Early Signs of Illness in Camels Raised for Meat

By Dr Duncan Houston

A camel that stops keeping up with its group, spends less time feeding or gradually loses condition deserves a closer look. In a meat-producing herd, these changes may appear before obvious illness and before a missed growth target becomes a serious production problem.

Camels are well adapted to difficult environments, but that can encourage people to underestimate their needs. Their ability to cope with heat and water shortages does not make falling appetite, poor growth or unusual behaviour harmless.

The useful question is: what has changed for this particular camel, and what else has changed with it?

Quick Answer

Early warning signs in camels raised for meat include reduced feed intake, slower growth, declining body condition, unusual quietness, altered droppings, coughing and changes in movement. Check the affected camel alongside its feed, water access and herd mates, and seek veterinary advice promptly when changes persist or occur together. Breathing difficulty, collapse, severe abdominal pain or inability to rise require immediate veterinary attention.

Start by watching the camel before you move it

Observe the group quietly before feeding, handling or mustering changes its behaviour.

Look for the camel standing away from its usual companions, arriving late to feed, resting unusually often or taking longer to rise. Compare it with its own normal behaviour and with animals of similar age and production stage.

Resting on the chest is normal camel behaviour. A new reluctance to rise, repeated unsuccessful attempts or obvious difficulty bearing weight is different. Do not force a camel that cannot rise or bear weight to walk for an assessment. Camel welfare research specifically recommends avoiding this.

Record when the change started. “Quieter since yesterday morning” gives your vet more to work with than “hasn’t looked right for a while”.

Is it actually eating, or just standing near the feed?

Watch the mouth and the meal. An animal can attend the feed area without consuming its usual amount.

Notice whether it takes fewer mouthfuls, repeatedly drops feed, struggles to chew or leaves while others continue eating. Check whether dominant animals are preventing access. Feeding behaviour and rumination are useful parts of a basic camel health assessment, although a brief period without cud chewing does not diagnose illness.

Reduced appetite with progressive weight loss also warrants consideration of swallowed foreign material. Plastic and other indigestible objects can accumulate in the camel’s digestive tract and cause serious problems.

Do not immediately increase grain to compensate for poor intake. First establish whether the problem is access, feed quality, chewing difficulty, pain or disease.

Growth records can reveal a problem that your eye misses

A growing camel does not have to look thin to be falling behind.

Use individual identification and repeat weights under reasonably consistent conditions. Compare similar animals, allowing for age, sex, genetics, diet and recent management changes. A universal daily gain target will not suit every herd.

For example, gaining 12 kg over 30 days equals an average of 400 g per day. That is a calculation, not a recommended target. Its usefulness comes from comparing the result with the animal’s previous performance and an appropriate target for your production system.

Combine weight records with a recognised camel body condition assessment performed by someone trained to use it. Body condition reflects more than the most recent meal, and poor condition can indicate inadequate nutrition or underlying illness.

Do not judge health from the hump alone

A camel’s hump contains stored fat. It is not a tank of drinking water. Its size and shape can contribute to an assessment of energy reserves, but cannot establish whether the camel is adequately hydrated or free of disease.

Assess the whole animal and follow changes over time. A photograph of a hump is much less useful than a record combining body condition, weight, appetite, movement and recent management.

Check water access even when the camel looks comfortable

Inspect the trough, water quality, flow rate and approach. A trough containing water does not guarantee that every animal can drink freely.

Experimental work in dromedaries shows that prolonged dehydration can reduce feed intake, body weight and urine output, with increasingly dry faeces. These changes should never be treated as an acceptable finishing strategy. Provide reliable access to clean water and seek veterinary advice for suspected significant dehydration or weakness.

Heat also matters. A camel’s adaptations do not eliminate heat stress. Reduced appetite, lethargy or reluctance to rise during hot conditions warrants assessment of the animal and its access to shade and water.

Changes in droppings can signal more than a feed problem

Know what is normal for the animal’s age and diet. Watch for persistent loose faeces, noticeably smaller amounts, unusually dry droppings or an apparent absence of output.

The combination matters. Reduced or absent faeces with poor appetite, abdominal swelling or pain needs urgent veterinary assessment. Studies of camels with intestinal obstruction and impaction describe these combinations of signs. Do not wait for a camel to become severely distressed before calling.

Eating plastic, rope, bedding or other unusual material also deserves attention. Pica, meaning persistent consumption of inappropriate material, can accompany significant digestive problems. It does not prove that a particular mineral supplement is needed. Remove access to the material and investigate the cause.

Parasites can affect condition before the cause is obvious

Gastrointestinal parasites belong on the investigation list when a camel loses weight, eats poorly or develops diarrhoea. Clinical reports involving both dromedary and Bactrian camels describe these signs.

They do not confirm a worm problem by themselves. Your vet may combine faecal testing with examination and blood tests, particularly where anaemia or low blood protein is suspected. Parasite species and exposure differ between regions and management systems.

Local diseases matter too. In regions where surra occurs, this blood parasite infection can cause fever, anaemia, wasting and swelling. It requires appropriate testing and a regional treatment plan. It should not be assumed to explain every thin camel, or treated as an equally likely diagnosis everywhere.

Watch breathing while the camel is resting

Observe breathing before handling or exercise makes interpretation harder.

Repeated coughing, persistent nasal discharge, increased breathing effort or reduced appetite alongside respiratory signs warrants veterinary advice. Young camels can develop respiratory and intestinal disease together, particularly around stressful management changes.

A calf with diarrhoea should therefore also have its breathing assessed. Likewise, a coughing calf needs more than a quick look at its nose. Open-mouth breathing with obvious effort, or breathing distress that prevents comfortable resting, is an emergency.

Small changes in walking and skin condition deserve attention

Look for shortened steps, uneven weight bearing, swollen joints, wounds or hesitation on surfaces the camel previously crossed comfortably. Lameness, joint swelling, skin lesions and abnormal discharges are recognised components of camel welfare assessment.

Use trained handlers and suitable facilities for examination. Do not attempt to lift a large camel’s painful limb without appropriate restraint and experience.

Repeated rubbing, scratching, crusting or spreading hair loss may indicate mange or another skin disorder. Sarcoptic mange can cause intense irritation and, when severe, substantial debilitation. Diagnosis may require skin scrapings.

Because mange can spread between animals and affect people, discuss separation, protective handling and treatment of contacts with your vet. Hair loss alone is not enough to choose a treatment.

Calves need closer attention than “it was beside its mother”

Watch actual suckling and the calf’s strength and interest in its surroundings. Standing near the dam does not establish that milk transfer is adequate.

Early colostrum intake is particularly important. A newborn that cannot stand or suck effectively needs prompt assistance and veterinary advice, rather than repeated attempts to leave it to sort itself out.

Track growth and investigate persistent poor performance. Weakness, diarrhoea or reduced suckling can become serious quickly. Research on camel calf health supports attention to colostrum management, husbandry and access to veterinary care as part of reducing calf losses.

How urgently should you act?

What you notice	Why it matters	What to do
One mild behavioural change, with normal eating, movement and breathing	May reflect routine variation or an emerging problem	Check resources and observe again later the same day; escalate if it persists or another sign appears
Repeatedly reduced appetite, falling condition or stalled growth	Nutrition, access, pain, parasites or disease need assessment	Contact your vet promptly to plan investigation
Diarrhoea with dullness, persistent cough, painful walking or a calf feeding poorly	The animal may need treatment and closer monitoring	Seek veterinary advice the same day
Collapse, inability to rise, severe breathing difficulty or severe abdominal pain	Potentially life-threatening illness	Call a vet immediately

These are triage prompts, not a diagnosis. A newborn, a rapidly deteriorating camel or several animals becoming unwell together needs a lower threshold for urgent help.

What will your vet investigate?

A useful assessment combines the animal’s examination with the herd history.

One camel falling behind directs attention towards individual problems such as painful chewing, injury or chronic disease. Several animals deteriorating together increases concern about shared feed, water, environmental conditions or infectious exposure. Neither pattern excludes the other possibilities.

Provide recent weights, ration changes, new arrivals, treatments, transport history and the timing of signs. Depending on the findings, your vet may recommend faecal testing, blood tests, skin scrapings or ultrasound. Camel studies demonstrate the value of combining clinical findings with these investigations rather than relying on appearance alone.

Some causes are readily corrected; others require prolonged treatment or carry a guarded outlook. Early assessment improves the information available for making that decision.

When is this an emergency?

Call your vet immediately for:

• Collapse, inability to stand or rapid deterioration.

• Severe breathing difficulty.

• Severe or persistent abdominal pain, especially with swelling or little to no faecal output.

• Seizures, marked loss of coordination or abnormal awareness.

• A very weak newborn that cannot suck.

• Repeated straining with little or no urine, particularly with pain.

Red or bloody urine also requires urgent veterinary advice. Camel urinary disease can involve the bladder or kidneys, and investigations may be needed to distinguish bleeding from other causes of red urine. Do not assume straining means constipation.

Keep the camel in a safe, quiet location while arranging help. Do not force oral fluids or feed into a weak animal that cannot swallow normally.

What should you do next?

1. Identify the animal and record the change. Note its age, recent management and when signs began. A short video of breathing or walking can help if it is safe to obtain.

2. Check the basics immediately. Confirm that suitable feed and clean water are accessible, and look for obvious competition, injury or environmental problems.

3. Reduce handling stress. Use appropriate facilities and experienced handlers. Separate when needed for monitoring or infection control while maintaining suitable shelter and safe social contact.

4. Contact your vet according to urgency. Explain whether one animal or several are affected and whether the problem is worsening.

5. Follow a specific investigation and treatment plan. Record medicines, doses, dates and the animal’s response. Avoid adding several unprescribed treatments at once.

6. Reassess against agreed checkpoints. Ask what improvement should look like and when failure to improve requires another examination.

Keep health decisions connected to meat production

Market weight does not establish fitness for transport. Official camel transport guidance identifies inability to bear weight, severe emaciation, visible dehydration and severe injury or distress as reasons an animal may be unfit to load. Obtain veterinary advice when fitness is uncertain.

Treatment also affects sale planning. Ask the prescribing vet to specify the appropriate meat withholding period for the camel and treatment used. Keep clear records and meet any applicable export requirements. Do not simply copy a withholding period or dose from a cattle or sheep product label.

Once the cause of poor performance is understood, review whether further finishing is appropriate. Expected gain, feed costs, treatment, welfare and likely market suitability all belong in that decision.

Common mistakes that delay useful action

• Assuming a camel is healthy because it still takes a few mouthfuls.

• Using hump appearance as the only health check.

• Treating every thin camel for worms without investigating.

• Increasing concentrate feed before explaining reduced intake.

• Waiting until sale day to assess condition and fitness for transport.

Build prevention into the daily routine

Make health observation part of feeding and water checks. Keep a simple record of individual concerns so gradual changes do not disappear between staff shifts.

Provide an appropriate ration and introduce dietary changes gradually. Maintain enough feeding and drinking access for the group, suitable shade or shelter, safe footing and comfortable resting areas. Camel welfare assessments emphasise the importance of nutrition, water access, housing and freedom from injury and disease.

Remove plastic, baling twine and other ingestible waste from feeding areas and paddocks.

Agree with your vet on new-arrival biosecurity, parasite monitoring, locally appropriate vaccination and calf management. Where practical, avoid stacking weaning, transport, regrouping and major diet changes together. Management stress is an important consideration in disease affecting young camels.

Frequently asked questions

Can a camel be unwell while still eating?

Yes. Reduced intake can be easier to miss than complete refusal. Look at the amount consumed alongside growth, condition, movement and other signs.

Does a smaller hump mean my camel is dehydrated?

It cannot tell you that by itself. Hump fat reflects energy reserves, while hydration needs a broader assessment.

Should I drench every camel that is losing weight?

No. Parasites are one possibility, and testing helps guide the decision. Nutrition, dental problems and other disease also need consideration.

Will treatment restore normal growth?

That depends on the cause, severity and how long the problem has been present. Agree on realistic recovery goals with your vet and use follow-up weights and condition assessments to judge progress.

Noticeable changes deserve attention even when the camel has not yet become obviously sick. A consistent record and a timely examination make the next decision clearer.

For support understanding changes in your camels’ health and preparing useful questions for your treating vet, ASK A VET™ provides practical animal-health information. If a camel is distressed or deteriorating, contact your local veterinarian immediately.