Unpacking, with a twist

It was an unusual birthing this year for poor Suri alpaca Angelica, who presented to us in late August with the rare problem of uterine torsion (twisted womb). Conservative efforts to fix her twist, involving a lot of rolling around the field, was only successful in making everyone dizzy! This meant quick action was needed to get Angelica to the hospital for a Caesarean section surgery. Thankfully the farm team were able to call on the assistance of our wonderful specialist colleagues at Langford’s Small Animal Hospital, to rapidly assemble facilities and anaesthesia for what we promised was “nearly the same as a large, fluffy Wolfhound”…

Soon enough, Angelica was anaesthetised and prepped in a high-tech surgical theatre. Farm vet Sarah couldn’t believe her luck at being able to operate in such a clean space with a height-adjustable table and very bright lights! (There wasn’t any rain or wind in there either, who knew!) The surgery went as smoothly as we could have hoped, and we were delighted to deliver a beautiful live cria into the world. Langford, as he has been affectionately named, needed some extra support with Mum in our on-site stables for his first few days, but is now in great health and growing very fast. Angelica also recovered excellently, although she has not forgiven Langford for his unconventional entry to the world and has delegated his feeding to humans with a bottle instead…

What a joy to care for such lovely patients, and have a happy outcome from a real team effort.