# Alpaca with Chronic eye infections



## GCKRanch (May 27, 2014)

We've got one troublesome alpaca, Oreo, who started out ok, but developed a skin condition. She now has patches of thick skin, with a loss of hair in those spots. We asked our vet about it, and he feels it's a genetic condition (even though the breeder swears otherwise). So we put vitamin e oil on those spots when she lets us, and an ointment to keep flies off those spots. A few months ago, Oreo got a piece of hay imbedded in her eye and it ended up scratching her retina. Now she has become queen of the consistent eye infections, we apply antibiotic ointment (Rx from our vet) when it flares up, but within two weeks the issue returns. This week, we noticed her other eye looks pretty horrible, and she looks like she has lost a significant amount of weight. She's a sweet girl, but she just looks miserable. Is there hope for Oreo, or she doomed to be queen of the chronic eye infections forever?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Do you have a veterinary college that you can take her? Sounds like she needs something more. Or have your vet contact an expert like Dr David Anderson at Tennessee State University (I think that is where he is now).

As far as her rough skin, that was from mites. She may still have mites. You need to bathe her with sulfur shampoo. Then you need to scrape those thick areas as best you can. Bottle caps from beer or wine coolers work really well. Then put NuStock on every other day. Also get Frontline spray and spray her lower legs and feet. Also look up witches brew. Northwest Alpacas has a great read on mites that you and your vet need to read.

http://www.alpacas.com/alpacalibrary/alpacaskinproblems.aspx


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## GCKRanch (May 27, 2014)

We had her tested for mites, and that wasn't it. We even asked our vet about the Witch's Brew and he laughed that off. He told us that it was a genetic condition that darker alpacas are more likely to get. He suggested we put Vaseline Intensive Care on those spots.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

In 16 years of owning alpacas I have never seen that problem but I'm in Ohio. I have seen skin issues that look like that as a result of a bad mite infestation even after the mites were cleared up. But other areas probably see problems that we don't in this area. I'd at least put NuStock on those bad spots.


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