My brother went to buy a guinea pig on 9/11 and ever since he got her she has been very thin, never gained weight, never ate or drank, never made any noise even when we picked her up and I could just tell something was wrong with her. Well tonight on the 16th she suddenly got very sick and stopped eating and drinking completely. 1/2 an hour after she had very bad diarrhea she passed. I’m still in shock right now and crying as I write this. Is there anything I can do against Petsmart? becaude they sold me and my brother a sick guinea pig and didn’t even care. Please help
Hi! I am very sorry that you and your brother have become yet another shop victim and that your poor baby has been failed on so many levels by ignorant and uncaring shop personnel.
Yes, you can complain to the shop. Please always have any ill guinea pigs vet checked asap.
A guinea pig that is not eating is a dying guinea pig; the guts will slow down and then close down very quickly, even more so in young guinea pigs.
In the first month after purchase petsmart and larger US pet chains will reimburse vet cost (in the UK it is about 2-3 weeks, depending on the chain).
Here are more details of what you can do when you have been sold an ill or mis-sexed piggy:
What to check and look out for in new guinea pigs (vet checks, sexing, parasites&illness)
Your experience is sadly not at all uncommon for pet shops (or for sale breeders; the latter can be even worse and you have even less recourse) as animal welfare is taking very much a backseat to profits and proper staff training (whatever the shop will say; their knowledge is often worse than inedaquate!)
They will also happily sell single guinea pigs (even though they are a prey animal living in groups and not wired to live on their own) or three baby boars with a very high fall-out rate as well as far too small cages, which causes fights and long-term health problems. Mis-sexing and unplanned pet shop pregnancies are also something we are dealing with on a near daily basis on this forum.
The safest place to get pets from is a good standard non-kill rescue with mandatory quarantine, vet care and rehabilition. That goes for any species, including guinea pigs. If you can get to one, it is well worth the extra effort.
It is also always best to do research on any future pets beforehand and to make sure that the information comes from a place that complies with and surpasses minimal welfare recommendations. Vet cost will be the biggest budget post, which many new owners are not aware of; you need to save up for a vet fund ideally before you get pets and on a weekly basis as part of the running cost. There are no cheap pets; the smaller they are, the quicker they will die if left untreated. I am very sorry that the lesson has come at such a heart-breaking price for you. HUGS!
PS: We can provide recommended good standard rescue lists for several countries. In the US and Canada you need to distinguish between a shelter which is simply a place to hold unwanted or found animals for a certain number of days before euthanising with providing medical care and a non-kill rescue that does provide medical care and rehabilition, often with volunteer fosterers in a home setting.
You are welcome to post a tribute to the little on in our Rainbow Bridge section if you feel that leaving a memorial of some kind will be a comfort to you and your brother.
Rainbow Bridge Pets
