A question about vets

[LondonLady]

Biscuit and Toffee are my first guinea pigs and I've had them for 7 months now. When I first got them I registered with a local vet - didn't know anything about them but they had good reviews on Google...
However having seen them a couple of times I don't think they actually know much about guinea pigs though they all seem very nice there and it's convenient to get to. How important is it to have a vet who is more of an expert on piggies? I've looked at the Vet Locator thread and there's one near me. Would it make sense to try and register with them, or do you think it's ok to stay where I am?

(I'm attaching a couple of photos of B&T. Just because )

 

[Betsy]

It's best to have a vet who knows guinea pigs well so it's worth registering with one who is good with Piggies.

 

[Spaghetti & Noodles]

I think it wouldn't hurt to be registered with more than one vet, the one you have already seen might be good for an emergency or basic treatment if it's close, if the other is more specialized in exotics/guinea pigs that gives you an option should anything more serious come up.
Your pigs are gorgeous too.

 

[Claire W]

It wouldn’t harm to be registered with the other vet for anything more complexed.

My vet is a general vet who knows her piggy stuff but she will happily contact a specialised vet if she needs too and my neatest specialist vet is just over an hour away although thankfully and touch wood, I haven’t had to go to yet

 

[Freela]

Honestly, I would look now, before an emergency comes up, for a vet with up-to-date experience with guinea pigs. Guinea pigs are not just smaller dogs/cats, they have specific issues that do not carry over from other species. After losing a guinea pig to dental issues/infection and finding out that the standard dog/cat vet we were using who also saw rodents didn't treat her correctly, I moved to a practice that sees dogs and cats but also has vets that are specifically trained with exotics, including reptiles, birds, and rodents. I have to drive further, but they are amazing and they actually don't cost more than the last vet. We actually had a piggie with a lot of ongoing health problems (including dental issues and bladder issues) and I honestly don't think that she would have survived without a vet who had that extra knowledge and experience. It's about a 45-minute drive to get there, but it has been very much worth it.

 

[LondonLady]

I did try to register Toffee and Biscuit with the 'exotic' vet but unfortunately they're not accepting any new patients ant the moment so I'll just stick with my present vet for now. Hopefully there won't be any problems for a long time...

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

Gorgeous piggies

I agree with the above, a piggy savvy vet is worth their weight in gold! I drive mine 150 miles to see the beer piggy vets I know.

 

[Idris]

We were just with the local vets to begin with. Depending on which one we got they were ok with basic stuff (nail clipping, dehydration from diarrhoea, wounds etc) but anything not fixed by a week of Baytril was beyond them. Have learned the hard way and now have a 45 minute drive instead of a two minute walk.
Despite that we’ve still lost another two but at least we knew we’d done our best as quickly as we could instead of the what ifs. Partly depends on the vet’s attitude to learning and access to back up support from another practice who are either exotic specialist or have a real experience of GPs (our new vet has her own pigs and the practice has links to a specialist). However, depending on when, the exotic specialist might not always be available in an emergency.

Hope that’s helpful.

 

[Free Ranger]

I picked my vets because some of them keep piggies themselves. Although they are general vets, the piggie-keepers have a personal interest, experience and more specialisation. There are usually 3 or 4 vets on at any one time so they do consult each other if something weird is happening too. It's worth phoning round and asking.

 

[artcasper]

I see a local vet for any immediate emergencies - like when Winny got something stuck in her eye - but I won't go back now as I have lost faith... they didn't prescribe pain relief twice a day, operation was twice the price of the exotic vet... just things like that... I now travel an hour each way to see a specialist in piggies...