Local Petco Closing

No pet should be labeled a starter pet. I think you should have to pass a test on basic care to be able to get any animal. Of course, I think the same thing about people having human children, so maybe that's just me.

My family has owned a large variety of pets throughout my life and the only animal I would recommend as a "starter" pet would be a cat. Cats are legitimately the easiest animal to care for and the only drawback from being a starter pet would be their lifespan. They are easy to feed, easy to clean up after and many are affectionate.

All small animals have very specific requirements that people do not know about and I would never call them starter pets. Guinea pigs are complicated and are in no way easy to care for. They are also expensive as far as small animals go. People also seem to expect the same level of companionship from little animals as they do from cats and dogs. Don't get me wrong, I love my pigs but they are not at all affectionate like my cats or dog, they just tolerate me most of the time!

The biggest thing with getting any animal is doing thorough research BEFORE you acquire a pet so that you are as prepared as possible to give it the best care. Far too often people buy animals on impulse and that is one of the main reasons why I cannot stand pet stores selling live animals. Far to often people buy a pet and are extremely under prepared and only have very general or incorrect knowledge from the pet store employees.

As far as the Petco vs. Petsmart debate I think it really depends on each individual store. Of course it is terrible where they come from but I know my local petsmart provides the guinea pigs with good care while they are in the store. I don't promote them selling the pigs but they at least always have hay, Oxbow pellets and I often see green leaf lettuce in with them. This is definitely better than nothing and when selling pigs they always recommend Oxbow products.

I spend a fair amount of time on the weekends at petsmart as I volunteer with a cat rescue in the cat adoptions area which is right across from the small animal section. My petsmart does really great things for cat adoptions which I will support as my city has a massive cat overpopulation problem. The petsmart charities of Canada donates money to the cat rescues for every adoption done at the store and they have granted tons of money to fund low cost spay and neuter clinics and mobile spay/neuter vehicles.

There are tons of pros and cons that go along with my petsmart but I would love to see only rescue animals represented in the future, this is probably far down the line for the big chain stores but more and more pet stores in my area are offering rescue pets of all species.

Just to add, it is great that this Petco is closing down if they are providing poor care for their animals.

I'm not advocating for Petco or any other pet store but I do feel obligated to advocate for some employees. There's a girl at our Petco that I know (because I've watched her) gets out the Guinea Pigs and holds and cuddles them all the time. I've seen her set up a pen for them to run in while she stocks things next to them. While their display cages are too small they are always clean and well stocked when I go in. Again, not giving any props at all to the store but this girl really loves them. I've seen one of the guys holding and petting them too. I've talked with the girl a couple times. From what she's said, she seems to be trying to make changes from the inside. She seems pretty knowledgable. So some employees really do care and are doing the best they can.

Lots of terrible things happen to cats all the time because people don't know how to properly take care of them. They also have special needs that need to be taken into account.

ClemmyOddieIndy said:

That's strange, you should report that store to headquarters because all new animals are QT'd for a while before being placed on the floor. If the pig had come in the day before, it should've been in QT.

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Thanks for letting me know. This was a couple of years ago, but if I ever see anything like that again, I will call their corporate number. I don't normally go there, but my cat had an emergency on Sunday and Banfield was the only clinic open, and I was walking around the store while waiting to get some info. from the vet. I was beyond disgusted because there were several other piggies in the same cage, running all over the poor dead one. Just broke my heart. I can't even imagine what sort of horrible mill they came from.

I'm glad your Petco has someone knowledgeable. I know they mean well at the one where I got Quinn, but they're clueless. When you adopt a piggy, they give you whatever supplies were dropped off with it. For Quinn, that included the 10 gallon aquarium that was her cage. They were shocked when I said I didn't want it and didn't seem to understand when I said it was an inappropriate home and explained that she was going into something much larger and more suitable. They were happy she was getting a home, but it's scary that they don't realize just how horrible an aquarium is for guinea pigs.

barbaramudge said:

I'm not advocating for Petco or any other pet store but I do feel obligated to advocate for some employees. There's a girl at our Petco that I know (because I've watched her) gets out the Guinea Pigs and holds and cuddles them all the time. I've seen her set up a pen for them to run in while she stocks things next to them. While their display cages are too small they are always clean and well stocked when I go in. Again, not giving any props at all to the store but this girl really loves them. I've seen one of the guys holding and petting them too. I've talked with the girl a couple times. From what she's said, she seems to be trying to make changes from the inside. She seems pretty knowledgable. So some employees really do care and are doing the best they can.

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Yea, this one girl is definitely special. I wish every pet store had one like her.

@mufasa I'm definitely not saying that bad things do not happen to cats because of inappropriate care but on a whole they are much easier to care for than guinea pigs. This just may be my opinion, but through experience they are far easier to take care of and less specific than any other animal. It is also much easier to find correct and appropriate vet care for them. It can also be much easier to recognize when a problem arises in a cat as they tend to be much more interactive.

I did not advocate for anyone just to grab a cat because they are easy but I do feel like they make great family pets with not as many complications as the little pets.

Vets, rescues, and the public in general still focus more on dogs than they do cats. With some exceptions of course, I very much get "it's just a cat" whenever I have a sick cat. Nobody's ever said that about my dog.

That is the real problem. So many people feel that pets are disposable. Too many people are irresponsible or just don't care about their animals. In my opinion, once you commit to an animal you have it for life. It would take something very drastic for me to ever give up a pet and I always strive to provide the best for them.

I think maybe you're replying to the wrong person, since I didn't mention cats?!

sallyvh said:

@mufasa I'm definitely not saying that bad things do not happen to cats because of inappropriate care but on a whole they are much easier to care for than guinea pigs. This just may be my opinion, but through experience they are far easier to take care of and less specific than any other animal. It is also much easier to find correct and appropriate vet care for them. It can also be much easier to recognize when a problem arises in a cat as they tend to be much more interactive.

I did not advocate for anyone just to grab a cat because they are easy but I do feel like they make great family pets with not as many complications as the little pets.

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@mufasa Whoops! Sorry!!

LoveMyHerd said:

@ClemmyOddieIndy, oops! I was certainly not aware about the hermit crab thing.

So everyone in search of a starter pet, go get a pet rock.

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That is what I say. There is no such thing as a "Starter Pet", unless you count a pet rock. Truthfully, there is a lot more to pets like hamsters and mice than meets the eye.