How To Find A Piggy Savvy Vet?

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Nicola_

Nicola_

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I know there's the vet locator on here but there aren't any near me. So I was hoping I could get some tips on what to look for in a vet and what questions to ask them. Annoyingly down here most the vets specialise in herd/farm animals!
 
We rang up around 15 vets in our area before finding Rosie. She is not an exotic but has an interest in piggies. We dropped lucky. So I would recommend ringing around any you can travel to and asking if a vet at their branch has a interest in piggies or they treat many etc....
 
biscandmatt said:
here's a list of vets in your area on the rcvs find a vet website https://findavet.rcvs.org.uk/find-a...y=16&filter-pss=true&search=true#show-results

i'd go through each one and find an exotics vet (they usually always treat guinea pigs) or contact others individually to ask if they have any vets with a special interest in guinea pigs specifically, or any which have additional qualifications in guinea pigs :)
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Thanks for the link. I have found an excellent vets!
 
biscandmatt said:
here's a list of vets in your area on the rcvs find a vet website https://findavet.rcvs.org.uk/find-a...y=16&filter-pss=true&search=true#show-results

i'd go through each one and find an exotics vet (they usually always treat guinea pigs) or contact others individually to ask if they have any vets with a special interest in guinea pigs specifically, or any which have additional qualifications in guinea pigs :)
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Thanks, I've just moved out of Glasgow which is why I was asking, had a great vet there who kept guinea pigs herself so am worried how good the vets down here will be as they're mostly livestock type vets round here.
 
sport_billy said:
We rang up around 15 vets in our area before finding Rosie. She is not an exotic but has an interest in piggies. We dropped lucky. So I would recommend ringing around any you can travel to and asking if a vet at their branch has a interest in piggies or they treat many etc....
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Thanks, unfortunately I'm in a very small town so don't have that much choice; I've registered them with the local vet and will see how they are when I need to take the boys in - if I don't feel confident in them then I'll start looking further afield.
 
I'm in Canada, where there are fewer guinea pig-savvy vets around. I generally would look for a vet that specializes in exotics, and then would ask them how much experience they had in treating guinea pigs with specific questions: How often do they trim teeth? How often do they do surgery? What methods of anesthesia do they use (it's much safer to use inhaled anesthesia with small animals, so if they were not doing this, it would be a red flag to me.) What antibiotics will they use (or not use) in guinea pigs (due to their gut flora they cannot have certain antibiotics but can have others- if a vet wasn't aware of this it would be a red flag.) I also ask how much experience they have with related animals (for instance, my vet sees more rabbits than guinea pigs, but certain issues, like abscess or dental problems, are common in both species.) I've been very lucky that I've managed to find a great vet, though I do have to drive half an hour or so to get to him. But he's well worth it! I lost a pig to a problem that was not treated properly when I was too naive to know better, so I'm now really aware of how much difference vet experience can make and am really happy with where I am now as far as vet care goes. He's gotten Sundae through some serious medical problems, for which I am extremely thankful, as I don't think she would have survived with a less experienced vet (and a less uptight owner! LOL!)
 
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