Distinctly Montana Magazine

w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 71 In the end, he made a decision. He would trust us. As I turned my string of llamas back toward the trail, he followed. Free and unattached, like he wanted, he took his place in the pack string behind the third llama. Ike marched with us back down the path to the trailer, where he jumped in, together with his new bud- dies. It was done. Safely at home in Montana, Ike was renamed "Lewis" after our fateful meeting at the lake. This marked the beginning of a new chapter in his life and letting go of the old for good. He integrated himself with grace into his new herd. However, the cause of the pain in his mouth had to be explored and was finally diagnosed as advanced periodontal disease with a fractured mo- lar in the far back. An untreated abscess had eroded part of the jaw bone and created an outlet for infected pus. It was, of course, imperative to treat the disease to prevent its spread to other teeth and, eventually, poisoning his organs. Watching Lewis for a few months behaving like a normal, happy animal reminded me how stoic llamas are and how well herd animals hide their injuries and shortcomings from the world. This way the affected individ- uals not only hide their injury from predators to save themselves but they also protect their herd. Lewis was no exception. But I knew. Based on my vet's explanations, there was no doubt that Lewis was in serious pain. I also learned that the complicated surgery could not be done by my vet. The procedure involved what's called an extraoral approach. Because llamas have long mouths, it is impossible to reach and extract a molar in the very back and ef- fectively clean up all the infected tissue orally, like in humans. Therefore, the extraoral method is preferred whereby the surgeon cuts through the cheek and into the jawbone from the outside, push- es the tooth up and out of the jaw and cleans out all junk. This procedure is done in an operating room setting with a surgical team including an anesthesi- ologist. Of course, it also comes with a substantial price tag. Our packing business, Yellowstone Llamas, presently supports fifteen llamas with feed, equipment and regular vet care. This new situation challenged our budget and I agonized what to do and how to do it. The recommendation was to have Lewis treated at the Colorado State Univer- sity Veterinary Teaching Hospital in ENTER to WIN T H E M O N T A N A T E R R I T O R Y H AT CO M PA N Y T H E M O N T A N A T E R R I T O R Y H AT CO M PA N Y Win a Custom Hat from Made by hand in Bozeman, Montana www.distinctlymontana.com/hats www.MontanaTerritoryHatCo.com @montanaterritoryhatco jk jk jk jk Susi, Lewis, and Dr. Robert Callan Three rescue team llamas with Susi on trail to find Lewis

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