Saving Bella Llama... RIP Lovely Lady

Please help us solve the mystery of why she can’t get up and can’t eat!

Southwest Llama Rescue needs your help to save the life of Bella, a beautiful, stately girl who joined our Kerrville Texas sanctuary in June 2021. We anticipate hospital costs of at least $5000—already over $1800 in just the first few days—and more tests and longer-term hospitalization are needed immediately. If the cause is found, or at least a successful treatment plan implemented, the costs may well be even higher than we currently anticipate.

How you can help. As an all-volunteer 501(c)3 nonprofit llama and alpaca rescue, we simply do not have the funds to continue this level of care. We need your assistance to continue life-saving tests and care for this much-loved girl. A bonus of your tax-deductible donation is that in solving the mystery of what is causing Bella’s inability to eat and to stand and walk, perhaps the knowledge gained will help other llamas and alpacas who too often experience these deadly conditions.

Bella’s Story:

Around August 10 and 11, Bella didn’t come up for breakfast with the female herd. Though she seemed okay, she was kushing (the resting position of llamas) more than usual and in different places than were her normal patterns. Llamas are notoriously stoic, and even such slight changes can signal problems; so we were attentive, but not overly worried. On the third day, she wouldn’t get up, and she wouldn’t accept her usual favorite food. “Down” llamas and alpacas which cannot eat may quickly suffer such catastrophic destruction of their ability to process food that they essentially starve to death. When they can’t get up, their muscle degeneration is rapid and soon irreversible. Euthanasia is often the inevitable conclusion.

For the next two weeks, Bella was put in a custom sling and hoisted with tractor forks, her legs massaged and, with the help of the tractor, “walked” to where the other females were grazing. This was done several times every day. Advice was requested from the most knowledgeable of llama and alpaca folks in our networks and Facebook groups. A vet was called out to examine her, tests were run, and medications given. Frequent contact was maintained with several camelid vets, and we tried all the remedies we knew and were discovering, treating her symptoms, but still unable to find the cause.

Calling in the “Big Guns”

None of us were willing to give up the fight so long as Bella was alert and, as later described by her veterinarian, “bright-eyed and feisty.” We took her to Texas A&M Large Animal Hospital, where they immediately gave her IV fluids and antibiotics. Blood tests, a spinal tap and neurological testing were next. Today, they will take x-rays of her spine, start her on a steroid regimen, and begin electro-acupuncture.

At this point, Bella has been “down” for almost three weeks. Most llamas and alpacas would have given up by now; but Bella is a fighter; and as long as she is trying, we will, too! But we need your help to continue her care. More tests may be forthcoming, and a treatment plan has yet to be determined.

Beautiful Bella isn’t a young show llama; she’s not a breeder or PR animal. She’s just sweet Bella with eyes that seem to look deeply inside of you, a gentle girl with a fighting spirit. Please help us save this wonderful creature who is loved by all who have had the delight and privilege of sharing our lives with her, a precious girl who simply deserves to live... and, by living, may well save the lives of other llamas and alpacas with the same symptoms and no known cause.

On Bella’s behalf, and with our profound gratitude, thank you!

L’illette Vasquez, Director/Coordinator

Southwest Llama Rescue, Inc.

SWLR is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization EIN #20-1580766