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Incompetent Vets

Thank you for such a considered and insightful reply. This guilt thing is insidious- I changed food October something they had had before - maybe too quickly though our other piggy is fine ... your post is very helpful and I cried a lot ... I will try and think about the positives and the good life we gave him. x
 
Blooberry said:
Thank you for such a considered and insightful reply. This guilt thing is insidious- I changed food October something they had had before - maybe too quickly though our other piggy is fine ... your post is very helpful and I cried a lot ... I will try and think about the positives and the good life we gave him. x
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And take the lessoned learned forward with me.
 
I now think he was impacted ... we had no idea about the need for vit b replacement. Probably been feeling poorly for 10 days or more - no advise from vet anout this at all - sick to my stomach
 
Blooberry said:
I now think he was impacted ... we had no idea about the need for vit b replacement. Probably been feeling poorly for 10 days or more - no advise from vet anout this at all - sick to my stomach
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Impaction is easy to miss when you are not experienced with guinea pigs. Take the time to read our diet guide; it can minimise the occurrance and severity of impaction, which affects around 10% of older boars.
It is difficult for you to make sense of your loss right now, but please try not get bogged down too much.

If it helps to ease your pain, take the time to read our guide collection; it is very practical, but there is a lot of experience in it.
Don't feel bad about not having done everything right - none of us has started with a perfect score, but you may find the guides both interesting and helpful to hopefully give you a deeper understanding of all levels of guinea pig keeping.
Treasure your boy for unlocking a valuable resource and leading you on the path to being an even better piggy parent (you cannot be more loving anyway)! Your loss is one thing, but what you do with the legacy and how you deal with it is all up to you.
Guinea Pig Care & Information Guides
 
Thank you - what about the vets? Should they not be equipped to advise? Thank you - I need to not get too bogged down. I am a busy single mum and have relied on my daughter to do the research and she pretty good but 15! I have become a piggy parent by accident and out of love. He was only 2 so wasn’t anticipating a problem like this. Thanks for your kindness. God bless my little boy. I’m so very sorry.
 
Whereabouts are you located? There is a Vet Locator at the top of the page that has vets recommended by members on it throughout the UK.
 
Lancaster and Morecambe area Betsy. I looked, couldn’t see anything near us.
 
Blooberry said:
Lancaster and Morecambe area Betsy. I looked, couldn’t see anything near us.
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Do you have a pets at home store by you? Many of them now have vets in their under the name Vets4Pets / Companion Care, although this is a chain vets and would be dependent on obviously the vets at your specific one. This is who I now use after such a bad experience and personally I would never change unless I needed to. They are affordable and so knowledgable from my experience, and have even had a successful spay for my 6year old Honey. Cannot fault them, but as I said, it would be a case of trying your local stores and maybe asking if they have an exotics vet on site, hope this helps
 
My Vets4Pets are really good. I have recommended them on the forum. I have tried the vets just up the road from me and I was less than impressed so I would rather travel a bit further and pay a bit more knowing my piggies are going to be treated properly and what I have to say about my piggies will not be treated with contempt.
 
Betsy said:
My Vets4Pets are really good. I have recommended them on the forum. I have tried the vets just up the road from me and I was less than impressed so I would rather travel a bit further and pay a bit more knowing my piggies are going to be treated properly and what I have to say about my piggies will not be treated with contempt.
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Here Here I Say.
 
Sorry to say but vfp was my first visit on the 27 Nov. We could have saved him but they missed it completely!
 
Blooberry said:
Sorry to say but vfp was my first visit on the 27 Nov. We could have saved him but they missed it completely!
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Oh that's so sad. As I said it is dependent on the individual practice. do you know if you saw just a regular vet? Understandably this would've put you off, but you could try contacting them and see if they do have an exotic vet on site. This vet would be far more experienced in guiena pigs. It's just an suggestion if you don't have any piggy-savvy vets near you.

I'm very fortunate for Kate (my amazing vet) to be so local, and everyone at my V4P also goes to her if they are unsure on something, so even if you can't get an appointment with Kate, I trust that I won't be fed wrong information.

Just keep looking about and I'm sure you will find a pig-savy vet that's accessible to you for future cases 🙏
 
It really is a toss up with vets and once you have found a good one stick with them even if you have to travel, its really worth it.

My first vet visit with Ted (dental) had a very poor outcome, although the vets were lovely, the vet himself even kept guinea pigs, a local vet highly rated vet.

Second vet dental for Ted was fantastic, sorted in minutes, I felt confident he was going to be sorted the moment I met him, 370 miles away from me in Northampton so major travel and stress etc. Now take Ted every 3-4 months.

Third vet (exotic) with Bills broken tooth was good, but luckily he was fine and just needed a check, 12miles away no problem.
 
I'm so sorry for what you've been through :(

There was a vet at my practice a few years ago. She was only there a few months and thankfully never had anything to do with my animals but it made the local paper that she dropped a rabbit breaking his back during a neuter. She then gave the rabbit back to the owner not admitting what she had done and the owners didn't realise until they got him home and realised there was something seriously wrong and it wasn't until the next day when he was xrayed that the truth came out and he had to be pts :( The vet in question was sacked in the spot, reported by the head vet to the RCVS and struck off from practising.

My vet isn't exotic but she's fantastic with small animals, just a 15 minute drive away and if she isn't sure on something, she will contact the exotic specialist who is just over an hours drive away and refer there if needed.

My point is, sadly there are good vets and bad vets and you shouldn't blame yourself for their mistakes
 
Claire W said:
I'm so sorry for what you've been through :(

There was a vet at my practice a few years ago. She was only there a few months and thankfully never had anything to do with my animals but it made the local paper that she dropped a rabbit breaking his back during a neuter. She then gave the rabbit back to the owner not admitting what she had done and the owners didn't realise until they got him home and realised there was something seriously wrong and it wasn't until the next day when he was xrayed that the truth came out and he had to be pts :( The vet in question was sacked in the spot, reported by the head vet to the RCVS and struck off from practising.

My vet isn't exotic but she's fantastic with small animals, just a 15 minute drive away and if she isn't sure on something, she will contact the exotic specialist who is just over an hours drive away and refer there if needed.

My point is, sadly there are good vets and bad vets and you shouldn't blame yourself for their mistakes
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So true. Had a vet who struggled with Pedro on a visit. I stress out even now thinking about. I cuddled Pedro blood over us and i said sorry so many times. I was VERY Angry
 
Claire W said:
I'm so sorry for what you've been through :(

There was a vet at my practice a few years ago. She was only there a few months and thankfully never had anything to do with my animals but it made the local paper that she dropped a rabbit breaking his back during a neuter. She then gave the rabbit back to the owner not admitting what she had done and the owners didn't realise until they got him home and realised there was something seriously wrong and it wasn't until the next day when he was xrayed that the truth came out and he had to be pts :( The vet in question was sacked in the spot, reported by the head vet to the RCVS and struck off from practising.

My vet isn't exotic but she's fantastic with small animals, just a 15 minute drive away and if she isn't sure on something, she will contact the exotic specialist who is just over an hours drive away and refer there if needed.

My point is, sadly there are good vets and bad vets and you shouldn't blame yourself for their mistakes
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Thanks Clare. No I haven’t told them yet, but I will. Scandalous, really scandalous what happened to that rabbit.
 
I’m so sorry you went through that, so terrible. I am angry too.
 
Blooberry said:
Did he survive?
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He did . . Don't think the vet did. I feel bad for her but she tried to pick him up with scruff neck. . broke 1 needle and dropped 2 taking a sample and last which was my boiling point cut a nail which bled dangling him over edge table.
I was livid. He soon forgot xx. Tho I miss him everyday.
 
David Pet Lover said:
He did . . Don't think the vet did. I feel bad for her but she tried to pick him up with scruff neck. . broke 1 needle and dropped 2 taking a sample and last which was my boiling point cut a nail which bled dangling him over edge table.
I was livid. He soon forgot xx. Tho I miss him everyday.
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I’ve written strong words to both vets; he was so underweight on Thursday. I am so ANGRY
 
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