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General 1 guinea pig from Petsmart died, should we get the other one back?

MommyCoupons

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Hello everyone, this is my first post so I'm not so sure how this all works. I'll start by saying that I did impoulse buy my guinea pigs. I now know I was wrong.
I bought my daughter a guinea pig for her birthday, from Petsmart (named piglet). After getting him home, i researched like crazy knowing that i was now a guinea pig mommy. I read that guinea pigs were much happier in pairs and went back the next day to buy a second one (named Pork chop) as a companion for the first. Petsmart assured me they were both males. Piglet was very calm from the time we met him but as soon as he was introduced to Pork chop he was very active and playfull (i knew i had made a good decision in getting him a friend). About a day later i came accross a post saying that pet stores often missex their guinea pigs so i researched how to sex them and sexed them myself. Piglet looked like a girl to me (im sure Pork chop was a boy) so i called the vet to have Piglet sexed in a couple of days. Fast forward to today (exactly 1 week after purchasing Piglet). We woke up and noticed that Piglet was sitting in the open, breathing heavily and not moving much. I called Petsmart and told them i thought he was sick and asked what to do. We ended up taking both piggies in to be checked through the petsmart vet. Not an hour after dropping them off, petsmart called saying that Piglet died of pneumonia durring an x-ray at the vet. They also said that Pork chop had severe pneumonia but that he had antibiotics perscribed and that they (petsmart) would keep him until he was better. I did call the vet and was told that Piglet had been put down as he was too sick to have anything done about. Petsmart offered to give us another guinea pig in exchange for Piglet but im not so sure i trust them after selling us 2 sick piggies. I dont know what the right thing to do is? Should i go back for Pork chop and buy another piggy so he has a friend? Should i find a rescue for another guinea pig companion for Pork chop? Is it okay to get an adult rescue with my baby Pork chop? Should i not take him back? im pretty upset over the loss of my guinea pig (that was aparently sick when we got him). Can we trust that Petsmart will make Pork chop better? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
 

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Hello everyone, this is my first post so I'm not so sure how this all works. I'll start by saying that I did impoulse buy my guinea pigs. I now know I was wrong.
I bought my daughter a guinea pig for her birthday, from Petsmart (named piglet). After getting him home, i researched like crazy knowing that i was now a guinea pig mommy. I read that guinea pigs were much happier in pairs and went back the next day to buy a second one (named Pork chop) as a companion for the first. Petsmart assured me they were both males. Piglet was very calm from the time we met him but as soon as he was introduced to Pork chop he was very active and playfull (i knew i had made a good decision in getting him a friend). About a day later i came accross a post saying that pet stores often missex their guinea pigs so i researched how to sex them and sexed them myself. Piglet looked like a girl to me (im sure Pork chop was a boy) so i called the vet to have Piglet sexed in a couple of days. Fast forward to today (exactly 1 week after purchasing Piglet). We woke up and noticed that Piglet was sitting in the open, breathing heavily and not moving much. I called Petsmart and told them i thought he was sick and asked what to do. We ended up taking both piggies in to be checked through the petsmart vet. Not an hour after dropping them off, petsmart called saying that Piglet died of pneumonia durring an x-ray at the vet. They also said that Pork chop had severe pneumonia but that he had antibiotics perscribed and that they (petsmart) would keep him until he was better. I did call the vet and was told that Piglet had been put down as he was too sick to have anything done about. Petsmart offered to give us another guinea pig in exchange for Piglet but im not so sure i trust them after selling us 2 sick piggies. I dont know what the right thing to do is? Should i go back for Pork chop and buy another piggy so he has a friend? Should i find a rescue for another guinea pig companion for Pork chop? Is it okay to get an adult rescue with my baby Pork chop? Should i not take him back? im pretty upset over the loss of my guinea pig (that was aparently sick when we got him). Can we trust that Petsmart will make Pork chop better? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
Guinea pigs NEED to be in pairs it is a medical nessecity and any sources that tell you otherwise are miss guided if you're worried about your other guinea pig getting sick you should buy a wall thing from the c&c cages store so that they can without infecting each other if possible I would recommend getting a guinea pig from your local shelter and they are less likely to be sick.

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Soecara

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As you know what vet Pork chop is with it would pay to research if they are an exotic vet or not. Typically petsmart vets are not qualified to treat guinea pigs who require an exotic vet. A vet who is only a small animal vet (small animal meaning cats and dogs in this context) may not know what they are doing when it comes to guinea pigs and have been know to prescribe medications that are very dangerous to guinea pigs but safe for other animals, read this link for more info https://www.guinealynx.info/dangerous_medications.html

You probably don't have much choice at this point in time about whether or not you can get Pork chop back. As you have already handed him over to petsmart they will not release him back to you until he has finished being treated. I would however recommend you not buy another from petsmart, as you are very likely to get another sick and/or mis-sexed individual and buying another will contribute to the store ordering in more. You would be much better off waiting to see what happens with Pork chop (if you do want him back), then look into adopting.

Typically the age of the guinea pigs doesn't matter much when it comes to them getting along or not, your options for a new cage mate are either another young boar, and older boar, or a spayed sow. Depending on where you are located will depend on whether or not an adoption place will have spayed sows as not all places will desex sows. Regardless of what you decide to do if you have two guinea pigs who have not been together before make sure to introduce them properly, after ensuring everyone is healthy, for info on how to do this read https://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html

@Peanut_Butter2 While I'm sure you have good intentions the advice you just gave was misguided. A wall from the C&C store will not prevent a contagious organism from spreading as they are often airborne. The only safe way to ensure an infection will not spread from an existing guinea pig to a new one you are bringing into the home, or vice verse, is to quarantine in a completely separate room. Read this link for more info https://www.guinealynx.info/quarantine.html The only time quarantining is not necessary is if the guinea pigs have already been exposed (as in they were already living in the same space, in which case separating serves no purpose and just adds stress), or if the issue is not contagious.
 
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Peanut_Butter2

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As you know what vet Pork chop is with it would pay to research if they are an exotic vet or not. Typically petsmart vets are not qualified to treat guinea pigs who require an exotic vet. A vet who is only a small animal vet (small animal meaning cats and dogs in this context) may not know what they are doing when it comes to guinea pigs and have been know to prescribe medications that are very dangerous to guinea pigs but safe for other animals, read this link for more info https://www.guinealynx.info/dangerous_medications.html

You probably don't have much choice at this point in time about whether or not you can get Pork chop back. As you have already handed him over to petsmart they will not release him back to you until he has finished being treated. I would however recommend you not buy another from petsmart, as you are very likely to get another sick and/or mis-sexed individual and buying another will contribute to the store ordering in more. You would be much better off waiting to see what happens with Pork chop (if you do want him back), then look into adopting.

Typically the age of the guinea pigs doesn't matter much when it comes to them getting along or not, your options for a new cage mate are either another young boar, and older boar, or a spayed sow. If you decided to go down this route make sure to introduce them properly, for info on how to do this read https://guinea-pigs.livejournal.com/3002707.html

@Peanut_Butter2 While I'm sure you have good intentions the advice you just gave was misguided. A wall from the C&C store will not prevent a contagious organism from spreading. The only safe way to ensure an infection will not spread from an existing guinea pig to a new one you are bringing into the home, or vice verse, is to quarantine in a completely separate room. Read this link for more info https://www.guinealynx.info/quarantine.html The only time quarantining is not necessary is if the guinea pigs have already been exposed (as in they were already living in the same space, in which case separating serves no purpose and just adds stress), or if the issue is not contagious.
Thanks didn't know that!

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CavyMama

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Guinea pigs NEED to be in pairs it is a medical nessecity and any sources that tell you otherwise are miss guided

Although it is recommended that guinea pigs live in pairs, it certainly isn't "medically necessary". There is no reason to think they will become ill or die if they live alone. They do tend to thrive with a friend but if they must live alone, it's fine as long as they get the interaction and mental stimulation from their human. It doesn't replace having another guinea pig but it will relieve boredom.
 

Spartan021

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try craigslist for someone who is rehoming their piggy. that's how I wound up with 10 piggies
 

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I am so sorry to hear about the loss of Piglet and the horrible experience you are going through. I can't imagine how distraught you must be feeling. While I am by no means a super knowledgeable piggie person, in my personal opinion I feel as though when Petsmart releases Pork Chop, you ought to take him to an exotic animal vet to make sure all issues are cleared up and then look in a shelter for another pig. From what I have read and understand, babies are often accepted relatively well by adults so you shouldn't have to worry about whether the other pig is a baby or an adult. Do read up on introductions, etc.
 

Shieme

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Poor piglet! Dang petsmart! He could have survived but you did what you thought was correct. Get porkchop back and continue the care. He gets sicker, take him to your own vet and present petsmart the bill! After he is well, then try to get a companion. Older males and younger ones are better togeather because the older one has gone though puberty already. Sorry if someone said this already. Get a refund for piglet and let them know you would have taken care of piglet. Shame them! Make the manager know how upset you feel! That wasn't right!
 

MommyCoupons

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Poor piglet! Dang petsmart! He could have survived but you did what you thought was correct. Get porkchop back and continue the care. He gets sicker, take him to your own vet and present petsmart the bill! After he is well, then try to get a companion. Older males and younger ones are better togeather because the older one has gone though puberty already. Sorry if someone said this already. Get a refund for piglet and let them know you would have taken care of piglet. Shame them! Make the manager know how upset you feel! That wasn't right!
They will NOT give pork chop back! They refunded us our $ for BOTH piggies and said "we will try to keep your phone number with him. If he gets better, we will call but we can't guarantee he will get better". They wouldn't let us see him any wouldn't let us have him back until he was all healthy. They kept trying to talk us into just saying we didn't want him at all. Like, it's too late now, I'm attached. I honestly believe with all the vagueness they left, they will let him die and say they lost our number for him. I'll be calling every few days to check on him though. I will NEVER be buying from a pet store again. I couldn't go through this ever.
 

Soecara

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They will NOT give pork chop back! They refunded us our $ for BOTH piggies and said "we will try to keep your phone number with him. If he gets better, we will call but we can't guarantee he will get better". They wouldn't let us see him any wouldn't let us have him back until he was all healthy. They kept trying to talk us into just saying we didn't want him at all. Like, it's too late now, I'm attached. I honestly believe with all the vagueness they left, they will let him die and say they lost our number for him. I'll be calling every few days to check on him though. I will NEVER be buying from a pet store again. I couldn't go through this ever.

This story is much more common than you may think.

After you hand the guinea pig back to them you are really at the mercy of the individual store manager and staff. Some are very nice and understanding and can be good at keeping people updated with the condition of the pet and giving them back once treatment is completed, but more often than not they just follow corporate rules. For the majority of these cases once you hand the guinea pig back to them it is back to it being treated like merchandise, if it costs too much to fix they would rather not bother (often only doing the absolute minimum to avoid breaking animal welfare laws or the absolute minimum to satisfactorily clear symptoms). Keeping in touch and offering it back is too much hassle if the staff/manager genuinely don't care.

Corporate don't care either, once it is back in the stores possession you have no say in what they do as far as they are concerned, and it is in their policy that they are not obligated to offer it back to you if it does get properly treated and recovers. I have even seen other people who are in the same situation but refused the refund, instead insisting that they had to have the guinea pig back after treatment, then they still never got the guinea pig back after sometimes months and the only thing they could do is get a refund.

These are exactly the reasons why I strongly recommend that anyone else who purchases a guinea pig from a store and then find it is sick NEVER take it back and let the store take it for treatment. If you pay for the vet treatment yourself it can save you a whole lot of heartache and hurt, you can always argue with the store about the vet bill after the fact, but if you hand the guinea pig over to them you have zero say in how they are treated (and the store may not have the best interest of the pet at heart, rather prioritizing minimizing the costs) and worse case scenario you may never get the guinea pig back or may never see it again.

I am so sad that you are going through this, but hopefully someone else will read your story and avoid ending up in the same situation.
 

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Oh my gawd! I would call corporate and tell them how this traumatized you from them all togeather. Then start looking for rescue piggies because you sound like a wonderful fur baby parent! Poor porkchop! I bet he is already put down. I'm so glad my petsmart got rid of that petstore vet, bakersville or whatever the name was. Now my petsmart uses my exotic vet. And the manager was so happy about that but I got a rare manager and petsmart. I still won't buy live animals but at least I don't see hurt animals and over crowded cages. In the large cages, only three max (yes that's still not great) and the small cages, only one. If I have a concern about an animal, they jump on it! I found one in a hay ball. I thought he was stuck but then the little bugger did it after the customer service guy pulled him out. Guess the little guy liked being confined. I felt bad but not enough to buy him.
 

MommyCoupons

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Hello everyone, this is my first post so I'm not so sure how this all works. I'll start by saying that I did impoulse buy my guinea pigs. I now know I was wrong.
I bought my daughter a guinea pig for her birthday, from Petsmart (named piglet). After getting him home, i researched like crazy knowing that i was now a guinea pig mommy. I read that guinea pigs were much happier in pairs and went back the next day to buy a second one (named Pork chop) as a companion for the first. Petsmart assured me they were both males. Piglet was very calm from the time we met him but as soon as he was introduced to Pork chop he was very active and playfull (i knew i had made a good decision in getting him a friend). About a day later i came accross a post saying that pet stores often missex their guinea pigs so i researched how to sex them and sexed them myself. Piglet looked like a girl to me (im sure Pork chop was a boy) so i called the vet to have Piglet sexed in a couple of days. Fast forward to today (exactly 1 week after purchasing Piglet). We woke up and noticed that Piglet was sitting in the open, breathing heavily and not moving much. I called Petsmart and told them i thought he was sick and asked what to do. We ended up taking both piggies in to be checked through the petsmart vet. Not an hour after dropping them off, petsmart called saying that Piglet died of pneumonia durring an x-ray at the vet. They also said that Pork chop had severe pneumonia but that he had antibiotics perscribed and that they (petsmart) would keep him until he was better. I did call the vet and was told that Piglet had been put down as he was too sick to have anything done about. Petsmart offered to give us another guinea pig in exchange for Piglet but im not so sure i trust them after selling us 2 sick piggies. I dont know what the right thing to do is? Should i go back for Pork chop and buy another piggy so he has a friend? Should i find a rescue for another guinea pig companion for Pork chop? Is it okay to get an adult rescue with my baby Pork chop? Should i not take him back? im pretty upset over the loss of my guinea pig (that was aparently sick when we got him). Can we trust that Petsmart will make Pork chop better? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
Everyone! Pork chop was never sick. Just heard from the vet. Piglet was put down due to a heart defect, not pneumonia. Pork chop has been picked up and is home safe with me. I also rescued 3 guinea pigs that were found on the side of the road, in a box. I'm gonna have the vet look at them asap. There is a female in the mix and she is suspected to be pregnant. I will be rehoming probably 2 of the rescues, maybe just 1. I'll keep momma until she gives birth assuming she is pregnant. Do you guys have any advice for me? It kinda just happened.
 

Peanut_Butter2

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Everyone! Pork chop was never sick. Just heard from the vet. Piglet was put down due to a heart defect, not pneumonia. Pork chop has been picked up and is home safe with me. I also rescued 3 guinea pigs that were found on the side of the road, in a box. I'm gonna have the vet look at them asap. There is a female in the mix and she is suspected to be pregnant. I will be rehoming probably 2 of the rescues, maybe just 1. I'll keep momma until she gives birth assuming she is pregnant. Do you guys have any advice for me? It kinda just happened.
Omg no I am too afraid to give any wrong advice but good luck

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It is great new that you have gotten Pork Chop back, I am very happy that this situation had a good ending for both you and him.

For the three you have found you should weigh them to get a baseline weight for them (a kitchen scale is good for weighing guinea pigs), so you will know if they are consistently dropping weight.

You have no idea what kind of conditions that they have come from so you will need to be watching them for any signs of illness, signs of parasites/fungal infections (hair loss, excessive scratching, injured/inflamed skin in hair loss patches), and check them for signs of malnutrition (if they are very underweight they will feel very boney, if they show any symptoms of scurvy etc.). It would also help if you could estimate if they are adult guinea pigs or not, guinea pigs who are under 6 months of age need calcium in their diets whereas adults do not unless it is a pregnant or lactating sow.

For the sow who is possibly pregnant you will need to make sure she has some extra calcium in her diet, you can get this to her by either feeding her an alfalfa based young guinea pig pellet, OR feed her alfalfa hay in addition to the regular grass/timothy hay (at a ratio of roughly 30% alfalfa hay to 70% timothy/grass hay), OR feed her a high calcium herb/vegetable once a day such as a few sprigs of parsley. You only need to do one of those three options.

Here is some pages that I would suggest reading, and they also link off to more pages that you might find helpful.
https://www.guinealynx.info/medical_guide.html
https://www.guinealynx.info/emergency.html
https://www.guinealynx.info/emergency.html#deficiency
https://www.guinealynx.info/scurvy.html
https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...inea-pig-is-pregnant-And-how-far-along-is-she
 

MommyCoupons

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I need help! Pork Chop is not eating at all as far as I can tell. Yesterday and so far today he hasn't eaten anything or drank anything. I really can't afford a vet visit today but I don't want him to be sick. Is it possible he's sad over the loss of his buddy? Advice?
 

onefutui2e

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What if you hand-feed him a veggie or a seed head? Does he eat it then?
 

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He might not know he buddy is dead and he might be looking for him. If possible bring the body of the Guinea Pig into the cage
 

bpatters

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If he's not eating, he's very ill and needs to see an exotic vet. Guinea pigs that aren't eating are guinea pigs that are dying. And no, it doesn't have anything to do with the loss of his buddy. That can make him be less social with you, but it won't make him stop eating.
 

MommyCoupons

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What if you hand-feed him a veggie or a seed head? Does he eat it then?

I'm hand feeding him some parsley now and he's eating it right up. But he still hasn't eaten anything in his cage or had anything to drink. Do you think maybe he's afraid of the guinea pigs in the cage next to him? Should I put him in a cage across the room from the other guinea pigs? He just sits in his hide house and never comes out. Advice?
 

MommyCoupons

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I'm just thinking about it but he did, maybe 2 days ago, refuse to eat a carrot which is unlike him. He tried to bite into it, acting like he really wanted it, but couldn't bite into it so he gave up. Maybe something wrong with his teeth?
 
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