Where People & Piggies Thrive

Newbie or Guinea Guru? Popcorn in!

Register for free to enjoy the full benefits.
Find out more about the NEW, drastically improved site and forum!

Register
  • ONE THREAD per pig please!
    We really want your pig's history all in one place to help you. Please don't start a new thread for a new issue. Just reply to your old one. We can edit the title for you if needed.

Vet Vet too rough with my guinea pig?

faculae.angel

Active Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Dec 25, 2017
Posts
39
Joined
Dec 25, 2017
Messages
39
I?ve been going to the same vet and they seemed really nice. I don?t really have any vets in my area that do small animals so I have to go out of the state. I just recently brought my guinea pig, Thor, to the vet because he had an abscess under his neck and it popped before I could get him in (he?s all better now). I never had a problem with my vet before, like I said they?ve always been very kind and understanding and didn?t even make me pay when I brought my other pig, Bugsby, in which they only made me pay five dollars for the nail clippings, not the usual 60 dollars for a check up. But when I brought Thor in he was very squirmy. He had to look under Thor?s neck to look at the abscess and he couldn?t get Thor to stop squirming so he grabbed Thor by his scruff. Thor jerked away and he pulled out a clump of his fur. He did it again, this time getting a hold of him. Thor was absolutely wailing, screaming at the top of his lungs everyone in the vet could hear him and the assistants were trying to figure out what was going on. He was wailing for at least a minute straight before the vet finally let go. After that, instead of handing Thor to me to calm him down, he gave him to his assstant. My other pigs are fine with new people for the most part, but Thor is very fearful of others and whenever he?s scared he comes to me in my lap so while she was holding him he was whimpering and crying. Then they took him to the surgery room to have the abscess opened again, flushed, and drained. I could hear him wailing all the way from there again, then he suddenly stopped. They brought him back and told me they had put a muzzle on him! I personally was really upset by this because Thor was never trying to bite him, he was just crying. I didn?t even know there were muzzles for small animals and I later tried to google it but found nothing so I?m almost starting to believe there was no muzzle involved and they had another vet holding his face shut.

opinions? Obviously I?m really upset about this but I?m trying to think about it from a medical standpoint,
like maybe they were doing it for his safety? I?m not sure. Maybe they?re just not good with handling small animals. I believe me and another girl are the only people who have Guinea pigs so I?m not sure if they have much experience but like I said, I really do like that vet.
 

bpatters

Moderator
Staff member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Posts
29,251
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
29,251
I wouldn't be going back to that vet.
 

faculae.angel

Active Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Dec 25, 2017
Posts
39
Joined
Dec 25, 2017
Messages
39
Thank you everyone. I’ll look for a new vet. I was planning on doing so anyways after seeing everything they did to him but I wanted to come on here and get opinions from others since I’ve never really experienced this before because they didn’t treat my other pigs like this.

I should have got a new vet sooner because the assistant doesn’t even properly hold my pigs. I was sick when Bugsby had an appointment so my mom took him and she told me the assistant was twisting his body all around. I thought my mom was exaggerating but now I see that she wasn’t. Also, when she was putting Thor back into his carrier she was holding him all wrong. She had her hands under his arms and was dangling him to put him back in.

thank you again because now I feel so much better switching and that I wasn’t just over exaggerating the whole situation.
 

wheekermommy

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
May 2, 2017
Posts
181
Joined
May 2, 2017
Messages
181
Oh my gosh I just wanted to say I am sorry you experienced at the vet. That is not proper piggy handling and you have every reason to be upset. Luckily for Thor, he has you, so I am sure he quickly recovered one he was with you again :)

Are you/your Mom able to leave a review of that vet clinic? It sounds like either they are not knowledgeable or the care has been going downhill. Either way they need to be trained/new staff added or they should't be seeing piggies. A respectful but truthful review could enlighten them of the problems and other cavy owners who might want to go there.

I hope Thors abscess heals quickly and the new vet search is a success!
 

Wheeking Pigs

Member
Cavy Gazer
Joined
Jul 12, 2018
Posts
5
Joined
Jul 12, 2018
Messages
5
I'm so sorry you and your Piggie had to go through that. Was this an exotic vet or a regular dog and cat vet?
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.

Similar threads

D
Replies
1
Views
245
bpatters
bpatters
N
Replies
4
Views
502
Guinea Pig Papa
Guinea Pig Papa
GuineaPigParent36
Replies
2
Views
265
GuineaPigParent36
GuineaPigParent36
megamazing
Replies
5
Views
197
SSLee
SSLee
ThreePiggiesInATub
Replies
2
Views
340
bpatters
bpatters
Top