Why do people delay vet treatment?

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Ok Bramble, sorry I took it out of context! Certainly a topic that has got us all thinking.
 
no prob cavy galore ! sometimes i miss the spacebar, quote box etc ! its beina a dumb blond ::)
 
mary , please dont feel this way , thats what I WAS trying to say everyone should feel free to ask advice, no one knows everything , you can get loads info via these forums , but no ones any better than anyone eles , we are all here for our beloved fur balls benifit ? ?
 
bramble said:
mary , please dont feel this way , thats what I WAS trying to say everyone should feel free to ask advice, no one knows everything , you can get loads info via these forums , but no ones any better than anyone eles , we are all here for our beloved fur balls benifit ? ?
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Just feel like some members have been a bit hard
 
I just wish there were easy payment schemes at vets to help pay like weekly etc,a lot of old people dont always get benefits so cant get cheaper treatment for their animals and theyre all they have to keep them company :-\ :(
 
Mary said:
I wish I never posted about little Chester now, so glad that his owner isnt on here. I will think very carefully before posting about any help or advice again. This has really up set me as poor Chester is gone now and I feel that myself and his owner didnt do enough.
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No Mary, please don't feel like that - I know that you and Chester's owner would have done all that you can. There is no point thinking "I wish I had done more!" - We all begin to feel like that so don't feel alone!
 
Here's my thoughts on the matter (sorry if it's a bit much!) that I posted on another forum after seeing many a post regarding people neglecting to seek vet treatment or treating the pigs themselves at home.

All too often across many a forum now I am seeing posts where people have seriously ill animals and cannot/will not take them to a vet. Sometimes it's out of selfishness (the vet will tell them that it's time to call it a day) or because they don't have the finances.

Note that I am not referring to minor complaints that can be dealt with at home - broken teeth, small cuts, early stage mites. I am by no means suggesting you go to the vet every time your pet sneezes. But people need to know where to draw the line. If it's something you don't know anything about, see a vet. If your pet is acting out of character, see a vet. If in ANY doubt, see a vet.

If you cannot be financially responsible for the veterinary treatment of an animal, seriously reassess whether or not you should own one now or own one in future. There are organisations in the UK (PDSA et al) who can assist with costs/treatment if you qualify - have this in place before you get a pet. Many vets also accept credit/debit cards - I understand that not everyone wants to get into debt but if it's a matter of life and death then I know what I would (as I have in the past) chose to do.

Here's some emergency options:

Contact the PDSA or RSPCA. You might be lucky but there is no guarantee they will not say no or euthanise the animal if you surrender it.
Contact your local rescue. They may be willing to treat the animal if you surrender ownership.
Negotiate with the vet on pricing. When I couldn't afford to pay more than £100 for surgery I asked the vet if they would be willing to reduce the costs slightly, which they did.
Contact an alternative vet - some are cheaper than others.
Ask your vet about the possibly of delaying payment such as until the end of the month if that's when you get paid/get money.
Ask about the possibility of paying in installments.
See if there is a university veterinary hospital near you. Often you could get a very high standard of care for a decent price.

In the UK you have a legal requirement to seek veterinary treatment for a sick animal. If you choose not to seek treatment or instead treat yourself/get a non-veterinary person to treat - you risk prosecution. That is ASIDE from, naturally, any moral obligations you have.

I also have come to realise that it's especially important to consider age of the owner as a factor when it comes to seeking vet treatment. All younger (i.e. under the age when you cannot legally earn money yourself) owners need to bear in mind that they are NOT ultimately responsible for vet care of your animals. It is all very well to save up allowance/pocket money but, as I will mention in the next part, vet bills can be more than you could ever imagine.

Bear in mind that vet bills can, and do, run into hundreds of pounds. You can buy a pet in the UK currently from the age of 12 (soon to be 16), but your parents MUST be willing to support you financially. If you do not have the support from your parents, grit your teeth and walk away. Don't push the issue. It just isn't good enough to say that you love your cavies but your parents don't. It is your parents who are legally obliged to seek treatment on your behalf (at least that is the case here in the UK).

Parents - guinea pigs are family pets. If you are buying one for your child bear in mind the costs involved. As above, if you are not willing or able to cover the costs, you need to seriously reconsider.
 
Caviesgalore said:
Here here Sehnsucht, what a good idea.
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in fact things like that would help a lot of us,especially when we get huge emergency bills to pay and we cant all insure our piggies like you can cats and dogs :(
 
I tried the tactic of delaying paying todays bill until the end of the month,after much umm'ing and ahh'ing they said its ok for a week ::) ::) :(
ive also asked about paying in installments and theyve always said treatment has to be paid for there and then
seriously they never seem to help us out in these situations and they know how much these pets mean to us..
 
Sehnsucht said:
in fact things like that would help a lot of us,especially when we get huge emergency bills to pay and we cant all insure our piggies like you can cats and dogs :(
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Thats a very good point - I have looked for pet insurance for guineas and found only one - and which their premium amounted to more than one for a small dog ?
 
bramble said:
cavies galore, the bit you quoted me on wasnt in response from at a remark on here, more a general remark .throughout society, it seems only those with lots of money should have kids /animals etc
ive found people with less money normally GO further for there animals :)
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I agree most people who have a pet that becomes ill will do anything possable to get veterinary advise and its a very distressing time for people to see there animals sick, irrelevant of their financial situation, because if this was the case people who are not classed as well off would never be able to own animals just in case they become ill. I am a young mum with two young children and own 3 piggies soon to be 6 and i would never deny my piggies to veterinary treatment when they needed it although it may be expensive i would find the money as I'm sure most of you would. I would not qualify to get help from the pdsa so would probably have an expensive vet bill if any of my piggies became ill and i agree with sehnshucht a payment plan is a very good idea for people who can not afford a expensive lump sum but could spread the cost over a few weeks or months :)
 
vik said:
bramble said:
cavies galore, the bit you quoted me on wasnt in response from at a remark on here, more a general remark .throughout society, it seems only those with lots of money should have kids /animals etc
ive found people with less money normally GO further for there animals :)
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I agree most people who have a pet that becomes ill will do anything possable to get veterinary advise and its a very distressing time for people to see there animals sick, irrelevant of their financial situation, because if this was the case people who are not classed as well off would never be able to own animals just in case they become ill. I am a young mum with two young children and own 3 piggies soon to be 6 and i would never deny my piggies to veterinary treatment when they needed it although it may be expensive i would find the money as I'm sure most of you would. I would not qualify to get help from the pdsa so would probably have an expensive vet bill if any of my piggies became ill and i agree with sehnshucht a payment plan is a very good idea for people who can not afford a expensive lump sum but could spread the cost over a few weeks or months :)
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I had a conversation with my vet about this. Legally they are not a credit agency so are therefore not supposed to offer credit to customers. Hence why I have to settle all bills at the time. My vet have allowed me to come back and pay before when I have rushed there in an emergency and forgotten my wallet ::)
 
You know at Christmas/birthdays when people ask what you want, and you can never think of anything ... (I can't anyway!) maybe it might be an idea for people to say, well actually what I'd really like is a bit of cash towards my guinea vet fund.

Just an idea? Might be helpful.
 
I have to agree completly with you Barbara. When i noticed my Spike was sick last year, i got on the phone to the vet imediatly. I knew he needed treatment there and then. This was a weekday mid afternoon so was a 'normal' fee. When my bunny got fly strike last year it was on a sunday. Off to the emergency vet, cost £150. I never hessitated for one second about getting treatment the minute one of them shows any sign of sickness.
 
I had a conversation with my vet about this. Legally they are not a credit agency so are therefore not supposed to offer credit to customers. Hence why I have to settle all bills at the time. My vet have allowed me to come back and pay before when I have rushed there in an emergency and forgotten my wallet ::)


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Yes i can understand that its a shame though, but i hope there will be some system in the near future where vets will be able to set up some sort of payment plans this could help people who are not able to qualify to get pdsa help but may not have £100+ to pay out in one lump sum :)
 
I've had a lot of guinea pigs dropped off in situations like this. They would rather drive an hour or more, give me a $10 rehoming fee, rather than take them to the vet. I once asked a lady why she didn't just take them to the vet, as I knew there was one rather close to her and I was 2 1/2 hours away and this was her exact response-

"Why spend hundreds of dollars when even if he gets better he won't live much longer anyway?" People make me so mad :tickedoff:. Don't get a pet if you're not going to take care of him/her/them the way you would want to be taken care of.

Kimmie
 
I was one of a few people that put my point accross to lyndseym about not being able to afford long term treatment for the piggie. Surely it's the same thing as not being able to afford imediate treatment.
Every month we spend more then we earn, but if the animals get sick we stick it on the credit card. I know we are (in a way) lucky to have a credit card, but i cant say one thing to one person, and something different in another post.
 
I would like to say I do believe all animals have the right to see a professional when they are sick, if you cannot do anything yourself or you are not 100% sure what you are dealing with an expert is the place you need to go. Even if little can be done then at least their suffering could be eased. As has been pointed out earlier in this post this right has recently become law. Hopefully in the near future it might be enforced. I hope this post will not put people off seeking adviceon minor ailments but really in an emergncy a forum isn't really the place to turn and the piggy needs to see someone. Coming to a place such as this to arm yourself with facts to protect your pet from problems you might have with vets is another thing but its not an alternative in my opinion. My first post of call would be a phonecall to the CCT and I learned that the hard way, loosing a piggy my lovely Prince. I did get him to a rodentologist but too late. None of us want to see our piggies die... and I hope that we all take this chance to reflect, perhaps save a little money each week for a 'rainy' day or look up the number of an emergency vet or our nearest rodentologist. This way if a terrible emergency strikes we can concentrate on getting our loved one the help they need, without worrying about how we might do that or how we might afford it.
 
I'm lucky that even though I live basically in the middle of nowhere :p I have found what seems like an excellent vet whose out of hours costs are very reasnoble, and in the reach of my "emergency guinea pig fund" :p although I haven't had to test the vet on anything too major yet, they were very good about answering all of my stupid questions about Bowie's neutering.

The problem with getting a guinea from a store or freeads is that is usually doesn't equate with the expense of vets fees, whereas a rescue pig would come with the caveat of being able to care for them in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer lol!

I must admit the "i'm not spending money on a small animal, I could just get another" brigade make me sick to the stomach. :tickedoff:

I might be saving for a wedding, but I'd rather bake my own cake and spend the money on the pigs if they ever needed it ;D
 
Wasn't sure whether I wanted to put my two penny's worth in but have now decided I am going to....fingers crossed that I don't offend anyone.

I have to say - I spend a small fortune at my vets. I have rang my vet in the middle of the night before and have had several emergency appointments over the years. I am happy that mine are not ripping me off though - in fact the last visit I had was for Angela. Just a general MOT and they didn't charge me. My vets have also been excellent and showing me what I need to do to provide treatment for non critical conditions at home so I don't have to put the animal through the stress of a vet visit.

I do think that people need to work out how they are going to fund vet bills before they get a pet. Whether it be a emergency credit card or a savings account.... I think it is also vital that people find a good vet near them before they actually need one! I do agree that the forum is not a substitute for veterinary advice.

I believe that there are different reasons why people delay treatment. There are people who do not seek vet help because they can't be bothered or don't care. I have no tolerance for people like this. They make my blood boil. There are also those people who would happily go to the vet but have made a bad/mis-informed decision and delayed a visit as a result. No one is perfect and mistakes like this do happen sometimes and it is easy to be harsh and judgemental when you are on the outside looking in. In these circumstances, I would hope that this forum would be a little sympathetic.

My personal rules around vet care are simple - there are a couple of things that, thanks to my vet, I am happy to treat at home (this is the same for my dog and rabbit as well - I really do have a fab vet!). Anything else or any doubt at all then vet.
 
I must say altho my vet is one of the dearest in the area , they know me so well , when i have had an emergency they are quite prepared to accept a deposit & balance on payday etc , OH boss has helped us out on many occasions in the past when we were new to the area .by paying the bill in full and we pay him back, or we were asked by one vet to sign i IOU basically & we gave both our works numbers as security, (both business were well known in the area) this i might add was for larger animal emergency's but i know my vet would do it for what ever animal i needed to take in.
i must echo what so many have said before weather its a stick insect or a horse if something isnt right & the pet isnt its normal self SEEK ADVICE FROM A VET. there is no ifs or buts about it, & i could never see an animal of mine in pain...
i can understand asking for advice on a forum if you have no one eles to turn to, but only for a short period of time certainly not over a long period of time, vets will normally offer free out of hours advice on the phone , which is much better than a forum , where you dont know anyone from adam surley ? ( as much as people on forums are great for a chat , to share story's , swap advice etc, chew the fat , in an emergency , dont waste time , ring a vet please)

and i cant for the life of me understand anyone who would rather turn a 'much loved pet' into a rescue/rspca than take it to a vets :tickedoff:

I agree with cavykinds question, just not with how some people deal with questions about illness etc, sometimes i wonder if having a 'health section ' is always a good thing ? yes we all like to learn about minor ailments , home treatments etc but some people , thro ignorance or sheer indiffernce may choose to 'see what happpens' because they may not realise piggies go down hill so quick & if so n so can treat her animals at home so can i , sad but like they say on tv 'dont try this at home' but it doesnt stop some people does it ! ?
 
incase this post was referring to me about Sooty or Sweep.
My mum refused to take Coco to the vets, and my dad had no money to divorcing my mum. (The forms were £300)
The vet told us Biscuit was not pregaunt, and being my first piggy pregauncy so the baby died. and no fault of mine. :( though i did feel like it
Sooty and Sweep only had a check up from the vets a week before they're deaths, and shown no sign of illness at all. 2 hours before they're deaths, they were happily playing as usual, and then i lost them!
Sorry just had to defend myself, when you mentioned about babies i felt it was abit directed towards me.


Natnat x :smitten:
 
natnat , i wasnt refering to any one person , i use babies /babys to apply to any one/animal i care about , so i do hope you didnt think anything i say is aiimed at you or a person in general :)
 
We have a credit card just for our pets with a very high limit to it, not the best idea in the world, but the flip side of the coin is there is always enough money for the vets, I guess i just like to whine about how much the vets cost, but there is ALWAYS money for the vets if it is needed. O0
 
I agree Barbara.

On a similar thread, the other day I woke to find my cat was limping very bad and growling with pain, I phoned the emergency vet who gave advice and told me to come in as the first appointment for surgery. I do not drive but got a taxi both ways to make sure she is ok.
This is one of the things about pet ownership, if you can't afford it, don't get a pet, unfortunately, basic care is very important.

I had my guinea pig Ralph for 3 days before he was rushed in to the vets with bladder stones, I didn't think twice about the fact it would cost me £150 as his little life was important to me, unfortunately others would have had him put to sleep for the exact same reason. :'(
 
I'm only taling from personal experiences I know if i'm worried about gizmo i would post on here only because i dont know if i'm over reacting for example you'll probably laugh ;D but when i first noticed gizmo's grease gland i didnt know what it was i thought there was something wrong with him and was going to take him to the vet the next day until i posted on here and you all told me it's normal. I suppose people post on her for a bit of reassurance that it's not them being over reacting.
As for pets in need of emergancy vet care i know we all would probably do the most we possibly could for them. A couple of years a go our dog was looking for a bit down one day an a bit off her food we said if she dont pick up by tomorrow we'll run her the vets. Any way when we woke up the next day there was alot of mess (won't go into detail) an we rang are own vets emergancy number weren't answering tried a couple more who again didn't answer so we tried the PDSA were not intitled to go there but after a lot of perswasion (i thought any sick pet was a top prioty but they weren't too sure :o) they said we could take her in. Unfortunatly the dog died she caught parvo and it had gone too far for her to be saved although she had her injections. I blamed mself for a long time thinking what if i had took her earlier.

I suppose what i'm trying to say is until your actually in the situation its hard to judge it especcially when you've not got much experience on the illness you dont reconise the signs of a serious illness and looking back we all can say i wish i done things differently.But at the time you've done what you thought was best and we all love our animals and would do the best for them.Its hard enough loosing animal AND WE SHOULD ALL SUPPORT EACH OTHER not critise there desicions even if we don't agree.

That was hard work writing all that hope i've made sense :D
 
You have made sence. So sorry you lost your dog to Parvo, we have had 2 dogs in at the vets with this and it did take time for the vet to make out that it was parvo. The smell is a give away once you have seen it once, one of the dogs did make it but it was touch and go for some time. I lost a dog about 5 years ago to throat cancer, she had been to the vets 3 times and they couldnt find out what was wrong with her apart from a small lump in her throat. We had an appointment to go back in 2 days time. The next day the lump was the size of a orange, we took her back and sadly she was put to sleep. She was older than my children as we had tried for 5 years to have babies and had her instead. That night I went to bed and she was in my dream and she was ok. I felt I didnt do enough and throught that if she had an op she would have been ok. But I turned the dream around and said to myself it was her telling me she was ok now and runing free 0:)
 
we lost a dog to parvo once,he had 5 teeth out as he was oldish and was fine for a day or two then died of that,according to a nurse that worked at the vets,she told us on the quiet that they had just had a dog in with the disease..so it kinda upset my dad and put us off that vet
i think once somethin goes wrong at a vets with one of our animals its very offputting and seeing as my dogs as loopy as i am its a nightmare to travel far with him to a diff vets,so i guess we will have to stick with the one that didnt keep their eye on Dusty when he had been neutered >:( :'(
 
We swapped straight after i wanted a vet that i could get in ouch with 24/7 not 9 till 5 only 5 days a week!The vet i'm with now is much better he actually cares for the animals well being an loves his job. Makes you so angry how many pets lifes have been lost due to negligence on a vets behalf. If it was a human doctor they would of been struck off!
 
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