Why do vets class piggies as exotic?

[Dawn - Admin]

Why do vets class piggies as exotic when they are as widespread as rabbits surely therre should be more training given to vets to help them treat our pets better

Anyone have any views on this?

[ccc]

Normal everyday vets focus on the healthcare of cats, dogs and horses and spend very little time on learning about other animals.
Exotics vets have a smaller group of animals to focus on, so they can spend more time looking into the health of each animal they will be looking after.
Pigs' health issues are more difficult to spot than health problems of say, rabbits, cats and dogs, so someone with more knowledge and experience is better equipped to dealing with cavies.
Hopefully the word will spread about the Rodentology course associated with the CCT and everyday vets can go along to learn more about the healthcare of rodents, particularly piggies.

[Dawn - Admin]

Maybe there should be at least one piggy friendly vet in each town though don't you think since there are so many piggies around

[cashmincal]

I may have to find that out...

Clare

[kaoskat]

Actually I believe they are "exotic" because they are not yet considered domesticated animals. Here I just hunted up a link to help explain the difference.

www.thepetproject.com/pam/Archives/domestic.pdf#search='difference%20between%20domestic%20and%20exotic%20animals'

[Dawn - Admin]

Thanks kkat very interesting but extremely hard to take in and understand

Oh my head hurts

[kaoskat]

LOL Sorry! I'll see if I can make it less complicated, though I'm not sure I can. I'm afraid I tend to make things more complicated, which is why I found the link instead of explaining on my own in the first place, but I'll try. Piggies, assuming they are in fact not considered domesticated yet, have not been bred in a way as to actually change them very much from their wild ancestors and make them into something useful to man. Piggies, as a whole, truly have no purpose in our homes other than to be pets. Cats kill mice, dogs do many various tasks, horses are for transportation, cows for milk, food, and hide, goats, sheep, pigs, ect., they all have a point, cavies don't yet. Yes they are used, and raised, as food for people in many areas in South America, however they have not been altered from their original form or habits much. However, with the recent creation (within the last 30 years) of the Super Guinea Pig in La Molina National University, if piggies are not considered domesticated, they will be soon as they are now being altered physically to become more useful to man as a food source.

Also, Pocket Pets in general, are a relatively new idea. Most of them only becoming "pets" less than 100 years ago. I was shocked to recently discover that my grandmother could not have owned a Syrian hammy as a small child even if she had wanted to because they were nearly extinct (or at the very least difficult to find) until 1930 when a mother and her young were discovered and they were the first hammies found alive in almost a century. Pocket pets are such a huge part of my life, it's hard to imagine a time when not only were they not common, they weren't even available. However, with the recent pocket pet explosion and the realization many people are finally coming to that all pets deserve medical treatment no matter how small or inexpensive to purchase, even if they don't make it to "domesticated" status, there should still be more vets able to treat them sometime in the near future.

*sigh* That's still pretty confusing isn't it?

-kkat

[Dawn - Admin]

kaoskat said:

LOL Sorry! I'll see if I can make it less complicated, though I'm not sure I can. I'm afraid I tend to make things more complicated, which is why I found the link instead of explaining on my own in the first place, but I'll try. Piggies, assuming they are in fact not considered domesticated yet, have not been bred in a way as to actually change them very much from their wild ancestors and make them into something useful to man. Piggies, as a whole, truly have no purpose in our homes other than to be pets. Cats kill mice, dogs do many various tasks, horses are for transportation, cows for milk, food, and hide, goats, sheep, pigs, ect., they all have a point, cavies don't yet. Yes they are used, and raised, as food for people in many areas in South America, however they have not been altered from their original form or habits much. However, with the recent creation (within the last 30 years) of the Super Guinea Pig in La Molina National University, if piggies are not considered domesticated, they will be soon as they are now being altered physically to become more useful to man as a food source.

Also, Pocket Pets in general, are a relatively new idea. Most of them only becoming "pets" less than 100 years ago. I was shocked to recently discover that my grandmother could not have owned a Syrian hammy as a small child even if she had wanted to because they were nearly extinct (or at the very least difficult to find) until 1930 when a mother and her young were discovered and they were the first hammies found alive in almost a century. Pocket pets are such a huge part of my life, it's hard to imagine a time when not only were they not common, they weren't even available. However, with the recent pocket pet explosion and the realization many people are finally coming to that all pets deserve medical treatment no matter how small or inexpensive to purchase, even if they don't make it to "domesticated" status, there should still be more vets able to treat them sometime in the near future.

*sigh* That's still pretty confusing isn't it?

-kkat

Nope not confusing at all you have explained it perfectly thanks kkat ;D

I think that deserves a good karma