NEWCASTLE, Calif. (CNN/KTXL) -- A new lease on life for one Newcastle llama. Bella had to have her leg amputated after breaking it in a gopher hole.
Meet Bella whose leg had to be amputated after complications developed from that broken leg. Trish Brandt-Robuck says, "She started getting an infection in that damaged leg even though we were binding it and totally securing it."
Soon owner Trish and her husband Chuck found that they had a decision to make. Trish says, "It was the decision of either we have to euthanize her or put her down."
But shortly after the surgery Bella's health began to degrade. Brandt-Robuck says, "She had stopped getting up for about a week and so she was just laying on the ground."
They knew that something had to be done. She says, "My vet suggested a prosthesis."So they enlisted the help of Hanger Clinic's Michael Carlson.
Now Bella is up walking on all fours and the prognosis is good. Trish says, "Once she can start walking, it really changed her. It gave her life back. She's able to get around. She loves it. She makes me feel guilty. When she sees me in the morning, if I do not come out with her leg she just keeps staring at me. She will not look at anything else so I end up coming out. As soon as I put it on she is up, ears up, she's a happy camper."
The company that made the prosthetic is the same company known for making a new tail fin for a dolphin.