Meet Caridad. She is a 10 year old alpaca that lives on the beautiful Spirit of Gentleness Farm. After conducting an acupressure and Reiki treatment on one of the resident farm dogs, I was contacted to see if I might be able to help sweet Caridad with her mysterious ailment. As you can clearly see in this group photo of Caridad and friends (she is the all black female in the center), she would often stand with her back sloping and hind legs stretched back. Her movement was normal, but when she would lay down, she would lay on her side which is not typical for an alpaca. Appetite was normal, but it did seem she would lay down in this fashion after consuming grain and would stretch her neck out in a funny way. Caridad also chatters her teeth, that is the best way I can describe it and you can see her doing it in the closeup shot of her face. She also used to hum, as alpacas frequently will do, and had stopped. The vet thought she might possibly have a gastric ulcer.
I wasn’t sure what to expect in conducting a treatment on Caridad. I am not llama/alpaca savvy, but no worries! Her owner held her on a lead and she was as pleasant as can be as I worked her immune stimulation points. I chose points indicative of colic as some of these symptoms mirror colic distress and also points for treatment of ulcers and inflammation. She seemed to enjoy her treatment and was content. She also received a hefty dose of Reiki!
Reports back from the Spirit of Gentleness Farm are promising! Caridad looks brighter and is not separating herself as much from the rest of the herd. After grazing in the pasture, she is not laying down like she was before.
I got a new handy dandy book all about acupressure for llamas! Now I get to familiarize myself with alpaca anatomy and comprehend their meridian system as point location differs from dogs and horses.
I thoroughly enjoyed working on this girl. It was really neat massaging her bladder meridian, which runs on either side of the spine, because her wool was so dense and plush! She has a lovely nature and I hope to continue to have the opportunity to work with these gentle, unique creatures!
