IgG Testing -- Why?

By Pat Greenley

Springtime means babies, and I absolutely can not wait to see them — ours and everybody else's!  We run a 24-48 hour IgG (immunoglobulins) test on all the babies born here because we've found out, the hard way of course, that you can lose a seemingly perfectly healthy baby because of little or no transfer of natural immunities from mother to cria, even when the mother has a history of lots of milk and great mothering skills. Plenty of milk does not necessarily equal strong colostrum, and the first infection that comes along can kill that beautiful baby of yours because its body has absolutely no immunities with which to defend itself, and antibiotics are too little, too late.

Thankfully, failure of passive transfer (low IgG) doesn't happen often, but it certainly does occur and, for the most part, is unpredictable. The only way to test the level of antibody transfer from mother to baby in llamas is to draw blood from the cria and use the IgG camelid test kit plate available from Triple J Farms in Washington (360-398-9512).

Unfortunately, even though it's been proven that cow and goat colostrum are both effective supplements for preemies or slow nursing babies, IgG tests are species-specific; if you used either of those colostrums to supplement your baby, the test isn't valid. It only works if you used llama colostrum or plasma, and I don't know about the rest of you, but milking a mama llama for me usually yields about a thimbleful- tops -and that's with a llama who stands perfectly still until my fingers and her nipples are numb. So, if you don't have llama colostrum and need supplementation. you're between the proverbial rock and hard place: you can use cow or goat colostrum (because we know it usually works) at a consumption rate of 10% of the baby's body weight per day, but there's no way you can measure to see if the antibodies from that colostrum were adequate other than by the passage of time; or you can give a 10 oz. bag of llama plasma by bottle (also available from Triple J) in 2 or 3 feedings within the first 24 hours after birth (from LLAMA LIFE/#32 "Management Tips" by Iris Christ).  After that time, orally administered plasma is  no longer effective.

The use of lama plasma in this way,  or if it's transfused later, allows you the ability to measure your baby's IgG level to see if it has acquired the necessary immunities. Different sources use many different acceptable levels, but almost everyone agrees that a camelid IgG reading of less than 300 fig/dl is critically low and indicates that a transfusion is necessary. Last year's plasma scare about deaths from transfusions of incompatible blood have been calmed by medical professionals' reminders that epinephrine should always be on hand to counteract any adverse reactions to the transfusion. Plasma given orally presents very little chance of any adverse reaction. We've had over 40 babies born on our farm and transfused only two. The transfusions were done by our vet in our laundry room (it's NOWHERE NEAR sterile) through the abdomen in about 6 minutes. The babies did not evidence pain of any kind (he did use a local anesthetic). Both did lie quietly for about an hour afterwards, but were then were up and running and playing with the herd. Tested 4 days later, their IgG levels soared.

The Triple J IgG test kit for camelids costs $57.50 [as of this writing in 2003] and includes 24 tests with an expiration date of usually about a year (roughly $2.40 per test). Some vet clinics are willing to buy the test plate themselves for use in their clinic.

Llama plasma costs about $72.00 per 300 mI bag [2003]. Kit and plasma costs can be shared among farms, but you have to decide whether your llama is worth the expense financially or emotionally. I am not working with or promoting Triple J Farms in any way. They are just the only source for these products that I'm aware of currently.

We had always read with interest any information on IgG testing and the effects of failure of passive transfer. Honestly, however, we always thought it was something only used by people with really large herds and so much money that they didn't know what to do with it. When we thought we needed supplementation, we used goat colostrum with great success. And then came Lilly. She was the prettiest, dearest little female we'd ever produced. Her mother had a great history with all four of her babies, lots of milk, lots of vigor. Lilly looked the same, acted the same. A month later, Lilly died for what to us was no discernible reason. The vet said failure of passive transfer after the necropsy.

We read every everything we could get our hands on and talked to every llama person and vet we could think of. They all agreed that had we tested her IgG levels, a simple 6-minute transfusion would have done the trick. Now we always have plasma in the freezer, we always run an IgG test on our new babies, and if they haven't nursed or are really slow or just uninterested in nursing, we thaw out a bag of plasma and give it to them in a bottle (you can refreeze plasma, but once thawed and refrozen, it can only be used orally, not for interperitoneal or IV transfusion). Financially, I know that we can sell any llama, even these days, for much more than the cost of a bag of plasma. This testing certainly may not be anything you're interested in, but it works for us, and I haven't had one more Lilly die in my arms. The best thing about raising llamas is that we all get to choose our own road, and when llamas are on them, all roads are good. 

Copyright 2003-2010.  All rights reserved. 

Originally published in the Iowa Llama Association newsletter, July, 2003, and so may be republished in LANA Newsletter Network member publications with appropriate statement of origination.