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Pets at Home - A Positive Visit

My vets for pets in pets@home managed to operate on my old gerbil but failed to diagnose a scent gland tumour in the first place. I had to tell him it was that.
 
Skullblits said:
When we bought are piggys we never got booked in to see the vets.

The staff who sell them to you does it. Checks there ears and teeth and nails.


If you have a jollys local I think the cages they keep there animals in are terrible.

We also saw them on there own. And the cages are very small
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All pets at home animals come with a free health check at any vets4pets or companion care (animal registered and booked in by new owner), but the staff are required to complete a "head to toe" health check at point of sale too
 
Well it's the 1st I've heard of that. I know they do it for rabbits.

But nothing for piggies
 
G1992M said:
All pets at home animals come with a free health check at any vets4pets or companion care (animal registered and booked in by new owner), but the staff are required to complete a "head to toe" health check at point of sale too
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I went in a jollys somewhere, i cant remember. They had a brilliant range of hay but they had guinea pigs in cramped tanks. Sort of like vivariums
 
Skullblits said:
Well it's the 1st I've heard of that. I know they do it for rabbits.

But nothing for piggies
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I haven’t heard of it either, I would also have to drive well over an hour to any of those vet chains.
 
Yeah when i went in yesterday all off the small unsuitable cages were above people reach and didn't have prices on them and when I went in 2 years ago and bought Chippy and Biscuit they gave both of them a full heath checks and when I asked about the nips in theirs ears they said that they could sometimes fight in such small cages and they also got me to do this general care quiz on an ipad which was quite cool and told me I had done my research and they showed me how to hold biscuit which was not easy as he thought my hair was hay and tried to crawl up my chest!
 
We got a Syrian hamster and they didn't even sex it. And they said as they live alone there's no need to.

This wasnt at my local store.
 
I'd say some stores have more dedicated staff who own guinea pigs and want these ones to go to good homes but their are some who just want a pay pack at the end of the day and really could not care less. I was watching this one member of staff at the store yesterday talking to a young couple about getting a rabbit and he seemed to get really stressed at the fact that this couple had no idea how to look after this rabbit.
 
We where 1st gunna get a rabbit at are local store. And we got talking to one person about them.

She talked us out of it and into the piggys instead. After doing research on rabbits we are both glad she did lol.

Then we over heard them talk to couple who where thinking of getting a piggy for there daughter for Xmas.

And she done everything to put them off.

I know I shouldnt judge. But they kinda looked like they would sell it for a tin of beer
 
I think it must range from store to store and staff to staff. When I brought my Eliza back in 2007 as a companion for Connie who I adopted from a lady who's kids had lost interest (I didn't know about rescues back then) the staff member was lovely. She explained that she was only willing to let Eliza go as a companion, which she was. I had no idea about bonding or anything back then (Connie and Eliza were my first piggies) and she explained to me how to bond. She suggested using the empty bath tub. Eliza also had a quick health check from the Companion Care vets which they were at the time. When I bonded Eliza with Connie I was very concerned so I phoned the lady who had sold her to me who reassured me that all was normal.

All my hamsters and gerbils have all come from PAH and they have always been sexed and health checked before coming home. May be I've just been lucky
 
Skullblits said:
We where 1st gunna get a rabbit at are local store. And we got talking to one person about them.

She talked us out of it and into the piggys instead. After doing research on rabbits we are both glad she did lol.

Then we over heard them talk to couple who where thinking of getting a piggy for there daughter for Xmas.

And she done everything to put them off.

I know I shouldnt judge. But they kinda looked like they would sell it for a tin of beer
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It’s not normal for a pet store to put someone off buying something!

Why we’re you put off rabbits? I keep rabbits and guinea pigs and I can honestly say that I find the rabbits a lot easier to look after than the guinea pigs!
 
Piggies&buns said:
It’s not normal for a pet store to put someone off buying something!

Why we’re you put off rabbits? I keep rabbits and guinea pigs and I can honestly say that I find the rabbits a lot easier to look after than the guinea pigs!
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She said they can be a alot more work.

Are more sensitive to diet changes and bloat ect.

And chew everything and can be nosiey at nigh times. Can easily get Cage guard

And she said. Her rabbits had medical problems and died.
 
Skullblits said:
She said they can be a alot more work.

Are more sensitive to diet changes and bloat ect.

And chew everything and can be nosiey at nigh times. Can easily get Cage guard

And she said. Her rabbits had medical problems and died.
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That’s very interesting! As I said, I find my rabbits a lot easier. I have kept rabbits for 30 years. They’ve never chewed hutches etc. Whereas my piggies have wrecked their hutch within two hours of getting them in it! The only time I have had to take a rabbit to a vet for something other than their annual vaccinations was when my current rabbit patch sprained his ankle a few weeks ago. I have not lost a rabbit to anything other than old age (or age related issues) and never had problems with their diets. I can literally feed my rabbits anything but I spend ages ages each making sure the guinea pigs don’t get too much calcium etc. Patch, my rabbit, is also fully litter trained so cleaning takes two minutes every day. Guinea pigs, I can spend 40 minutes a day cleaning!
 
G1992M said:
All pets at home animals come with a free health check at any vets4pets or companion care (animal registered and booked in by new owner), but the staff are required to complete a "head to toe" health check at point of sale too
Click to expand...

My guinea pigs from PaH have never had a vet check, only a staff one. When the shop first opened they didn't seem to know very much but now most of the staff at the shop near us are very knowledgeable about guinea pigs, they are very caring and several of them have their own herds. Of course they are restricted by company policy on a lot of what they say and sell.

I recently saw a newspaper article that said that vets4pets is a franchise, lots of them are going to be closed next year but the more profitable ones are to be brought in house.
 
Might end up getting a couple of rabbits after Xmas. Probably get drawf ones though
 
Skullblits said:
Might end up getting a couple of rabbits after Xmas. Probably get drawf ones though
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Getting dwarf rabbits doesn’t change the amount of space they need etc - they just don’t grow as big. Definitely look to rescue if you can - theyd both already be neutered so makes things a lot easier.
If you do get rabbits, a male/ female pair is the easiest and most stable pairing. Two females is possible. (I’ve had female pairs). Never two males - it usually ends in trouble. (I suppose like lots of things there are success stories, but I myself have never had successful buck pairings and I have just had to help a friend with a buck pair in trouble). Both sexes need neutering (even if you get two females, they both still neutering, 80% of uterine cancer in unspayed females ).
 
G1992M said:
All pets at home animals come with a free health check at any vets4pets or companion care (animal registered and booked in by new owner), but the staff are required to complete a "head to toe" health check at point of sale too
Click to expand...
That’s what I was told too.
It sounds as if it’s a newish policy - perhaps in response to the costs of selling sick or pregnant piggies
 
Piggies&buns said:
Getting dwarf rabbits doesn’t change the amount of space they need etc - they just don’t grow as big. Definitely look to rescue if you can - theyd both already be neutered so makes things a lot easier.
If you do get rabbits, a male/ female pair is the easiest and most stable pairing. Two females is possible. (I’ve had female pairs). Never two males - it usually ends in trouble. (I suppose like lots of things there are success stories, but I myself have never had successful buck pairings and I have just had to help a friend with a buck pair in trouble). Both sexes need neutering (even if you get two females, they both still neutering, 80% of uterine cancer in unspayed females ).
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Yes I'm aware
 
I didn't know that they could have a vet check. When I got my two they only gave them a staff check but then again there isn't a vet 4 pets or anything like that at my local P@H
 
I don’t think every store has a vets- there are 2 branches in Swindon and only the larger store has a Vets 4 Pets.
It’s possibly something that is gradually being introduced around the country
 
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