What should you do if you have an alpaca or llama that dies? In this post, I will provide some helpful information about what you should do…
Unfortunately, sometimes one of your animals will die. This happens. At the end of life, one might put this down to old age. However, for any unexpected deaths, it is definitely worth understanding what happened. That is why I would always recommend getting a post-mortem examination, sometimes called a necropsy.
Why should you get a postmortem examination?
If there is something infectious that could result in losses of further animals, or disease spread, you want to know as soon as possible so that you can do something about it. This might entail testing and isolation of certain animals, and potentially treatment of individuals that already have problems, and this may prevent further deaths. For example, one cause of sudden death can be Haemonchus. If this is identified on postmortem examination, you can check the mucous membrane colour of all the remaining animals, faecal test them and treat where necessary. And you can’t just rely on a faecal egg count test of the animal that died because that might be zero if the animal died from heavy larval burdens that didn’t produce eggs. So finding the actual larvae in the 3rd stomach compartment may be needed to make that diagnosis.
Please don’t avoid doing a postmortem because you’re worried about what might be found! Ignoring the issue won’t make it go away – but it could get worse… The time lost before a diagnosis is made on another potential animal that gets sick or dies can be critical in terms of getting a disease outbreak under control.
Who should do the postmortem?
Ideally, the postmortem should be carried out by pathologists at a proper investigation centre. At these centres, pathologists are able to perform a more thorough examination – they specialise in doing this work. They also will have special tools to allow them to access the brain and spinal cord if relevant which will not be possible for your regular vet to do on farm. Government facilities tend to be subsidised making it also more cost-effective, but you will need to get your animal transported to the centre. In England and Wales, if you are within an hour of the centre, you will have to arrange your own transportation. However, if you are located more than an hour away, you can arrange a free collection. But you must contact your vet and ask them to contact the surveillance centre EARLY in the day to get this arranged.* Outside the UK, you may have similar possibilities to help you.
On weekends, it may be more difficult to get a post-mortem examination done at an investigation centre and access to cold storage may be limited. In these cases, it may be necessary for your vet to do a postmortem on farm – but on weekends be mindful that duty vets will have to prioritise live animal cases. Don’t miss an opportunity to learn though just because it is the weekend. After the vet has done the postmortem, you will still need to arrange for collection and disposal.
What about disposal?
If you don’t need to have a postmortem examination done, you then have to decide how to deal with the body. Regulations will vary by location with regard to whether it is legal to bury the body on your farm and how this must be carried out in order to avoid contamination of water sources. In the UK, you are permitted to bury the body only if it is considered a pet – it is illegal to bury commercially farmed animals. Alternatively, you could request your vet arrange an individual cremation for a pet animal. Usually the simplest and cheapest solution in the UK is to arrange for the knacker man to come and collect the body and they will take care of disposal for you. In this case, you would not receive the ashes back because cremation is communal.
*You will find some further information about where the surveillance pathology centres are in the UK at this link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/submit-farm-animals-for-a-post-mortem-examination