Top 100 Cavy Breeders

jencamcavies

Whats the most you have paid for a piggy ??

i paid £120.00 for a emergancy C-section
and all i ended up with was the x-ray !?
all because the vet wouldnt do as i asked ? and he believed he was right ?
i asked him to manipulate the babies as one was stuck and he said no he had to operate !
(well first he said it was Toximia !? i soon put him straight on that one ?)
that is a very expencive x-ray !!
and i lost a prize-winning ivory satin (dutchess) and her 5 babies !
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Hugging a Himalayan a day, Keeps the Doctor away !!

Pingley Dell Cavies · Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:13 am Post subject:

I have had 2 caesarians, each costing £120 and £160--the first time I asked for a quote and they stuck to the limit they quoted.

Both my girls lived with one surviving baby each. We went through weeks of syringe feeding with Daisy the first one, pain meds through the night, medication to start her gut working again after it stopped, and handraised the baby, and the second was an absolute treasure and pulled through without syringe feeding AND she looked after her baby!

The most expensive surgery ever was £230 for Lucy's bladder stone operation. It was 100 for the call-out alone (happened on a Sunday) and then a further 130 for the op. I still have the stone, and it is bigger than a common marble! It was poking out her nethers, so she had managed to pass it all the way down, god knows how.

The vets wanted to charge me £260 to have Precious' eye taken out (HUGE DRAMA OVER NOTHING!!) I wanted drops for an infected eye that was bulging and wouldn't close--and they refused and tried to guilt me into having immediate surgery. I refused, and on the advice of a friend in the USA just used the moisturising drops the vet had given me, for £12 (later found out from my mum they were the same nurses use, worth £3.00!) Her eye gradually moistened up and healed over--the vet had said the eyeball was GONE when clearly it was still under there.

Vets and their Scalpel-happy ways do annoy me a great deal. Specially as the ones round here tend to be terribly snooty and judgemental if you refuse their advice. They don't like 2nd opinions and are very old fashioned. I struggled for ages with trying to get them to give the correct dosage of baytril (0.4ml twice a day or it won't work in time!) They wanted to give 0.25ml once a day.

I've had enough and i'm going on the CCT rodentology course as soon as I can afford to.

*sigh*I go on a bit don't I! *blush*

fourwindscavystud · New Member Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 42

We've paid £50 for an emergency C-section because one of the babies was stuck. (Mum now retired from breeding & 3 boys looking for a new home). We'd previously paid £25 for a bottle of baytril, which comes in handy whenever a piggy gets prescribed it as it means we don't have to keep paying out for a week's worth.

I've also paid £60 for two castrations.
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Kelz A

Pingley Dell Cavies · Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:56 pm Post subject:

Fourwinds, good for you!! How did you manage to persuade them to let you buy a stock of baytril? I have tried different vets in my area, nobody will let me--they want me to visit every time, and pay £40 odd for an examination and the week's worth.

I think it is because I am that bit younger than them, I'm 21 and annoyingly look younger, and they seem to take one look and dismiss me as a little girl! They don't like my radical ideas either--such as Xrays and tooth trimming WITHOUT aneasthetic! *shock horror* They don't seem to want to know about the CCT, and their advanced methods.

The one time I have had a vet I was 100% satisfied with was when i had to have Squog put down in a hurry as he suddenly developed terrible bladder stone pain. I was in floods of tears and told the vet exactly how I wanted him put down (--without any sufferring, the way is to have them put under using Isoflurane gas, and then when asleep, the injection, else it hurts.)

The vet was a sweet young guy, and he just went ahead and did as I asked, without question. At the time I didn't care I was being bossy, all I cared about was sending my boy off in the best possible way, but i was grateful to him for not making me feel bad about it.

fourwindscavystud · New Member Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 42

We didn't have to persuade them, we just asked if we could buy a bottle. We had to ask the vet's permission as baytril is a prescription only medicine. It's something that we often get prescribed because we have cats, guinea pigs and up until monday I kept rats as well (will be getting more next week probably).

Our local vets are very nice though. They listen to what we say about the pigs and the rats because they think we're more likely to know more about them than they do because we keep them in large numbers.

I also find that compared to prices that other people mention, my vets are really cheap. They also do a lot of farm/zoo/horse visits so make their money up on that side rather than the pets.
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Kelz A

Pingley Dell Cavies · Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:06 pm Post subject:

Wow you are so lucky, your vets sound great! I was told I could only have the amount of Baytril prescribed to the individual pig, and no more, not even any as spare. And that was depressing when they didn't give out enough to make a proper dose.

That's what I want--a vet who is willing to listen, and will make a care plan round your needs--like back in the old days when my first generation of pigs had mites, we went along to the vet and they wanted to go the old routine of injections--£50 each. I had 16 piggies then, and there was no way I was going to be able to spend that much! They wouldn't consider giving me a bottle of Ivomec for my herd, so my pigs would have been stuck! Thank goodness this was around the time I got the internet and found out about Ivermectin horse paste. Now I keep a £6 tube of Equimec in the fridge, lasts me years, and I've never had any problems with mites since as I dose every 2 or 3 months in precaution.

Another medication I had huge problems getting was Revolution which I use as an emergency mites treatment for pig with sores as it zaps them superfast. The vets refused to prescribe it as it 'wasn't for guineapigs' and unless I brought my cat in to be examined they wouldn't prescribe it for her either.

So I get my Revolution and Equimec from an australian site and they are brilliant.

Wheekster · Second in Comand Joined: 09 Oct 2006 Posts: 545

I once spent £120+ on my gorgeous Bungly Bob when he had three huge abscesses in his throat Sad

I tried so hard to save him, not helped by the vets when I kept explaining to them that the tiny holes they had made in his abscesses weren't big enough for me to drain Sad

I don't regret spending the money on him for one minute, but I do regret not knowing as much about piggies and how I could help them at the time Sad

With the help of some wonderful friends and great websites that has all changed now though Wink

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Pingley Dell Cavies · Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 10:59 pm Post subject:

I remember everything you went through with your precious Bobster. You did everything and tried so hard Crying or Very sad

Its terrible when they have such problems, and you feel so helpless.

CavyShed · New Member Joined: 30 Dec 2006 Posts: 20

I paid £80 two years ago for a pet buff self to have her eye removed after it was badly injured and she is still with us now. I paid around £80 for a Teddy carrier to have an absess in her neck dealt with and then subsequent anti-biotics cost me a bit more.
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Caroline
Nottinghamshire
England, UK

lovemypigs · New Member Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 13

Just reading everyone's comments mostly all of you have bad things to say about vets!!
Well I work at a vets as a veterinary nurse in Berkshire & just to say that we do try the best for small furries as much as we can for other animals. We do take into consideration cost as we understand that some people do not want to spend as much money on such small animals.
A £120 for a c-section is a bargain!!! It costs approx £700 for a dog & we are all SUPER careful with guineas as we know how delicate they are under GA.
I find people's views on our profession quite hurtful as they think we are all money grabbers when in actual fact we do the job because we care about animals.
There are good vets out there & I think you should all look for them & in failing that there's a guinea pig nut based at a vets in Berkshire!!!

Pingley Dell Cavies · Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:25 pm Post subject:

Hi Lovemypigs, sorry your upset over the comments about vets, yes you are right, most vets are really lovely people who care a lot about animals, and do their best with guineas. Ive had good experiences with vets, and bad experiences too.

I guess when you've had piggies die due to what a vet has done, it does make you have reservations and doubts about going back.

When it comes to expense, vets are very expensive but then they are running a business, so its up to them to charge what they feel they need to. But for people like me, with over 30 pigs, I can't afford to go to the vets with every little thing.

Ive had piggies for many years and have learned to successfully treat their health problems myself using herbal and over the counter medication. Everything except surgery obviously, which is the one thing I do think vets are excellent at.

One issue that has been raised by guinea pig lovers and fore-fronted by the Cambridge Cavy Trust and the late Peter gurney is the problem with existing practises and attitudes towards guineapig treatments being rigidly stuck to, even when new ideas are introduced by the CCT, and many vets won't listen or show interest in learning the new improved treatments.

One example is the CCt's way of treating overgrown back teeth--they do not put the pig out for this procedure, but use a skillful technique combining wrapping the pig so its still, holding the mouth open with tools, and rasping/clipping the teeth. It takes 5 minutes and the pig is fine afterward, unlike the recovery period and the risk that comes with knocking a pig out.

Some vets have welcomed this new technique, but many don't want to know. Which is a tragedy for piggies with tooth trouble as the operation vets use to treat the problem can often result in the pig dying, as pigs who have been off their food are thin and weak, and so the risks are even greater for them than a healthy pig going under.

Its a tricky situation, pig lovers just want the best for their piggies, and sadly not all vets offer the best treatments. Some of us have sadly learned this the hard way.

Having said that, I do know a couple of vets who have been extremely kind, have not known what to do, and so have worked with the CCT by phone, following vedra's advice, and the pig was saved.

I suppose its like anything, some experiences are good, some are bad.

Jeffdean · New Member Joined: 15 Oct 2008 Posts: 3

Happened on a Sunday The most expensive surgery ever was £230 for a known person of mine for bladder stone operation.She still have the stone, and it is bigger than a common marble! It was poking out her nethers, so she had managed to pass it all the way down, god knows how.

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