Parasite, continued
deer population in the area. Guard dogs may
help keep the deer away. Some experts say that
slugs and snails prefer wet areas, so they advise
owners to keep at-risk animals out of wet areas.
Guineas, ducks, and geese can be brought in to
eat the slugs and snails. Slug bait is a poison
available to kill slugs. Our vet, Faye Gooding
of Tri-County Veterinary Services in Peterstown,
recommended that we give a shot of ivermectin
once a month to our surviving alpaca, Julio,
perhaps alternating with other products such as
Safe-guard to avoid developing a resistance to
the deworming medication.
The author’s beloved alpaca, Meean.
Fall and early winter are the most likely times for
the signs to show.
An unsteady gait is usually the first indicator.
Crossed back legs, sitting like a dog, dragging
a back foot, and partial paralysis are all early
warning signs. Generally, the sooner the
meningeal worms are suspected, treatment begins,
increasing the chances for survival, but each case
varies. As soon as we noticed our alpaca dragging
a hind foot, we called a vet and she was there the
next day but it was already too late. The nerve
damage gets progressively worse: blindness,
seizures, and total paralysis can follow. Once the
animal is down, there is about a 10 percent chance
of survival. Also, once the nerve damage is done,
it cannot be repaired. Some owners put infected
animals in slings and administer vitamins and
other nutritional supplements. We gave a rigorous
regime of shots for a painful week before we
made the decision to put our pet down.
There are several suggestions on how to
prevent meningeal worms. One is to build high
fences to keep deer out of the pasture area. A
more aggressive approach taken by a local
alpaca operation owner was to eradicate the
10 West Virginia Farm Bureau News
It has been nearly a year since we lost Meean.
We learned about this parasite too late to help
him. However, his brother gets a shot every 28-30
days and is doing just fine. Education may be the
best prevention. Although the real killers are the
parasitic worms, we have a new awareness of the
pleasant little snail and graceful white-tailed deer
and their roles as accessories to barnyard disaster.