be worked when the animal is standing in balance. It is important to remember to work in line with the animal's body; never twist the tail or hold it over the back.
Figure 2.40 Llamas and alpacas often do not object to being touched even around the tail when they are not restrained. Working with an animal's tail decreases tension in the hind quarters and assists with reactivity to ultrasounds, helps to decrease kicking and makes toenail trimming easier.
Other tips to help a camelid relax during these invasive procedures include the use of warm lubricant and the offering of food. Warm lubricant is preferred over cold lubricant as warm lubricant is more physiologic and helps to relax the anal sphincter. One might think that animals would not be willing to eat during these invasive procedures, but the author has witnessed many camelids willingly eat during rectal examinations. Eating makes the animal feel more relaxed and diverts their attention from the procedure.
Transabdominal Ultrasound Exams
Transabdominal exams are usually less tolerated than rectal exams for most animals. The author recommends making initial contact on the top of the animal's back and then sliding the hand down from the back, eventually arriving under the abdomen. Initially, touching the ventral abdomen often will startle the animal. It is worth the time to warm up lubricant in a bucket of hot water. Cold lubricant will encourage an animal to lie down. A firm hand pressing down on the top of the hips will also help. In any case, it seldom helps to try to prevent an animal from lying down by tying the head high. Offering grain at top‐line level will lower the head a bit and may discourage an animal from lying down.
Physical Exams
Balancing techniques are useful for physical exams. Performing physical exams in a catch pen rather than a chute keeps the animal calm and gives the examiner more accurate readings for resting temperature, respiratory rate, and heart rate. When making contact with the animal, initiate contact with the dorsum of the back, allowing the animal to move rather than holding him still. If food does not interfere with the exam, it can be offered and will make the animal more relaxed during the examination.
Procedures Involving the Head
Difficulties encountered when doing procedures on or around the head are usually caused by fear and anxiety of the patient. Frequently, these can be attributed to an animal that is unaccustomed to having the head handled in a safe manner. An improperly fitting halter, or a handler that pulls on the head instead of balancing the animal can lead to fear in the patient. By adjusting the way these animals are handled, many techniques of the head can be made easier, safer, and less time consuming.
Oral Medication
Administering oral medications to camelids can be challenging. The medication is often foul‐tasting, making the animal averse to having it in their mouth. The anatomy of the camelid is problematic, with animals having a small head at the end of a long neck. It is easy for the animals to successfully resist human attempts at control and it is difficult to hold the head still and introduce the dosing syringe at the same time. Camelids are also skilled at spitting out medication after it is deposited into their mouth.
The author prefers to work alone in a smaller area rather than working in a larger area with a helper. The exception is having an assistant whose sole job is to depress the plunger of the dosing syringe. A trailer is perfect. Two people often work against each other with the animal caught in between. Administering oral or ocular medications is the only time the author puts her arm around the animal's neck, but even with her arm around the neck, the intent is still to keep the animal in a natural state of balance with the weight naturally over its own feet and not to restrain. She does not hold from the head but instead uses her arm like a cradle as a place to steady the head as if making a small catch pen for the animal's head. A crowded catch pen, mini‐catch pen, or trailer makes administering oral medication MUCH easier. Consider putting a neck wrap on the animal as it can be a major help when giving oral medication.
A 3–4‐in. curved metal applicator (Figure 2.41) and a larger dosing syringe is better than a smaller one because it is easier to get the syringe in the mouth and depress the plunger if the end of the plunger is not protruding way out of the syringe barrel as it would be if the capacity of the syringe is being approached (for example, administering 8 cc with a 10 cc syringe).
The syringe is placed in an apron or another easy‐to‐reach location. In a catch pen, the animal is moved so that it is parallel to one side of the catch pen for support and balance. The neck is encircled with the dominant hand and the jaw is cradled with the same hand. The thumb can be raised and placed against the cheek to give you more control of the head (Figure 2.42). The elbow is kept up high to provide as much leverage as possible. The dosing syringe can be positioned with the non‐dominant hand so that the thumb can be used to depress the plunger. Or, you can have an assistant depress the plunger. The tip of the dosing syringe should be slid into the corner of the mouth with the bend in the syringe pointing toward the cheek (away from the center of the mouth). The aim is to deliver the medicine into the cheek pouch, NOT into the throat. The medicine will flow between the teeth and into the mouth slowly, and it will be much less likely to end up being aspirated or spit out. When dosing a llama, given its taller size, it is easier to use a halter to balance the head to insert the dosing syringe (Figure 2.43).
Figure 2.41 An olive‐tip dosing syringe.
Figure 2.42 (a) The handler is using the right arm with the elbow high up on the neck to contain but not restrain the head to administer an oral paste. (b) The handler is using a halter to help guide and contain this llamas head for oral deworming.
The animal should be permitted to settle down after being caught and again after the syringe is put into the mouth. Attempting to administer medication into the mouth of an animal that is flailing, or pushing it too fast, will usually result in failure, and the animal will be more averse to the process in the future. Once the animal is calm, the nose should be tilted up a bit and the medication slowly administered into the mouth. Do not hurry. Keep the animal's nose tipped up until you see that the animal has finished swallowing. The consistency of the medication is important. The author prefers to have a solution mixed with the consistency of a thin milkshake; paste medications can be thinned with water to make it easier to be delivered via a preferred syringe. It is quite easy for an alpaca or llama to spit out an entire bolus of paste if it is too thick.
Eye Medication
