ALPACAS!!!

Working for VetsHere! has given me an great opportunity to get acquainted with new and interesting species. One of my new friends is the alpaca. I recently spent the morning with several Alpacas owned by one of our best clients in the Santa Ynez Valley. On this particular occasion we were scheduled to trim there hooves and briefly examine the baby alpaca (called a "Cria").

Alpcas are part of the Camelid family. In relative size the largest of the common members of this family is the camel, followed by the llama, follow by the alpaca. All of which are used by humans for various purposes.


Relax people don't eat them. Much like sheep they are sheered annually and their coat, which is called "fiber", is sold to manufacturers to make a variety of clothing items. Like sheep's wool alpaca fiber is warm but, unlike sheep's wool, alpaca fiber is not itchy and is hypoallergenic.

As with any other animal alpacas have their own signature defense mechanisms. These buggers employee three novel approaches to avoiding veterinary care. The first, and perhaps most defining of the camel cousins, is the always entertaining spitting. That's right, when an alpaca feels threatened (or just doesn't like you) it will hurl a gut fluid luggie straight at you. Second an interesting technique referred to as "cushing" which is essentially sitting down. What's that you want to trim my hooves, ha ha, check this out! Third, the good 'ol fashioned kick to nether regions. Not nearly as dangerous as a horse or Bruce lee kick but potent enough to make you real sore. Fortunately for us the alpacas we dealt with last week were not big spitters. Actually, Beyonce, Rihanna, Little Debbie, Baby Reindeer and the rest of the gang were fairly well behaved. The general game plan for these guys is to slowly wander their way pretending to be completely disinterested. After a few seconds of half-hearted whistling a made up tune and staring at the clouds you spring into action. Get them in a quick head-lock and once they know they've been bested a halter can be applied. If Vets Here ever does get picked-up for a TV show you might get to us in action because a film crew was with us to capture the whole day. Alpacas are pretty neat and getting to work with them was good fun.