*urgent* Help

[Sazzy]

Yeah I'm in the US, and let me tell you...small animal medical care is hard to find and expensive when you do. It's ridiculous. And you should see what public animal control does to most injured animals in my area when they get called out...it either involves a gun or a syringe with some overly-potent chemicals. It's a dreadful display of disregard for animal life.

It looks like you found someone to take a look? Plz keep us posted, I feel your pain. I have yet to experience piggy illness and I can't imagine the state I'll be in when it happens. I was floored for two days when my scorpion died, bottle of rum in one hand and a box of tissues in the other. It was quite the pity party lol.

Also, I would NOT advise giving the piggies human pain-killers. What works for humans could be too much for such a small animal, not to mention that the chemicals in the drug could react negatively with the animal's body chemistry (just look at birds and aspirin, for example).

Let us know what's up, and stay strong for your piggy!

 

[Jai0199]

Yeah I'm in the US, and let me tell you...small animal medical care is hard to find and expensive when you do. It's ridiculous. And you should see what public animal control does to most injured animals in my area when they get called out...it either involves a gun or a syringe with some overly-potent chemicals. It's a dreadful display of disregard for animal life.

It looks like you found someone to take a look? Plz keep us posted, I feel your pain. I have yet to experience piggy illness and I can't imagine the state I'll be in when it happens. I was floored for two days when my scorpion died, bottle of rum in one hand and a box of tissues in the other. It was quite the pity party lol.

Also, I would NOT advise giving the piggies human pain-killers. What works for humans could be too much for such a small animal, not to mention that the chemicals in the drug could react negatively with the animal's body chemistry (just look at birds and aspirin, for example).

Let us know what's up, and stay strong for your piggy!

I will definitely keep you all posted. And don't worry. I'm definitely NOT going to give her any human painkillers. I'd be too scared to anyway.

I'm sorry about your scorpion. I'm interested in knowing how long your scorpion lived. I hear they can live anywhere from 10-25 years.

 

[Sazzy]

He was fairly young, but poorly taken cared for where he lived before I bought him. I only had him for a short amount of time before he rainbow-bridged on me. I bought him from petsmart. I felt bad for the guy. He was an Asian forest scorpion and they had him living in sand. Nothing to hide under, nothing to play with, just sand and a waterbowl...um I'm sorry, but what does "forest" say that sounds like "put him in a dessert terrarium!"? So he obviously probably had breathing issues because of their book-lungs. I always feel obligated to buy an animal from somewhere if I feel it is being cared for improperly, but often times it's too late to help them much once you get them home...

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! Just keep on monitoring and weighing her daily, and if necessary, keep her topped up with syringe feed and water, as much as necessary.

I know that the situation in the US can be dire for small animals and the cost of having them treated by an exotics vet astronomical. Are you anywhere near one of these recommended vets?
Hopefully, you can get a prescription for metacam (animal painkiller) from your vet. It is very difficult to say what your girl is suffering from and what she needs without a vet diagnosis.I would also recommend to ask for a gut stimulant.
Veterinarians - The GLX-Files
First Aid Kit For Guinea Pigs

 

[Beans&Toast]

There's lots of medication that is suitable for humans as well as dogs, cats and guinea pigs etc.
And lots of highly experienced exotic vets use unlicensed medication for piggies where necessary.
I understand some people may not feel comfortable with it and it's not something I'd advise using instead of a vet visit and proper animal medication, but there's lots of advice on here and other sites from vets/vet nurses/very experienced piggy owners about human medication that could be used to help an ill piggy in an emergency, especially if vet care isn't possible at the time.
I'm glad your little piggy made it through the night and seems to be doing better

 

[Vandamf]

I'm glad that Sundae ended up with you. Who knows what kind of care she would have had otherwise? I'm sorry to hear about her health issues. Six years is almost unheard of here. Happy early birthday to Sundae! I hope she lives well past that. My other piggy is only 4 months. Let's hope she makes it to the ripe age of six.

So pleased your piggie survived thr darkest of nights. Hope you now can get to the bottom of it with vet help. I had a similar "dark night" recently with my Mavis. Sadly she didnt make it, and died in my arms at 3 am. She was 9 and a bit years old !

I was a proper mess in front of my classes the next day. Held it together tho , just.

 

[Vandamf]

There is a law in the uk about not allowing an animal to suffer, that it is an offense not to seek timely veterinary care. It applies to owner and vets so I suppose its a bit like a veterinary hypocratic oath. Maybe thats why they cant/dont refuse to attend a guinea pig? Apart from the fact they care, obviously

And then theres the fact that dogs and cats are generally insured (£££££££) whereas gps generally arent (£). ?....just argued against myself there

 

[Keiko The Pig]

One of the things I've learned from this forum is that guinea pigs as pets seem to be taken more seriously in the UK. I'm in Canada, and although guinea pigs are fairly common here, the general attitude seems to be that they are 'starter pets' for children and have short lifespans and aren't worth a vet visit. Most people I know are baffled that my pigs get medical care, and I have to drive half an hour (without traffic) to find a vet with guinea pig experience. There are non-exotic vets who will see guinea pigs but obviously have no idea what they are doing (in fact, when I was a much more inexperienced owner I lost a guinea pig at least in part to substandard vet care... I was sick when I figured out later on after it was too late how half-assed her treatment was. She had an abscess lanced and drained, her teeth cut so poorly that she could not eat at all, and the antibiotic she was given was, by the tiny print on the label, actually an ear/eye drop for dogs which stated nowhere that it was even intended to be taken orally. And this level of 'treatment' cost me several hundred dollars over the course of two weeks before she passed away.) I'm honestly jealous of the level of medical expertise available in the UK... I'm actually extremely happy with the vet I have now, but even so things like conscious dentistry are not even an option, and although my vet is great he certainly does not do surgery and such on guinea pigs on a daily basis, if only because no one bothers taking guinea pigs to the vet. The prevailing attitude seems to be that you can get a new guinea pig for about twenty-five dollars so why would you pay more than that for vet care. It's really sad!

I'm in canada also, what province are you in? maybe we need a thread for canadian vets that specialize in exotics or will at least see guinea pigs even if all they can offer are some pain meds

 

[Freela]

I'm in canada also, what province are you in? maybe we need a thread for canadian vets that specialize in exotics or will at least see guinea pigs even if all they can offer are some pain meds

I'm in Ontario, in the greater Toronto area (I'm east of Toronto proper.) I know a couple good vets I would recommend, one in Toronto proper (used to live there and they were my hedgehog vets) and one in Clarington, where I take my present pigs.

 

[Keiko The Pig]

I'm in Ontario, in the greater Toronto area (I'm east of Toronto proper.) I know a couple good vets I would recommend, one in Toronto proper (used to live there and they were my hedgehog vets) and one in Clarington, where I take my present pigs.

What a coincidence I'm also in the GTA but I live a bit north of brampton. I think we're getting ripped off hearing about how all the UK vets take guinea pigs and like the 6-8 closest animal hospitals or vet clinics to me only see cats/dogs

 

[Cookies&Glitter]

The reason I joined this forum even though it is uk and I live in the US is because of the fact that they seem like a far more highly valued pet. The sheer number of vets that refuse to see my piggies is ridiculous and I even had an emergency visit where my piggy was passing bladder stones and he refused to give her pain medication, said he didn't know of any. Also this was called an animal and bird hospital so I was not impressed and he charged me $50 for the exam visit instead of the usual $30 or $40. Makes me have serious doubts about the quality of out vet schools, do they just not have an exotics rotation? I don't understand that would be like me getting through nursing school without a pediatric or geriatric rotation, sure you may work somewhere that doesn't have that as your main population but to never treat them makes me want to move to the uk.