Sick My new piggie might be sick help!

It sounds like she may have an Upper Respiratory Infection.

You need to make sure that the vet you take her to is an exotic vet, as "small animal" vets generally have little to know training on guinea pigs.

As long as the vet is cavvy savvy, they should be able to identify the issue and help you resolve it.


And, for future reference, this forum doesn't support purchasing pets from stores as there are a lot of bad practices, and purchasing an animal encourages those practices. Nobody will judge you for not knowing better though as many of us got our first small animal from a pet store.

In the future, we suggest finding a rescue to get pets from, instead of purchasing.

I'd have petco reimburse any medical costs since you just bought her from there and she came ill.

And ditto @peachyteen. Look into adopting next time. I'm not surprised the pig you purchased from *shudder* petco is sick. No pet store is good, but I especially dislike petco. Such a dirty store in my opinion.

I will try! this isn't the first time this has happened I have bought a total of 3 piggies from there the first one I bought came home with a uri she had crust and a closed eye. I brought her to back to the pet store 2 days later after research. They took her back for treatment and they told me she was good and healthy then the day she was supposed to come home she got diarrhea from the antibiotic. She then was diagnosed with a nerological disorder and put to sleep. I never even got to see her or say good bye. I also have my gizzy and she's perfectly healthy. I've had my baby now for over a month and nothing is wrong she fat and happy �� Now I will do everything to get her better �� Thank you for the help!

Sadly, piggies are often sick when they come from a pet store. I made the error of getting my first 2 pigs from a pet store, before I knew any better. Pixel died because I was so not knowledgeable and waited a couple of days to take her to a vet. Pudge developed a nasty sore on her head shortly after bringing her home and will still have random issues that I have to take her to the vet for. Since then I rescued 2 more, from Craigslist, and they've been nothing but healthy since I started feeding them an appropriate diet and put them in a large c & c cage. I highly recommend rescuing.

Were you able to get her into a vet? Don't wait, they're very good at hiding illness and once it's obvious she's sick, like you explained, a trip to the vet is urgently needed.

I'm just curious as to why you would go back to petco after you had problems. There's plenty of other places you can adopt pigs, many for cheaper than you have to buy at petco or any other pet store. It's also easier to avoid vet visits if you know for a fact they aren't sick, which you can't at pet stores.

Anyways, I hope your pig gets better and you can eventually introduce your pigs. Keep the sick one in another room from your other pig so she doesn't pass it to her.

I called multiple vets and the one I was going to take her to recommended that I take her back to the pet store and let them pay for her medical care since it had only been 2 days.. So I followed the vets orders and took her back... I don't know how she'll be now but I pray she's going to be ok..

Vets used by pet stores are not exotic vets, and have no training in the care of guinea pigs. You need to find an exotic vet who can care for your pet, and then try to get the pet store to pay for it.

Better yet, avoid pet stores in the future, and get your guinea pigs from a reputable rescue.

bpatters said:

Vets used by pet stores are not exotic vets, and have no training in the care of guinea pigs. You need to find an exotic vet who can care for your pet, and then try to get the pet store to pay for it.

Better yet, avoid pet stores in the future, and get your guinea pigs from a reputable rescue.

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I was just following the vets order it wasn't even associated with petco.

HollyLeaf said:

I'd have petco reimburse any medical costs since you just bought her from there and she came ill.

And ditto @peachyteen. Look into adopting next time. I'm not surprised the pig you purchased from *shudder* petco is sick. No pet store is good, but I especially dislike petco. Such a dirty store in my opinion.

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I was actually going to say that you'll likely have to take the pig back to the store.

When you sign the contract purchasing the pig from the store one of the things you're agreeing to is that if the pig gets sick the pet store gets the first chance to care for the issue. They may offer you a 'replacement pig' but TBH if one has an URI they probably all do.

What I would have done in your situation was taken her to a good cavy vet, told them I was waiving my contract and accepting responsibility, and paid for everything out of pocket. If you do that, though, the pet store will not offer another pet in exchange, and definitely won't reimburse the vet fee as taking her to a vet yourself violates the contract.

bpatters said:

Vets used by pet stores are not exotic vets, and have no training in the care of guinea pigs. You need to find an exotic vet who can care for your pet, and then try to get the pet store to pay for it.

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This really depends on the store, and the manager. I worked at a PetSmart for 3 years and our animal care manager would take the sick small animals to a vet who specialized in the little guys - hamsters, birds, guinea pigs, etc. She had developed connections with a few vets so she'd pick certain vets for certain species or issues whenever possible.

Sure, not all store are like that, but people don't work in pet stores because they hate animals. they work there because they're broke, but love animals. Usually. (Having worked in the business for 10 years I'm pretty confident in that.)