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Smudge Has A Broken Foot.

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DoragonHinansho said:
I haven't had a chance to speak with them yet. I'm going to wait until I calm down as I'm absolutely fuming. I need to ring them back as to when exactly I can put them back together as I'm fed up of them stressing out. O suppose I can't right now as the ramp would stop Smudge's foot healing, right?

Going to be writing a very professional letter asking for the £50 + I had to pay for the Bumblefoot back.
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You're absolutely right to wait until you feel calmer and write a well worded letter.

Do you know of any other vets locally ?
 
Yes; one of them is a Vets for Pets in my local Pets at Home, and there is one nearby based in Abbotswood. None of these are GP experts though, and the nearest one is in Filton. And honestly...after all the money I just spent on Smudge's "bumblefoot" I don't have the money to afford anymore vet treatment. I'm going to have to call them back tomorrow as I have no idea what to do with Smudge at the moment - since she's not in casting, I see no reason to keep her separated from the others anymore. The only problem I can see is the ramp, but Smudge was using this just fine when she first had the injury.
 
DoragonHinansho said:
I see no reason to keep her separated from the others anymore. The only problem I can see is the ramp, but Smudge was using this just fine when she first had the injury.
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You've thought this through - and I'm inclined to agree with you BUT I am not a health and illness guru or qualified to comment . Is the vets closed now ? This is the sort of thing you may be able to get an answer on with a telephone call.
 
:hug:l know how you feel, these little ones worry us sick :own:

£50 bumble foot pack ? whats that ?
 
DoragonHinansho said:
Yes; one of them is a Vets for Pets in my local Pets at Home, and there is one nearby based in Abbotswood. None of these are GP experts though, and the nearest one is in Filton. .
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There are some good vets working in ordinary vet surgeries - it's just finding them! I took my Bess to an exotics vet - yes - she got good treatment - but at a cost ! I now take to her to a Vets4pets surgery that was recommended to me by a fellow guinea pig owner . The vet I now take her to keeps guinea pigs himself , so is interested in them - and the surgery is closer than the exotics vet .
 
PiggyOwner said:
You've thought this through - and I'm inclined to agree with you BUT I am not a health and illness guru or qualified to comment . Is the vets closed now ? This is the sort of thing you may be able to get an answer on with a telephone call.
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The vet...got mad with me that I called her to ask and she just shouted "no I did say she needs rest on her own and no ramp!!" I feel like crying, actually. Scratch that, I had a panic attack and hung up. Forget going back to them in a couple of weeks, I'll go somewhere else.
gizzy said:
:hug:l know how you feel, these little ones worry us sick :own:

£50 bumble foot pack ? whats that ?
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Ooops! My fast typing on the phone! I meant I had to pay over £50 for the misdiagnoses.
 
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I just...I am absolutely speechless and I have no words. At all.

Sorry, but you can't shout at an 18 year old customer who has been messed around by you over the past week; made to pay a heck of a lot of money just for you to shout at me for asking a question. I know damn well that all of my animals are stressed, not to mention poor Smudge being force fed medicine that has made her loose weight and her appetite hasn't been the same, and I thought that getting back in with her friends would at least help her settle down. I haven't been given an apology for being messed around or the misdiagnoses. Thanks a lot for your rubbish service and triggering an anxiety attack. Thanks for that. You can't even tell me how broken her foot is or be bothered to get her in a cast.
 
Sorry you have been so shabbily treated - I know when one of my other piggies had a really bad sprain she had to kept as immobile as possible so that it could heal - so she lived in a large cat carrier that was then placed inside the pen she shared with her huspig so that she could be near him but he couldn't mount her - as it did heal but then he started mounting her and damaged it again - it took 3 weeks to heal properly - if you get stuck in the future Rachael Mowbray is my vet over in Dursley - she has piggies of her own - a 1st consultation is about £22 and a follow up about £18 - x-ray about £40 / £60.
 
That's awful. Did they at least give you pain relief?
 
We still have some of the metacam she was prescribed left over, but they didn't say anything about changing her dose or even supplying me with enough for the next two weeks! I'm just going to continue on the Metacam at her current dose (0.4ml daily) and then when I run out..speak to a different vet and explain the situation. That's all I can do, as quite frankly, I don't want to give any more of my little money I have left to that vets.
 
Glad you have some. Are you splitting the dose so she has it twice a day?
 
No - I didn't realize that I should be doing that, as the Vet told me to give her the whole dose once a day. I can split it and do 0.2 each time if that will help with her pain more?
 
DoragonHinansho said:
No - I didn't realize that I should be doing that, as the Vet told me to give her the whole dose once a day. I can split it and do 0.2 each time if that will help with her pain more?
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Most vets prescribe Metacam as a daily dose - so , you're not doing anything wrong giving one dose daily - but, I can see Helen's reasoning for splitting the dose into 2
 
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I have always split in 2 as I find it doesn't last the day otherwise. Not so much for mild pain.
 
Thanks for the tip - I'd rather give her the dose spread out to help with her pain. When I get close to the end of her medicine supply I'm going to have to ring a new vet, explain the situation, and hope they can help me...and not charge me such high prices. I can't afford it after all the hassle this vet just gave me...I don't even want to contact them again about the misdiagnosis after how they shouted at me and treated me tonight.
 
DoragonHinansho said:
Thanks for the tip - I'd rather give her the dose spread out to help with her pain. When I get close to the end of her medicine supply I'm going to have to ring a new vet, explain the situation, and hope they can help me...and not charge me such high prices. I can't afford it after all the hassle this vet just gave me...I don't even want to contact them again about the misdiagnosis after how they shouted at me and treated me tonight.
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If you make an appointment with a new vet, they can request the records from your previous vet. I'd start to make enquiries now as surgeries can get busy this time of year.
 
I'll start ringing around at my other local vets and see if any of them are good with GP. I'm hoping the Vets for Pets in the Yate P@H might be ideal as it's literally, a two minute drive. I'll inquire first and ask, though...um...any idea on what I should..say?
 
DoragonHinansho said:
I'll start ringing around at my other local vets and see if any of them are good with GP. I'm hoping the Vets for Pets in the Yate P@H might be ideal as it's literally, a two minute drive. I'll inquire first and ask, though...um...any idea on what I should..say?
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I'm afraid it is trial and error. If you explain to the receptionist that you need to see a vet who is experienced in looking after guinea pigs, they will do their best to assist you.
 
My vet in Dursley is 28 mins drive from Yate if going on the A46 (29 mins and 18.8 miles) or 28 mins if going on the B4060 and 12.5 miles - I would assume if you have had an x-ray you should be able to get the vet to e-mail it to you so you can forward on to your new vet - seeing as you paid for it -so shouldn't need to spend out on another -
 
Update on Smudge:

Her little foot is beginning to go down massively, there's still rather a lot of swelling but it's not nowhere near as bad as it was! The only thing that's holding us back at the moment is the scab on the bottom of her foot. She's still accidentally catching it on occasion and making it bleed, but in also thinking of starting up the salt baths again in order to help the scab come off. Once the scab comes off, I'm happy to re-introduce all of the girls and hopefully, with luck, get them all back in together happily!

She's still using the foot really well - popcorning very high for treats - despite some of my so called "friends" saying really nasty stuff. Apparently because I can buy a New Guinea Pig for £20, I should put Smudge to sleep as she isn't worth the money. Gyah. Been heartbreaking hearing stuff like that - Smudge is a living being, and she's not suffering - while she's mad at me for not letting her run around and not with her friends currently, she's still happy. I'm confident that she'll heal up completely - maybe a slightly wonky foot; but she's using it perfectly so I have no concerns.

I've also managed to get hold of a very local vet practice with a particular vet who's had lots of experience with Guinea pigs in his years; they were really understanding and seemed lovely, so in the new year when Smudge needs a check up; I think I'm willing to swap all my records over to them or a hand-over.

Overall I'm so relieved that this is all turning out so well. I also got Smudge's foot cream in the post which in considering using anyway - to help keep that scab moist and prevent her from itching it off! But orverall Smudge is doing great, her appetite is fantastic and she's back to my old Smudgey again.
 
Please to hear things are looking up - don't you just want to slap some people with a wet fish (not a live one obviously ) I was in the shop talking to a customer yesterday who has a house rabbit and she was asking me about bumble - said so glad he was insured as his latest treatment came to nearly £600 and the woman coming up behind her to pay (its only a small shop and she must have been earwigging) rolled her eyeballs and said "for goodness sake it's only a guinea pig" - arrgh!
 
Hm. After posting yesterday and a couple of hours later, I noticed that Smudge has been pretty quiet.

She's continued to be quiet over the majority of the day; and then today to, my Dad actually woke me up to tell me that she was pretty quiet. And usually, he doesn't care.

Anyway, keeping an eye on her. Petty concerned. She's still eating, but...
 
Was going to start the salt baths again tonight after work - the scab seems very dry and I was sure that it would be itchy! So I just popped into see Smudge before I went to work to find she'd beaten me to it and ripped her scab off again. Got blood absolutely everywhere this time, all over her chin (she tried the innocent act) and all over her paws and the floor. Got the bleeding stopped - I'm just wishing that the skin would heal underneath so that I could get her back in with the others! Once this scab comes off naturally then I'm sure I can start the progress. For now everything that gets stuck to it it just starts ripping it bleeding again, so...

Apart from that, I need to at least ring the vet practice to get her more pain relief for over Christmas - she seems okay, but I'm not sure... I'll speak about it with them, maybe.
 
I would try to get some pain relief in case even if the vet thinks it is not needed, you don't want her to be in pain over Christmas and you not be able to give her any.
 
Okay, so we have a problem. Smudge ripped off her scab again while I was at work, pretty badly this time. Good news is, more scab has dropped off and another part of her foot is healed.

Bad news, we think the pain is bugging her and I've started her back up on the Baytril. I'm worried about infection after she keeps ripping it off and walking around on it all the time.

Edit: we decided to give her a makeshift bandage. She is sulking, but at least she can't rip it off now. The wound underneath isn't scabbing up anymore; it's actually quite deep. We can't put her back on sawdust with a wound that deep. But then me and mum are worried something else is going on with her... I don't know. The skin looks healthy underneath...

I'm just scared. Don't really want to loose a third Guinea Pig this year.

image.webp
 
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image.webp image.webp Introducing Smudge: the most unimpressed Guinea Pig in existence.

It was the only way we could get her to stop chewing. She's been in it 30 minutes and doing her dang best to get it off.
 
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