboo fiber

5th prize:
2 ounces of moonbeams

Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased here:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34705062

 

POST EDITED TO ADD:

To avoid concerns from the Etsy team, I have changed the listing a little.  You will actually be purchasing a bookmark which features Dee and has a tuft of handspun yarn on it - the proceeds of this will go straight to her vet bills, but I will also enter all purchases into a ‘drawing’, the prizes are listed above and remain unchanged.