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Vetbed Is Vetbed good?

THEY DID!! And I was wrong and Gizzy is much better off cause I listen! I was feeding her Rabbit Pellets and Iceberg Lettuce and about a CUP full of green beans a day! Now she is on special Cavy food, frilly and romain lettuce and have a variety of veggies every day.

Oh I see my own shady guinea pig owning past. My girl lived on the colored bit stuff, had hay and lettuce as a treat and... ugh. If I'd only known back then.

As for the discussion on cats, I must add my own picture of my neighbor's cat who shared the indoors with my dog for about a year. You can tell because of the pictures below that he is a poor sad indoor kitty. I kinda miss him (I moved away).
 
I just don't like people being horrible about the way I care for my pets. How would you all like it if some people came along and accused you of neglect and told you everything you're doing for your pets is wrong?

I'd think long and hard about what they had to say.... I'd do some REAL research and soul-searching, and, in the end, I'd be VERY VERY grateful for their insight into helping me fix what I was (unknowingly) doing wrong.

Not everyone here is "perfect". Not all of us came here knowing everything, or even anything at all, about properly caring for guinea pigs. I know that when I found this site-- back as a lurker-- I was doing absolutely EVERYTHING wrong. I mean everything. Fang, my pig back then, lived alone in a very small pet-store cage, on corn-cob bedding (huge choking hazard). She ate the food that was mixed with seeds, etc (I thought those were great treats), rarely got veggies, and never got hay. The fact that she lived 5ish years is still pretty amazing to me.

Listen. Learn. If you stop being offended long enough to actually HEAR what's being said to you, you, and your pigs, might just be better for it.
 
Let's for a moment consider Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

When housing animals outdoors, you have to bank on nothing ever going wrong. Everything would ALWAYS have to be best case scenario. Life is not always best case scenario. Cars leak junk, dogs/cats get out, gates get left open, grass gets treated, etc, etc, etc. All it takes is that ONE time for your animal to suffer the consequences of YOUR actions. We had an outside cat when I was young. Her name was Little Kitty and she was gorgeous! We let her in and out as she pleased, and she ended up getting poisoned by our across the street neighbor. He was a very cruel man...

You can't prevent every bad thing in life, but why not try?

The word "paranoid" has been thrown around quite a bit. I don't think attempting to prevent the worst case scenarios is "paranoid." It is ensuring that you are doing everything in your power to make sure your animals are safe and sound. All it takes is that one time... that one moment where fate takes over and something bad happens. How would you feel as a pet owner to know that your actions directly contributed to the death or illness of your animal? What if you would have brought them in that one night when the dog that never gets out... gets out. What if you would have put an extra frozen water bottle out the day it is abnormally warm? What if you would have put an extra blanket in there the night that it was abnormally cold? What if you would have left the door closed and that car wouldn't have been driving by? What if?
 
Oh my goodness - I have been following this thread for a while but I have only just realised you mean your pigs are completely outside - with not even a shed for protection.

I don't mean to be rude but you are very lucky to still have any live pigs at all. Pigs are highly susceptible to excess heat or cold, drafts, damp, etc - things which can not possibly be prevented in a hutch. Not to mention the risks of predators, parasites, vermin etc that have already been mentioned.

Please don't make the mistake I did - my first ever pet was rabbit who lived outside in his safe hutch, which we believed was warm and comfortable because we covered it in bad weather. That poor baby died at less than two years old of pneumonia. So much for safe, well insulated hutches.

A shed alone is not going to be good enough either, as they are not well insulated. A colleague of mine keeps his pigs in the shed over winter but still complains that their water bottle freezes! Having slept in one myself I can tell you from personal experience that sheds are not warm, or draft free, or safe from vermin or insects etc.

Seriously, please don't get offended by people's comments on here. I know in the UK it is still considered normal for certain animals to live outside but that doesn't make it right. There is also a lot of bad info, in books, in pet shops, etc. It is so easy to make mistakes. Sadly, most people don't realise these mistakes until its too late and their beloved pets are dead. I found out the hard way - I sincerely hope you don't have to. Please, please get your animals into a proper, safe environment asap.
 
I don't really know about how Vetbed works but I personally like regular fleece because of all the patterns.

That being said, before I came onto this website, I was misguided by a lot of other search engines and websites that says that pellets should make up 80% of your piggie's diet, blah blah blah. Then I come on here and it says that pellets should only be 10%. Imagine my shock. And then they said that I have to feed him quality pellets. Imagine my fainting spells.

I also googled and it says that a guinea pig can live alone if you give them enough love and attention. I can't say that I don't give mine enough; all my friends say that I spoil him to death. But I like to think that I really am not spoiling him - I'm just giving him the best care that he properly deserves and needs. Then I come onto this website and it says, "Exactly how many hours can you spend with your piggie? What about when you're away at work/school/functions?" So that's when I decided to get him another piggie (which I still haven't gotten yet but I've made the decision to get him exactly next month, precisely a week after finals and a day after graduation - I'm graduating from college so yay me!) so that he can at least have a friend to play with in all that space.

I realized that people on this forum are not trying to be rude; they're just trying to help your piggies but I'm glad to see that you're talking to your dad about making some space for them indoors rather than outdoors. Hope you didn't take anything bad by this; I didn't mean to criticize; like everyone else, we're just trying to help.
 
My dad helped me to clear out the shed and in the winter the guinea-pigs go in there and in the Summer the hutches are outside with covers and taurpaulin. I've also bought a fleece bed to keep them warmer and I am making some more. They seem happy like this. Thanks for the help.
 
They have different things to see each day (they can see birds, cats, flowers)

You do realize that guinea pigs have poor vision and cannot clearly see much of anything?

Yes it does rain, and when it does, the guinea-pigs have seperate sleeping compartments in their hutch, which is safe and warm away from the rain.

Okay so it rains. And what happens when you get a sudden cold snap or an unseasonably hot day?

How about predators? What have you done to safeguard against stray cats or dogs in the neighborhood? How about racoons? Foxes? How about humans? Have you safeguarded against the possibility that someone may try to come and steal or harm your guinea pigs?

Even if you THINK that the chances of outside attacks are low, the chances of being attacked if the pigs are inside is 0%. The chances of being attacked outside are infinitely greater.
 
My guinea-pigs are happy in the way they are living, so please don't grill me any further. We do not get racoons in the UK, and the shed and hutches are all cat, dog & fox proof and in the 10 years I've had guinea-pigs we've never had a problem with predators.
 
Guinea pigs are safer inside. Period.
 
This thread ended ages ago. I only posted that post about the changes to my guinea-pigs housing to show I'd made an effort and to show how much happier they are. Obviously nothing is good enough for you so I won't bother arguing anymore. My guinea-pigs are happy and I am not concerned about their health.
 
Woah! This is one huge argument. No offense. Can you believe I read all the way to page five! that is a lot of reading! And a lot of argumentation. I believe that we all have our own opinions and whatever they we should keep them to ourselves as alicia09 requested (the debate on whether guinea pigs should be kept inside or outside). But yes, I would get the fleece but that's just my opinion.
 
Woah! This is one huge argument. No offense. Can you believe I read all the way to page five! that is a lot of reading! And a lot of argumentation. I believe that we all have our own opinions and whatever they we should keep them to ourselves as alicia09 requested (the debate on whether guinea pigs should be kept inside or outside). But yes, I would get the fleece but that's just my opinion.
Everyone has a right to voice their opinion on a thread. You or no one else (except the moderators) can dictate rules for threads. This site does not believe in inappropriate outdoor housing and so yes when people insist on keeping their pigs outside in those conditions, there will be debates and arguments.

alicia09 said:
My guinea-pigs are happy and I am not concerned about their health.
You should always be concerned about their health. After safety, it's the next highest priority. If one doesn't care about the health of their pigs, they should not have them.
 
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My guinea-pigs are happy and I am not concerned about their health.

Did they tell you they were happy? They don't know any better. Poor babies.

I would be extra concerned about their health especially since they are more likely to get sick when housed outdoors. Do they even get vet care when necessary?
 
I don't want to start this arguement up again but I just want to put a few things straight. If my guinea-pigs are ill they go to the vets. They popcorn round their runs and run up to the side of the run for extra vegetables when I'm around. Of course I care about my guinea-pigs health, what I meant is they are not ill, I am not worried about their health at the moment.
 
I don't want to start this arguement up again but I just want to put a few things straight. If my guinea-pigs are ill they go to the vets. They popcorn round their runs and run up to the side of the run for extra vegetables when I'm around. Of course I care about my guinea-pigs health, what I meant is they are not ill, I am not worried about their health at the moment.

You should always be worried about their health...You're not there half the day (night time) to see if they've had some kind of terrible accident!
 
Keep your noses out of my business. Where my guinea-pigs live is nothing to do with you. End of thread.
 
Keep your noses out of my business. Where my guinea-pigs live is nothing to do with you. End of thread.

Actually, you're not a moderator so you don't get to decide when a thread ends. You post about how great it is to keep your piggies outside on a public forum, you open up your business for discussion.
 
If you actually read the title of the thread, you'd understand that this thread was about bedding not where my guinea-pigs live. There is a difference. I stupidly thought the people here were open-minded. Obviously I was wrong.
 
If you actually read the title of the thread, you'd understand that this thread was about bedding not where my guinea-pigs live. There is a difference. I stupidly thought the people here were open-minded. Obviously I was wrong.

Is it close minded to disapprove of animal neglect? Animal abuse? HUMAN neglect? If someone decided it was best for their baby to never wear a coat in the snow, and you commented on and you were called close minded, would you assume they just had a different viewpoint or would you assume they're not giving the best care possible for someone who is totally dependent on them?

I have nothing against you as a person. Sadly, I know many people who keep their pets outside all day (lots of people seem to think Australia-Heaven knows why-Is a great place for animals to roam) I just want what is best for those piggies. They deserve to be inside with you.
 
How dare you accuse me of neglect when you don't know me?! I'm offended that you accuse me of neglect when you haven't seen my care for my guinea-pigs. You say you have nothing against me as a person, then why accuse me of giving my guinea-pigs substandard care. I spoke to a rescue in this area and they said they would rehome to guinea-pigs living outside in the summer and in a shed in the winter, which shows there are different opinions. I understand Australia is an unsuitable place for guinea-pigs to live outside but England is fine, with a shed in the winter they are fine.
 
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