Should I Take My Guinea Pig to the Vet?

Taking your guinea pig in for his/her annual physical at the veterinarian will cost you about $77 (it could be higher or lower, depending on what your vet charges). The humans recently took all three of us in for a checkup, and if you type 77 * 3 into a calculator, you get a number high enough to make humans start grumbling about money.

Where are we?

Uh-oh. I remember this place...

It was no picnic for us, either. The vet stuck stuff in our mouths, and she pushed her fingers against our bellies, feeling for bladder stones. None of us liked that, and we wheeked loudly just to let her know that!

Poor Broccoli! Getting poked and prodded like that. Oh well, better him than me! Wait, what do you mean I'm next?!

How often do humans and guinea pigs need to go through this unpleasantness? Some people feel that you should only take your piggy to the vet when you have identified a health problem, and not for regular checkups, because going to the vet is stressful. However, this viewpoint is debatable, and we personally don't subscribe to it. Going to a veterinarian regularly allows them to become familiar with your piggy before he or she is in a crisis. You should be monitoring your guinea pig's weight on a regular basis and looking for any other signs of illness, but how many of you humans out there feel as competent as your vet when it comes to checking for bladder stones, listening to our hearts and lungs, and so on? We guinea pigs are good at hiding symptoms of illness and things can go downhill very quickly once symptoms appear, so why not do everything in your power to ensure our good health? This means weight monitoring, watching for symptoms, AND annual wellness visits to the vet. You'll probably get some angry wheeks at the time, but we'll thank you in the end.