Savings for Guinea Pigs

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musicqueen

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Hi all! I just wanted to know how much money you have saved for vet fees? As I really want to get my guinea pigs before christmas, i've seen some gourgeous pigs on a rescue site^) but need to know I will have enough money saved away incase they get ill.
Thanks if anyone replies:)
 
We dont put money aside, we pay out all we need to each month and all of the money left over is saved (for a deposit for a house) but if anything needed doing the money would come out of the savings, if not on OH's credit card, (i'm not stupid enough to have a credit card in my name lol)
 
I think that £50 would be a good amount to have saved, providing that you could put your hands on more if you needed to in an emergency.

Pigs don't need routine vet care (no vaccs or check- ups) but a problem such as an abscess can need an operation which would cost £100s.
 
I just put money aside when I have it, but i've just been through vet hell with one of my rats so I'm back at square one!

You can get insurance for guinea pigs, but I don't know whether it works out as good value or not. I think it's around £15 per pig per month (but I could be very wrong on that one!)

Looking at it another way (depending where you are in the country) a vet consult will likely cost £25-30 a time, antibiotics can easily add another £20 on top of that, and x-rays and operations (in the worst case scenario) can and will take you well over £100. So basically, I try and make sure I save enough so that I could at least cover the cost of consults and medication for my pigs and rats.

HTH :))
 
Thanks eveyone for your advice. I'm so desperate to get 2 guinea pigs but I know I'll need to have money for vets before I can. I have an old bank account I don't use so I was thinking of just using that for the guinea pigs and putting about £400 away for vet fees. Is that a good idea?
and to get guinea pigs nails trimmed at a vets is that free?
 
If you can afford to put that away for vets fees that sounds pretty good to me!

My vet will do nails for free, but once you've been shown how to do it (especially if you're new to it all) it's pretty straightforward to do it yourself. :)
 
Some vets will charge hell and earth, others will do it at a reasonable cost, however piggie power posted the other day saying her dog groomer offered to do it for about £2.00, so that could be something to consider.

£400 is a good base and will see you right, and you can always add to it as and when you can. Would the cost of the set up i.e. hay food cage and accessories be coming out of the £400? As this will take it down a fair bit.
 
I am very pro guinea pig insurance as I am a divorced mum on my own with 2 children and so have a fixed income - I look on it in the same way that I have to have my car insured although I hope I wont ever have to claim on it.
I insure my 3 pigs through exotic direct - it costs £6.50 per month per pig - there are some exclusions such as pregnancy and dental and you have to pay the first £50 of any claim - Amanda's Cameo has cost her well over £1000 recently,and that is with her vets nurse discount! - as another example my Bumble has been to the vets recently with a badly sprained paw that cost me £27 for the consultation and a weeks worth of pain relief - not worth claiming on the insurance with the excess but gave me peace of mind as would have run into the high hundreds if leg had been broken or even worse been amputated - at the end of the day to insure or to save is a personal decision and for me insurance is better suited to my circumstances (exotic direct is part of Pet Plan by the way )
Looking forward to seeing pigtures of your piggles when you get them.
 
I am very pro guinea pig insurance as I am a divorced mum on my own with 2 children and so have a fixed income - I look on it in the same way that I have to have my car insured although I hope I wont ever have to claim on it.
I insure my 3 pigs through exotic direct - it costs £6.50 per month per pig - there are some exclusions such as pregnancy and dental and you have to pay the first £50 of any claim - Amanda's Cameo has cost her well over £1000 recently,and that is with her vets nurse discount! - as another example my Bumble has been to the vets recently with a badly sprained paw that cost me £27 for the consultation and a weeks worth of pain relief - not worth claiming on the insurance with the excess but gave me peace of mind as would have run into the high hundreds if leg had been broken or even worse been amputated - at the end of the day to insure or to save is a personal decision and for me insurance is better suited to my circumstances (exotic direct is part of Pet Plan by the way )
Looking forward to seeing pigtures of your piggles when you get them.
 
I have an account that I make sure never goes below £500 for any unexpected vet bills. Any consultations and small fees, I just pay for out of my regular bank account but this is there as security for them.
One of my piggies had a bladder stone in May and the total cost was in excess of £300 for him then one of my girls had a hay poke injury a few weeks later which needed no treatment luckily but still cost £40 for the tests she needed.
Money so well spent and I would not have them if I couldn't provide them with the care and treatment they may need at any time.
You are very wise to be thinking ahead and saving :)
 
£400 would just be for vet fees. I'm getting my ferplast 140 cage from November payday. I've thought about insurance but i've heard that they don't pay out for treatment and if the guinea pig does become ill do you have to pay the vet fee first then the insurance give you the money? I'm not sure how pet insurance works. TAN have you had a good experience with exotic pets? £6.50 per month per pig is not a bad price to pay.
 
Luckily I have never had to claim - but as they are part of Pet Plan I would have thought that they were pretty reliable - I think it depends on your vet practice whether you have to pay up front or they send the bill to the insurer direct - I know when I was in my local vets the other week a man in front of me waved his insurance policy at the receptionist and they said they would send the bill on to the insurers - might be wise to register your guineas with a vet - try and find an exotics vet as they have much more experience than a general vet (although they can be very good - it all depends on the vet ) there is a sticky on here with a list of vets forum members have recommend.Hope this helps.
 
Don't have any experience with exotics but I know quite a few vets are fine to just bill Pet Plan straight off with dogs, cats, etc because of how good they have been, so if they know they are part of the same company I would have thought they'd be fine sending straight to them.
 
TAN thanks for your help. I found the vets list and someone recomended a vets in my area, I went on their site and they seem really good. I'm not sure wether to get pet insurance or not I think I would if the bill went to the insurance place first.
 
Well done for taking so much care and being so responsible. You are going to make a wonderful piggy mum. The cage you are getting is the best ready made cage too. I am looking forward to seeing your future piggies. :)
 
Aww piggyfan thanks. You just put a smile on my face:) I'm so excited to get my piggies but know it's best to do my research first, get everything they need and have enough money saved so they will have the best forever home they could ever wish for^)
 
How great your wanting to save up and prepare before you adopt the piggies. Its really is very comendable ... Look forward to seeing your new cage setup and at some point your new piggles. xx>>>
 
Thanks for providing such a great information here.
Actually,I was looking forward to such a info.I really appreciate it.Hope to see such a informative stuff in future!
 
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