Today I went into PetSmart to meet with my boyfriend and his mom. Naturally, I went over to the guinea pigs to peek at them.
One of them had very labored breathing and she seemed to be very thin compared to her cage mates. It’s hard to tell how thin she is in this video, because she’s curled up. When she stretched out to walk, her hips stuck out and her stomach sunk in on both sides.
I watched her struggle to breathe for a few moments. Even my boyfriend and his mom noticed how heavily she was breathing.
Unable to find an employee, I went to one of the registers and asked if they could get someone to the guinea pig section.
The cashier said, “Yes ma’am, no problem,” and I headed back to the guinea pig cages.
I waited for 15 minutes and no one showed up. I went back to the registers and asked a different cashier if they could send someone to the guinea pigs.
An employee named Nick assisted me. Actually, I wouldn’t say assisted.
He asked me what I needed and I told him one of the guinea pigs had heavy, labored breathing and appeared thinner than the other pigs in the cage.
He opened the cage area up and pulled the sick pig out. At first it struggled, then it gave up and laid in his hand. Keep in mind most young pet store guinea pigs are very skittish and they fight when being held. This guy had his hand open and she just rested on his palm. He wasn’t holding her down either.
He then said, “The breathing looks normal to me.” I stared at him with this dumbfounded look, because it was overwhelmingly obvious how labored the breathing was. I said to him, “You can tell the breathing is very labored and she is struggling- look at the other pigs’ chests and stomachs, they hardly move. Her breathing is very exaggerated.” He replied, “Her heart beat is a little fast.” He just sat there staring into the cage and wasn’t talking. I said, “She looks like she’s really suffering and struggling to breathe. Look at how hard she’s breathing.”
He then says, and I quote word for word, “Oh, it’s just a respiratory infection. I’ll put her in isolation tonight.” He plopped her back into the cage, closed the cage back up, and walked away. I was infuriated and absolutely speechless. He put a very sick guinea pig back into the cage with it’s seemingly healthy cage mates and walked away. This means the other pigs are most likely going to show signs of a URI soon. Because this lazy, uneducated baboon employee wants to wait to put her in isolation, this means some unknowing person will come along and possibly purchase this sick pig, only to watch it die in a few days.
I dare anyone to tell me PetSmart has very educated employees who care for their animals. First of all, respiratory infections are HIGHLY contagious and will kill guinea pigs within days if not treated. Guinea pigs kept in aquariums are extremely susceptible to developing an upper respiratory infection. The ammonia in urine and the moisture in their breath can build along the glass walls. The guinea pig breathes it in and BAM, upper respiratory infection. This is why guinea pigs need very open and well ventilated cages.
Second of all, why would a store that owns breathing, living animals hire employees and not train them how to detect and properly treat illnesses, infections, pregnancy, etc.? If my boyfriend, with an equally untrained eye, instantly notice the labored breathing, why did this goon PetSmart employee have such a hard time noticing? My boyfriend even said, “I don’t know how that guy couldn’t tell the pig was breathing heavily, especially compared to the other ones.”
I am so sick of pet stores thinking their animals are disposable and easily replaced. I am so fed up with pet stores hiring employees and not training them properly.
If I had the money, I would buy the pig myself and treat it. I’m upset this pig is suffering and I’m upset that its cage mates will most likely suffer too.
The pig is going to receive no treatment. It’s going to die. The only life it knew was with its overly bred mother and a cramped pet store cage.
Keep in mind this isn’t the only sick guinea pig incident I have had.
