I got a new guinea pig!

[mini'smama]

" What's a pet stare? Is it when your guinea pig looks something like this ? "

Hehe...good one.

[C&K]

You cannot accept that no matter what any of you do, the pet stares are still going to sell guinea pigs one way or another and you cannot just ACCEPT THAT!

I know that when I was a little girl, all petstores where I lived sold dogs and cats. Now, only a handful sell cats, and it is more of a rehoming service for accidental litters. Only one sells dogs . (Petland, ugh)

I know that 1/2 the stores sell small animals, because people still think it is acceptable, they don't know about the mills, the homeless small animal problem, the risks to the mothers. When I talk to people on the street, they are shocked and appaulled. Many say they will never buy from a store again, or will look at the shelters and petfinder first! With time, and education, why can't it change for small animals too?

I refuse to accept that it cannot!

[mini'smama]

"...Also yes I did make up the part about bills LOL I just want to make a point that my family is on a tight budget at the moment and nobody would believe a [teenager]. But i truly do not think my mother will agree to take her to the vet..."

If your family is on such a tight budget, then why did you take on the responsibility of a potentially pregnant animal? YOUR poor judgement could very well cause negative results for this guinea pig that you claim to love.

[daftscotslass]

Originally Posted by mini'smama

"...Also yes I did make up the part about bills LOL I just want to make a point that my family is on a tight budget at the moment and nobody would believe a [teenager]. But i truly do not think my mother will agree to take her to the vet..."

If your family is on such a tight budget, then why did you take on the responsibility of a potentially pregnant animal? YOUR poor judgement could very well cause negative results for this guinea pig that you claim to love.

I agree... and I still would like to know why your parents would pay for the dog at the vet and not the guinea pig.

[C&K]

Also yes I did make up the part about bills LOL I just want to make a point that my family is on a tight budget at the moment and nobody would believe a XX year old. But i truly do not think my mother will agree to take her to the vet.

You are allowed to love the pig. This is a mistake that many people on this forum have made, buying a petstore pig to save it. It is a noble thing to do in a way, but terribly misguided. I just hope you can see that, by buying her, you release the mess the store got themselves into, AND you are putting another sow at risk breeding to replace this pig.

If petstores could not sell their livestock, they would stop ordering more, the mills would have no call to breed more. That is a plain truth.

What is done is done. Now the work begins. Your pig at the very very least needs to be treated with Ivermectin (and you other pig and a good idea to treat your friends pigs, (don't worry, a bottle of Ivermectin goes a long long way!) I would not recommend Revolution for a pregnant sow. Advantage does nothing for mites.DO NOT EVER EVEN THINK ABOUT USING AN INSECTICIDAL SHAMPOO or SPRAY!!!! that could kill your pig right there and then!

You have a lot of reading to do, and notes to take. Start with the newbies thread here:
[FONT=Arial]NEWBIES- Please Read This Post FIRST!!![/FONT][FONT=Arial] [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]And this thread:[/FONT]
Common Misconceptions about Guinea Pigs and their Care

Then you can move on to GL
www.guinealynx.info

They have a care guide, and a medical guide. Also a medical reference section.

Under the reproduction link for GL, is also a links section, this will give you great advise in spotting a potential problem, and in preventing Toxima.

Toxemia is a condition that kills sows. If they get it, there is very little that can be done for them. The best course of action, is to try and help prevent it from happening in the first place. The articles on GL suspect it is caused by stress, poor diet and lack of hygiene. SO you want to keep these three things in good balance. That is why you need to house her properly, feed her right, and keep her in a clean cage. Also heat and a lack of air seems to worsen or cause the condition. Generally all Toxemia is, is a build up of toxins in the pig, because they cannot effectivly eliminate them fast enough, similar to a human with bad kidneys.

If would highly suggest you stop making arguements, and excuses, and start reading. As you read, if you have questions, ask us, we will be more then willing to help if you if you drop the hostilities!

[C&K]

Just so you don't miss these pages in particular (GL can be a little overwhelming to the new person)

http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html
this one has info on mites, and links to treatment. (using Ivermectin)

http://www.guinealynx.info/ivermectin.html
This link is a bout Ivermectin

http://www.guinealynx.info/dose_calculator.html
This is a dose calculator, perfect if you don't trust your math!

Remember with mites, they may not be obvious, but stress brings them out, treating them as a preventative measure is always a good idea, even if they don't have them!

http://www.guinealynx.info/reproduction.html
This is a copy of the reproduction thread again.

To the left, you will see these links:
FAQ
Labor
Ovarian Cysts
Links

Make sure you read them over too!

The links one has the info I was talking about in working to reduce the risk of Toxima. FAQ will answer a lot of your basic questions.
I would set aside an hour to two hours every day until you catch this all up. Also make a contingency plan for if your sow has problems with the babies. Start looking for a good vet now, find out what the fees are if you need his services, who you can go to in the middle of the night etc.

http://www.guinealynx.info/vet.html
This is good info for finding a vet.

This is a lot of responsibility for a person of your age to be taking on, but I am sure if you take the time to do your research, you will get through it. Lets just hope if she is pregnant, that everything goes really well!

[jackie158]

I live in New Jersey an hour from New York. There are a ton of piggy shelters out here. The one that has allot right now is Have a Heart Guinea Pig. I could have easily driven a guniea pig to you. You can see there pigs in Petfinder. Also, did you ever look into The Pig Pen Rescue or Redwood Rescue? These both are in NY. And Have a Heart here in NJ is not that far either. I understand it is hard not to take a pig from a pets store, but I have to agree with everyone else, there are lots of prego pigs in shelters that need a forever home also.

[fourbwabbys]

I agree. Have-A-Heart is overflowing with pigs that need new homes. You could have easily set up a piggy train, there are a lot of people in this area that would have been glad to help transport.

[GadgetGirl]

Originally Posted by JamANDSlop

You people totally don't understand that petstore workers love animals and try to do their best always and sometimes they may goof up or whatever but thats because they are humans.

I understand that petstore workers love animals and try to do their best and I also understand that they goof up. What this tells me is that they shouldn't sell the animals for 1. They have no clue, 2. There are rescues that have piggies that need homes and 3. When they make these goof ups, there's a possibility that a piggie may die. I wouldn't want that on my conscience.

Just loving the animals and trying to do their best is not good enough. It will never be good enough. Before I knew better, I bought a piggie from PetSmart and I thought she was sick and took her back to the store, one of those petstore workers told me she was fine and I took her home. She ultimately died and I feel bad because I believed what they told me and I shouldn't have. I will never buy from a petstore again. They don't know anything about what they say and this is very misleading. I get so steamed when people aren't honest.

I have learned so much from this site about the rescues I didn't realize were out there. If everyone paid attention and opened their minds to this knowledge, there would be more animals in forever homes instead of shelters or euthenasia (sp.)

GadgetGirl the piggie lover

[Lyndsay]

You people totally don't understand that petstore workers love animals and try to do their best always and sometimes they may goof up or whatever but thats because they are humans.

Oh sure they love the animals. You know those sick and dying animals that the pet stores don't do anything for. Or maybe they get thrown in the freezer *Sorry guys*, they sit behind the scenes where you can't see them, and sit in a tiny box, or cage if they are lucky breathing their last painful breaths alone because they had to be born into a world where they were put up for money. Do those dead or dying animals even get a chance at life, I mean clearly pet stores wouldn't be bothered to get a vet for an animal they only make a few dollars off of. You assume they care, but you said that your wife had seen animals die, did she help put them out of their misery too?

What's even more sickening, it all out of convenience, you wont rescue an 'older' guinea pig from a shelter, but you'll fork out money to pay the pet store, are you even aware that the shelters have baby guinea pigs too?, cause I mean not every person like you that gets a pregnant guinea pig, can 'love' them enough to keep the babies too. Chances are when you realise how difficult it is to house them in a small pet store cage, they will meet the doom of a shelter, only there I hope they meet caring people like us who pick them up and love them, and give them a real home where we really do care.

You know, I hope your truly happy with your pet store pig, your ignorance just shows how much you really know. Thank goodness that people like us, can make up for your lack of understanding. Way to go everyone.

[Coopdog]

JamandSlop, if you are talking about the Lollypop Farm in upstate NY, they have FIVE guinea pigs right now, and their other outlet has SIX. They get them in ALL THE TIME.

[fadedcoat]

I think it would be a nice compromise if the pet stores would host guinea pigs in need of homes instead of buying from a breeder. Sort of a pet store/rescue. Like how Petsmarts have a place for shelter cats to be seen there. They are noticed by a larger audience with more convenient hours, therefore more likely to find a home. I think rescue guinea pigs would fare well this way because they are cute at any age.

[Coopdog]

Actually, our shelter's alternate site is inside a very large PetSmart. Those are the only animals they carry. Everything from dogs & cats to rats, birds, guinea pigs...you name it. Even the occasional horse! It is a wonderful service, and the proceeds go back to the shelter. I got a Finch there for $5.

[HowietheGreat]

Yes and the same arguement can be made that people will buy all their pet apparell there that day for their new adopted pet and the money that you just spent on items will go to Petsmart buying more small animals for retail sale. That only works if you just adopt the animal from the shelter that is using the store for a host location-then you leave.

[Coopdog]

I still think PetSmart deserves some credit for taking steps in the right direction. More and more of them are doing adoptions, which is definately a good thing. As the saying goes: Rome wasn't built in a day.

[HowietheGreat]

Petsmart does it to draw in revenue from the adoptees. I give them no credit-they wouldn't do it if they were not generating income. That being said I do not blame the shelters for using them as a host. Many people know of the store locations.