How Much Is A Visit To The Vet For A Guinea Pig?

Today I thought we’d play a little game I like to call How Much Is A Visit To The Vet For A Guinea Pig?

You see yesterday Sophie and I took her pet guinea pig, Cookie, to the vet for a bit of a check up.

Poor old Cookie (actually he’s not even one yet so I should probably drop the ‘old’ bit) has developed a bit of a rash on his skin and while he seems his usual happy self, I thought we should probably get a professional to give him the once over.

Sophie meeting Cookie for the first time

So after we spent a solid 10 minutes trying to catch Cookie (what is with Guinea Pigs being so damn fast?!) and put him in a hay lined box for the 4 minute car ride to the vet, we rocked up for our appointment.

Now I’ve never been to a vet before and let’s just say it’s quite the eye opener for someone who has quite an intense (and slightly irrational) fear of cats, dogs that are bigger than a handbag and anything else that moves and breathes and isn’t a human!

Anyway, after trying to avoid eye contact with a cat that was having quite the tanty and a rather large dog that refused to get on the scales (could totally sympathise with that strategic move) Sophie and I sat down and waited for Cookie’s name to be called.

After a few minutes of waiting, a friendly looking blonde lady with glasses magically appeared from behind a door and quietly ushered us into her room (or is it an office?  check up facility? Honestly, I have no idea!  Any vets out there like to help a long term non-pet owner out?  What is that tiny space with no windows and nothing on the walls with a large island bench in the middle of it called?)

Friendly Vet Lady (FVL for short) gave Cookie a thorough going over, asked Sophie lots of questions about his diet, living quarters, room mates etc before taking a couple of skin samples and looking at them under a microscope.  

She was extremely helpful, very caring and had a fantastic way of chatting with Sophie about all things Guinea Pig related.  

After 15 solid minutes of investigating Cookie’s skin issues, I was informed that he would need a course of antibiotics and a topical cream to sort things out.  FVL showed me how to administer the antibiotics, while I politely informed her that Scott would have to do that as clutching at a rodent’s mouth in order to gently shove a syringe in there wasn’t exactly one of my best skills!

On that semi awkward note, I thanked FVL profusely for taking such good care of Soph’s guinea pig and looked around for the hand sanitiser headed out to the reception area to avoid the cats pay the bill.

I’ve heard all sorts of horror stories about vet bills from family and friends over the years, so I knew it wasn’t going to be a cheap visit.  When the amount was read out to me I may have gasped out loud, but then I remembered my sister in law (who actually is a vet) telling me how awful it is for the staff when pet owners complain about the cost of their animal being treated, so I may have followed up the gasp with a bit of a faux coughing fit in order to avoid offending anyone.  

I can’t say it worked but I can say that I was very grateful for the lovely receptionist pretending not to notice my borderline crazy lady antics!

So now it’s over to you.  How much is a visit to the vet for a guinea pig?  Have a guess and leave your answer in the comments section.  

I’d love to offer the winner a prize, but after paying that bill AND forking out a small fortune to replace a smashed iPad screen today (seriously, how good are school holidays?!) there is nothing but receipts in my wallet!  So let’s just say that whoever guesses the correct amount (or nearest to it) will win the honour of knowing exactly how much it costs to treat a much loved family pet (who is now sporting a VERY expensive dollop of topical cream on his neck!)

Do you own a pet?  Does it cost you a fortune in vet bills?  Or is it a clever pet that never gets sick?!