She’s at it again; one of our breeding dams Clarissa has started with the hiccups.
I have written about Clarissa’s hiccups in a previous blog entry.
On previous occasions Clarissa’s hiccups seemed to be tied in to a certain stage of her pregnancy, but this time she is not pregnant.
It’s difficult to know what to give an alpaca with the hiccups. One of our favorite and most effective human remedies is to drink a teaspoon or two of vinegar, but I am not sure that would go over well with Clarissa. For ourselves we have also tried drinking water out of the wrong side of a cup – imagine getting an alpaca to do that, I don’t think that will happen. Then there is always the old scare tactic, but I somehow don’t think it would be fair to sneak up on Clarissa and yell “Boo” or something else as startling.
Clarissa’s hiccups do not seem to bother her too much; she has eaten hay without a problem, drinks without a problem and allows her cria Tonka (aka Little Man) to nurse, all the while hiccupping as he nurses (does that create an alpaca milk shake?). Eating pellets was a little more challenging for Clarissa with her hiccups and we have found that she does better if her food is soaked and softer making it a little easier to swallow.
Clarissa’s hiccups do not seem to bother her too much; she has eaten hay without a problem, drinks without a problem and allows her cria Tonka (aka Little Man) to nurse, all the while hiccupping as he nurses (does that create an alpaca milk shake?). Eating pellets was a little more challenging for Clarissa with her hiccups and we have found that she does better if her food is soaked and softer making it a little easier to swallow.
For now all we have been able to do is give Clarissa some Rescue Remedy to keep her relaxed and keep a watchful eye on her. Hopefully by tomorrow the hiccups will be gone and life will be back to normal for Clarissa. In the meantime if anyone has any suggestions as to how to relieve an alpaca of hiccups then please let us know, Clarissa will thank you for it I’m sure!
A Taste of Life at Windrush Alpacas 
Rosemary, How interesting. I had one with hiccups once and they went away on their own.
Comment by Susan Frank — May 15, 2009 @ 1:18 pm