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Post by soulmomma on Jul 20, 2007 9:26:02 GMT
not sure if this is the right place for this but I'm sure it'll get moved if not  Well at the min I have 2 pregnant piggies who are due any day now. Our neighbour who has piggies was asking me about Abigails lump ( which thankfully has vanished) & we got talking about the expectant litters, she asked me if they'd started pulling out their hair yet  to build their nest . Apparently when her guinea had an unexpected litter ( was pregnant when she got her) she cleaned the hutch out the day before & noticed there was quite alot of hair. Anyway the bubs arrived safely but when she took them to the vet he told her she was very lucky that mum didn't eat the bubs because she'd disturbed the nest & that she shouldnt handle them for at least a week. I'm really glad I've got a more knowledgeable vet. |
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Dawn - Admin
Administrator 
MOTM May 2006, TPOTM Nov 2007
Dawn and the Cutiecavies
Posts: 22,784
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Post by Dawn - Admin on Jul 20, 2007 9:31:51 GMT
Oh vets are useless sometimes aren't they, mind you I was very lucky yesterday when I went the vet I saw was very good. Then again they are a big practice and it's pot luck who you get.
Dawn
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Post by kimmiesguineas on Jul 20, 2007 14:29:51 GMT
Oh goodness that's just unbelievable. Some vets shouldn't be vets. |
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Post by soulmomma on Jul 20, 2007 18:15:32 GMT
It sounds like he was comparing guinea litters with rabbit ones. The worrying thing about this is my neighbour thinks this vet is great she's even talking about getting 1 of her guineas pregnant who I think is nearly a year old & it'd be her 1st litter . She'skept guineas for years alot longer than me so it sounds a bit patronising of me trying to explain about guineas pregnancy etc. I find it hard t beleive that people keep pets & never research how to care for them properly . I like to find out as much as I can which where forums like this are so valuble.
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Post by josie on Jul 20, 2007 19:08:21 GMT
I'm really lucky cos my vet is great with my piggies and the other vets in thepractice are all trained in small animals. The practice is also a 24 hour one so I don't need an appointment. I once lost a pig while waiting my turn in the surgery and swore I'd never use a vet that didn't have 24 hour access again.
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Post by emmsy on Jul 21, 2007 21:14:07 GMT
That made me laugh I must say! Yep our piggies love building nests out of their own hair?? |
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Post by kimspigs on Jul 22, 2007 11:26:33 GMT
I don't think it is very fair to say things like that. Vets study hard for many years and they make very good vets for dogs, cats, horses etc..... The vets then decide when they have finished their training if they want to extra training in exotic animals such as reptiles, birds and small furries. So it really isn't fair you should say that  Where i work, the vets will do everything they possible can to help pet owners with their small animals and will even ring referal clinics for help. The vet may have just being saying that becasue he would have checked heart rate etc.. and must have thought the piggies where stressed from all the movement. So it is not due to lack of knowledge, he may of be concerned and was giving the advice he thought would be helpful at the time. |
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Post by dianecavievn on Jul 23, 2007 8:25:04 GMT
I don't think it is very fair to say things like that. Vets study hard for many years and they make very good vets for dogs, cats, horses etc..... The vets then decide when they have finished their training if they want to extra training in exotic animals such as reptiles, birds and small furries. So it really isn't fair you should say that Where i work, the vets will do everything they possible can to help pet owners with their small animals and will even ring referal clinics for help. The vet may have just being saying that becasue he would have checked heart rate etc.. and must have thought the piggies where stressed from all the movement. So it is not due to lack of knowledge, he may of be concerned and was giving the advice he thought would be helpful at the time. Do you work in veterinary Practice? if so where and are you a veterinary nurse? Just being nosey! |
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Post by soulmomma on Jul 23, 2007 12:08:09 GMT
Can I just clarify something , the vet wasn't talking about the stress of taking them to the vet , they were taken when a couple of weeks old to check for mites. The comment he made about being lucky the mum didn't eat them was about cleaning the hutch & disturbing the nest she'd built , as I say the advice was more apt for a rabbit .
I don't think for a min that all vets are the same , the one I use was very good & actually contacted a colleague who specialises in cavies when I took mine in.
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Post by kimspigs on Jul 25, 2007 18:43:59 GMT
Yes elaine I do, I work in a Veterinary Practice in Lancashire as a veterinary nurse assistant I wasn't meaning for that comment to come across at all nasty, but some people say that vets are useless just because they think they don't know much about guinea pigs etc... It really isn't fair. However we are entitled to are thoughts and feelings so i will not comment any further |
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Post by dianecavievn on Jul 27, 2007 6:29:41 GMT
Yes elaine I do, I work in a Veterinary Practice in Lancashire as a veterinary nurse assistant I wasn't meaning for that comment to come across at all nasty, but some people say that vets are useless just because they think they don't know much about guinea pigs etc... It really isn't fair. However we are entitled to are thoughts and feelings so i will not comment any further It wasn't Elaine that asked the question it was me. And I just wondered if there was a fellow vet nurse on this site. Us vet nurses are getting few and far between and it would be nice to have a natter. Dianecavievn |
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Post by Orlaith on Oct 22, 2008 11:24:14 GMT
We brought our piggies to a local vet a few weeks ago and... Well, it seems like he's really good with other animals - he had some dogs in before us and they got on great, but piggies aren't his thing.
It started out so well - he was telling us how he'd had to perform a caesarian on a piggy the week before and how it turned out really well (some patients had two females and one male and whoever was looking after them while they went on holiday had let the boar into the sows and one of them ended up dying while giving birth [she was quite old and had never had a litter before] so they went with that option for the second one) and I was thinking "Okay, this is great, he has surgical experience with them and all the pups and the mother are okay so he can't be too bad".
THEN he told us how shocked he was that the pups were born with fur and how big they were.
THEN he asked us what our piggies ate because he didn't know.
THEN when our piggies started talking to each other, he was really surprised and said he didn't know they communicated like that.
And that's when I knew we'd have to find a new vet. Don't get me wrong, he was a lovely guy and I bet if you've got cats or dogs he's excellent, but he's not for my piggies. Such a pity because Hilda hates the car so I don't want to have to bring her too far away.
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