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Petco Vet Visit

Nutter Butter

Nutter Butter

Junior Guinea Pig
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Asking for a freind once again.

My friends guinea pig recently got a small cold, so she was planning on sending her pigs to the vet until she remembered that Petco policy allows guinea pigs to be returned for a brief, free vet visit for 1 month after a purchase. She decided to have her guinea pigs be checked by a Petco vet, who informed her that np they needed to monitor the piggies behavior for at most 2 weeks. She agreed but is a bit nervous about the transaction since she doesn't know how reliable Petco is. She is planning on getting her piggies back from the pet store soon. I personally don't fully trust Petco to care for her pigs properly, but I wanted to get a second opinion before we both make the decision.
Should we take back the piggies?
 
It's totally your decision, but something to consider... Did you have to return the pet back to Petco? What I mean is, did you get a refund and are you planning to re-purchase the same pet again once healthy? This is definitely a way to take care of vet bills as Petco will then pay the bills. However, my fear of doing this for my pets is that if I have technically returned the pet I don't know how much say I have over their vet care, if any. However, I am a very anxious pet owner so perhaps worrying about nothing here. I honestly haven't used Petco for vet care because where I live this was the policy that I would have to return my pet and I just wasn't comfortable with that. Perhaps someone else who has used Petco for vetcare will come along soon and be able to offer more feedback. Good for you and your friend for getting help for their piggy!
 
Hope4gem said:
It's totally your decision, but something to consider... Did you have to return the pet back to Petco? What I mean is, did you get a refund and are you planning to re-purchase the same pet again once healthy? This is definitely a way to take care of vet bills as Petco will then pay the bills. However, my fear of doing this for my pets is that if I have technically returned the pet I don't know how much say I have over their vet care, if any. However, I am a very anxious pet owner so perhaps worrying about nothing here. I honestly haven't used Petco for vet care because where I live this was the policy that I would have to return my pet and I just wasn't comfortable with that. Perhaps someone else who has used Petco for vetcare will come along soon and be able to offer more feedback. Good for you and your friend for getting help for their piggy!
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We had to return the pigs, but they emphasized how they wouldn't sell off our piggies. They reassured us several times that they would contact us about their health status and would include us in important decisions
 
Nutter Butter said:
We had to return the pigs, but they emphasized how they wouldn't sell off our piggies. They reassured us several times that they would contact us about their health status and would include us in important decisions
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Fingers crossed it all works out for you. 🤞
 
Guinea pigs don’t get small colds. They get bacterial respiratory infections which require antibiotics.

I see they have had to be returned now but ...

Here in the Uk it’s generally the case that the shop will cover the cost of the vet treatment but they don’t get returned to the shop itself. Proof of the vet bill shown to the shop and they will cover the cost but the animals remain home being cared for by their owner under the owners vet instruction. It probably is shop dependent though and I am sure some chain shops here may have differing policies and perhaps only want you to use their specified vet or who may ask for them to be returned.

If the only way the shop would cover the cost is for them to be returned to the shop, then I personally would not do it. I’d rather keep them home with me and be the one caring for them, weighing them daily, administering meds, and syringe feeding etc. I would be more than happy to forego my consumer right of having the cost covered and would take care of it myself by going to my own vet and paying my own fees.

I hope your friends piggies get well soon.
 
I wouldn’t return them to the shop either. I would have gone to an independent vet and then tried to recoup the costs. I don’t think it’s necessary to to be kept for two weeks to be monitored. Why so long? Hope your friend gets her piggies back soon.

PS why doesn’t she join the forum? 🙂
 
As you have already taken the piggies back to Petco then we can't really advise you not to do it!
Petco now own the guinea pigs, so it is a bit too late to question the care they may or may not be receiving.

Hopefully they will recover and your friend will get her pets back safely.
Have they received the promised updates from Petco yet?
 
Swissgreys said:
As you have already taken the piggies back to Petco then we can't really advise you not to do it!
Petco now own the guinea pigs, so it is a bit too late to question the care they may or may not be receiving.

Hopefully they will recover and your friend will get her pets back safely.
Have they received the promised updates from Petco yet?
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Not yet, since it's only been two days, I'll call them about it once the store opens
 
What do their terms say about their covering the costs of another (independent) vet? And how long a period do they give after purchase? I’m assuming it’s one month as they say free treatment in that time period? I hope you get them back soon. I’d try and do that now and take them elsewhere for a check. Good luck ☺️
 
Siikibam said:
What do their terms say about their covering the costs of another (independent) vet? And how long a period do they give after purchase? I’m assuming it’s one month as they say free treatment in that time period? I hope you get them back soon. I’d try and do that now and take them elsewhere for a check. Good luck ☺️
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I'm pretty sure they said all the vet costs will be handled by themselves. And yes, we had a month of free vet treatment.
 
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