People who mean well but just don't get it.

Makay772

Post   » Thu Jan 16, 2003 9:22 am


Hi, I just had a few thoughts while I was reading this thread.

Charybdis mentioned about a having a good heart but not doing the right things. In particular you mentioned about the woman bringing home the pregnant guinea pig. That reminds me of my situation...I brought home the two females only to find out a few weeks later that the one is a male. Yes, I was not knowlegeable but the way I see it..I am glad they are here where I will take the best possible care of both pigs as well as any babies if there are any, instead of somewhere who wouldn't.

I agree that most petstores shouldn't sell any animals for that matter unless they specialize in that certain animal. I do have to say tho that a there is a woman who works at a petsmart over by me (it is not where I bought my pigs), but she is very knowledgeable and caring. If she sees the slightest problem with guinea pigs that she sees she takes them immediately to the vet. She doesn't care of the cost or what management says...she makes sure that when a person gets one of them that they are perfectly healthy.

I am sure there are not many employees out there like that, but I really think there should be.

And that really angers me that those people who are supposed to know better are not taking better care of these guinea pigs.

Good luck on better educating people...I think you are on to something with taking some information to the petstores.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Jan 16, 2003 10:27 am


Out of curiousity, next time you see that woman, ask her what she looks for and how she knows the animal is ill i.e. what are the symptoms that warrant a trip to the vet.

Care is also only as good as the vet (and owner). Some Petsmarts unfortunately are not associated with good vets.

Charybdis

Post   » Thu Jan 16, 2003 2:58 pm


I will second that. The PetSmart near me regularly has sick-looking guinea pigs. Two days ago I went in there to check to make sure they were separating the males and females. One lonely male pig was by himself and I asked to see him. He had a fungus on his nose, which I called to the attention of the clerk. He said that he would have the vet look at it, and removed the pig. Know what? The pig was back in 15 minutes.

Worse, the PetSmart vet--and I use that term loosely--claims to be knowledgeable about guinea pigs but here is some of his wisdom:

"you can't keep males together--eventually they will have to be separated."

"if they are scratching themselves, it is probably a fungus, not mites."

"this probiotics thing is a recent fad. There really hasn't been enough research on it to tell if it's working. So if there poops are normal don't worry about a probiotic."

And then last week he wouldn't give me antibiotic for a pig that he SAID had a URI, because he "wasn't sneezing."

O ya, the PetSmart vets are great.

Makay772

Post   » Thu Jan 16, 2003 3:46 pm


I will ask her when I see her next. I go in there often for dog food. But I do know that she said if their eyes have even just a sign of an infection she takes them in right away. She said that she quarantines them for several days before putting them out in the publics view. Then even then she watches them closely.

I am really not sure what else she looks for tho. It just seemed like she really honestly cared about the animals. Even another time when I went in there the employees were talking about her...they were commenting on how she is constantly taking animals to the vets, etc.

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