Question: Aural Hematoma
I would like to have more information on aural hematoma in alpacas. Is it hereditary, is it considered a defect, what are the ramifications in respect to the value of the animal. Does it impair the animal in any way? If you have an animal with this disorder, should the breeding program be stopped with this particular animal. thank you for your attention.
Answer:
Aural hematoma is a description of a blood filled pocket in the ear caused by bleeding. This in and of itself is meaningless as to cause. Most aural hematomas are caused by self-trauma (itching) or peer trauma (fighting).
Recently, a syndrome in alpacas that has been termed "aural hematoma" has been described. This is actually a defect of ear formation and is associated with a tendency to bleed into skin overlying the ear. The hematoma can be treated by drainage, bandages, antibiotics etc, but this does not address the underlying cause. Several studs have been implicated as having >30% of their offspring affected with this ear abnormality. We have seen multiple alpacas from the same lineage affected. Thus, the ear defect does resemble a genetic or heritable defect, but no one knows what that is.
not think that this is the case now.
In the ideal situation, any animal with the congenital ear defect should not be used for breeding. This is our opinion about ALL congenital defects. We can make no such assertions about the parents as there simply is no genetic data to support doing that.
David E Anderson,