UTERINE TORSIONA uterine torsion is a complication of an alpacas pregnancy. Now all the women can collectively wince when we say this...it is a twisting of the uterus. Yes, it is very painful. An alpacas uterus anatomy is different from a human uterus. An alpaca uterus has what are called uterine horns. There are two. A human uterus only has a body and no horns. Look at the drawing below and it will help you understand your alpacas uterus anatomy.
This is what your alpacas uterus looks like if you are looking straight down on their back at the uterus. Crias either grow in the left or the right horn. You can see that there is not much of a uterus body, so the baby has to grow in one horn or the other. A uterine torsion is actually a twisting of the horns.
If you have an alpaca business, you know alpacas love to roll. It's not been established what causes torsions, but rolling in late term pregnancy has been a suggested cause. When a pregnant alpaca that is 2-3 months from delivery date tolls from one side over its back to the other side, the weight of the cria may hold the uterus in the same place causing it to twist. Another suggestion for a cause is that crias growing in the right horn cause more torsions. Most pregnant dams grow their crias in the left horn.
Torsions usually happen in the last 2 months of pregnancy. If you have a dam that is violently rolling (showing signs of colic) or they're looking uncomfortable and getting up and down, suspect a torsion. There may be more subtle signs. Maybe your female isn't eating that moring or she looks depressed. Not all females will give overt signs. Knowing your dams normal behavior will help you detect abnormal behavior and diagnose the problem earlier. Take your dam to the vet! Don't hesitate if you suspect a torsion.
Your alpacas uterus is suspended from the body wall by something called a broad ligament. Your Vet will rectally palpate the female and determine if the ligament is taut and what direction it is twisted. The pain your alpaca is having is probably due to this ligament being so taut or possibly due to blood supply being cut off to the uterus because of the twist. Also, the cervix cannot dilate when there is a torsion, so it must be corrected before the cria would be able to be born. Once it is determined that there is a uterine torsion and the direction, your vet can attempt to manually correct the problem. He/She does this by holding the uterus in place and having other helpers roll the alpaca in the direction opposite of the twist. This will untwist the uterus. It may have to be done a couple of times. If this manual correction is not successful after three attempts, your vet will usually opt for surgery. He/She will perform a procedure similar to a c-section. The twist may have caused the blood supply to the uterus to be cut off causing the death of the cria or the uterus. Your Vet will determine if they need to remove the cria.
Since a cause has not exactly been determined, it is difficult to know what to do to prevent a uterine torsion. Here are some suggestions: 1. Do not move your pregnant dam to a new pasture within two months of delivery. This will keep them from excessively rolling. 2. Don't give shots, trim toenails, etc., close to birthing. In otherwords, don't stress your alpaca.
Generally, once an alpaca has had a torsion, it does not mean they will have another during that pregnancy. If you have an alpaca in which the torsion was manually corrected and she is still carrying the cria, keep a good eye on this female until she delivers. It, also, does not mean that she will have any higher probability of this happening again with other pregnancys. The important thing with a uterine torsion is to recognize that your dam has a problem and get your Vet immediately. The sooner it's corrected, the better chance you have for a good outcome for the cria and the dams future breeding ability.
Return from uterine torsion to breeding alpacas.
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