Help Save Dougal The Alpaca
Donation protected
Most of you know that our young alpaca - Dougal (aged 16 months) hasn't been very well recently.... we have had our local vet out numerous times over the last few months and they have been unable to fully diagnose him and therefore provide the correct treatment. (Our vets are amazing by the way! It's just alpacas are so unusual that there is little known about them in the medical world).
Recently - Dougal took a turn for the worst and repeatedly fell over until he got to the point of being unable to stand or walk (he doesn't seem know where his legs are), so I rang the emergency vet and he got through the night. It was a very close call of him being put to sleep, but I wanted to see if there was anyone out there who could diagnose him as I couldn't give up on him.
After being put in contact with the UK's only Specialist Alpaca Vet, we had a remote video examination, in conjunction with our local vet. The specialist vet believes he is showing signs of having a vertebral abscess/discospondylitis. This means he has been prescribed several ultra strong antibiotics injections twice a day for 6 weeks - one of which is over £100 per bottle (he needs 4 bottles!).
His medication, vet call out fees and specialist consultations have so far cost upwards of £800. On top of this Dougal may still require a CT scan at the Royal Veterinary College in Liverpool, plus surgery if the antibiotics don't work!
As you can imagine this is a massive expense that I never in a million years expected to happen with such a young alpaca.
The only other option if we cannot get him correctly treated, is for him to be put to sleep, which if you have seen Dougal recently, you will know that
Dougal is well in himself, he's grazing away, eating his feed, drinking, even getting grumpy with the other alpacas! so I know he's not in any pain, which makes the decision so much more difficult.
I really have to save him and give him the treatment he needs so that he can carry on and grow up to be a beautiful alpaca helping hoomans with their troubles and making hoomans smile.
Any donations (no matter how small) are gratefully received, all of which will be put towards his veterinary costs.
Keep fighting Dougal - we love you!
Recently - Dougal took a turn for the worst and repeatedly fell over until he got to the point of being unable to stand or walk (he doesn't seem know where his legs are), so I rang the emergency vet and he got through the night. It was a very close call of him being put to sleep, but I wanted to see if there was anyone out there who could diagnose him as I couldn't give up on him.
After being put in contact with the UK's only Specialist Alpaca Vet, we had a remote video examination, in conjunction with our local vet. The specialist vet believes he is showing signs of having a vertebral abscess/discospondylitis. This means he has been prescribed several ultra strong antibiotics injections twice a day for 6 weeks - one of which is over £100 per bottle (he needs 4 bottles!).
His medication, vet call out fees and specialist consultations have so far cost upwards of £800. On top of this Dougal may still require a CT scan at the Royal Veterinary College in Liverpool, plus surgery if the antibiotics don't work!
As you can imagine this is a massive expense that I never in a million years expected to happen with such a young alpaca.
The only other option if we cannot get him correctly treated, is for him to be put to sleep, which if you have seen Dougal recently, you will know that
Dougal is well in himself, he's grazing away, eating his feed, drinking, even getting grumpy with the other alpacas! so I know he's not in any pain, which makes the decision so much more difficult.
I really have to save him and give him the treatment he needs so that he can carry on and grow up to be a beautiful alpaca helping hoomans with their troubles and making hoomans smile.
Any donations (no matter how small) are gratefully received, all of which will be put towards his veterinary costs.
Keep fighting Dougal - we love you!
Organizer
Joanne Schembri
Organizer
