Sticky for good health advice eg teeth problems?

[PiggiePal]

I was thinking that all the great advice you find on here from everyone needs writing into a sticky thread. In particular what you do if you think your guinea has teeth problems (all the dosage of meds etc) and also how to tell, same with mites, fungal etc. I find that the info is spread all over the place and when you're worried it takes ages to find it all. What do people think?
Perhaps start with a document that is then adapted and agreed on by everyone as obviously some people do things differently but there's no harm in having a few different methods on if your pig isn't taking to one in particular.

 

[Laura-CCC4]

It's something that has been briefly mentioned before. In some ways I like the idea, but on the whole personally I'm not entirely sure.

The biggest problem I feel is that every pigs situation is different, the treatment for a pig with (for example) mites could well be different in some way to the treatment for a pig with mites and fungal. And treatment for a pig with mites with open sores would, in my mind, have to be "different" to a pig with mites and no open sores.

Multiple illnesses can also be present, and I would be concerned that an owner would look at the sticky for info and treat symptoms without contacting the vet or, at the very least, asking others their thoughts on the pigs condition. When more than one illness is present, it can, in some cases, affect the treatment for another aspect of the condition. A health sticky would be too generalised and although a lot of the health advice given is fairly general, each pigs circumstances and condition really needs considering individually.

I do think what would be smart is a sticky on determining whether a vet is any good. We have stickies on recommended vets, but a thread detailing how to figure out which of your local vets would be most suitable, and how to get the best out of what vets you have access to. I have got a factsheet about it so can expand on that and post it at some point.

 

[PiggiePal]

Yes I can see your point but I still think it would be very useful to have all the info about doses etc written somewhere useful instead of having to trawl through loads of posts to look for it. I'm pretty sure most people would also tell people the guineas symptoms before they actually started treatment to be sure. Most of the time going to the vets just makes me very frustrated as they know next to nothing!

The vet thing sounds very good too though. I'd definately like a more comprehensive list of vets in my area and how they are rated.