On May 6 2023 5 females and 3 crias that we rescued in Alamosa CO in December of 2022 were moved to my place (Albuquerque NM) from Ruidoso NM (a temporary foster farm). I was told one of the crias had a little diarrhea from eating some alfalfa they used to catch the llamas in a pen for transport. They were kept separate from the rest of the llamas and on grass and grass hay. The smallest and presumably youngest cria, Wookie, still had diarrhea on June 6 when I took a fecal sample to the vet. It came back clean and we treated for coccidia with the prescribed dose of CoRid in the water for the dam and cria which I quarantined. No change was observed. His stool is like pea soup and he goes everywhere a lot. Many small piles and the mother has good beans but she will sometimes go in inappropriate places - not on or near the poop pile. July and he still has severe diarrhea. He has always hummed a lot and is still nursing. He seems alert and even growing some (i have not weighed him but he looks like he is growing). None of the rest of the herd have any issues - all good looking beans. I feed driver grass hay and timothy hay, no grain, and before I quarantined he had access to fresh grass to graze on. I decided to go to another vet who did a second fecal on June 23. They also gave me an appointment for exam July 17. The second fecal (much more expensive and supposed to be a broader spectrum) came back negative as well. At examination, the doc said she could not hear any gut sounds (maybe irrelevantl?) Mom and Wookie were given ivermectin and we discussed a treatment plan. For a possible ulcer I have been giving him omeprazole 20mg 2xday and then separated from that I tried Kaolin Pectin 2xday 60 ml which was very difficult to get him to take. We abandoned the Kaolin Pectin after three or four days as he seemed to be getting worse and his bottom always oozing. Another coccidia treatment of Ponazuril 3ml 1xday for 3 days (300mg/ml) that had to shipped so Wookie started that July 27. No change in his diarrhea. Also I started him on BioSponge that was ordered/shipped on July 28 but can’t be given with omeprazole which he is still on. I have gotten about 6 doses of BioSponge in him but it also seems to make his stools more wet. I can’t believe how difficult this has been. Now the vet is suggesting a rumen transplant that she calls transfaunation. It entails sedating Wookie and his mom and using stomach tubes to transfer stomach contents from mom to Wookie. The procedure is in the range of $1200-$1400. What are your thoughts? Should I just gather some spit and give that to him? I am pretty sure he has been spit at by other llamas but is more better? He should be around 11 months old by now. He is departed from the other crias but has his mom and is nursing. Is lactose intolerance a thing? I would love some advice. I am reeling in vet bills since another rescue llama came in with untreatable squamous cell carcinoma and two vets misdirected me from a cancer diagnosis and we spent months uselessly treating and doing surgery on her cancer. I should have consulted the guild maybe. Of course, if we can cure him of diarrhea, we will pay the price for knowledge and treatments. Does anyone have any experience with this or advice?
