How to Find a Good Veterinarian for your Guinea Pig

We would assume that many of our readers already have a local vet for their guinea pig. However, people who are first-time guinea pig owners may not already have a local veterinarian yet. Also, people who are moving to a new area, or have sick guinea pigs while traveling may need to find a good vet. So where should you look?

We have found several lists that should help you get started finding a vet if you're in one of these situations:

• Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians (note: check the "Exotic Pets Seen" column to see if guinea pigs are listed for each entry)
• Google Maps - try searching for "guinea pig vets" in your area and see what comes up
• Guinea Lynx Vets
• Guinea Pig Zone Vets
• SmallAnimalChannel.com's Directory Of Veterinarians For Exotic Small Mammals (note: check the "Animals treated" column to make sure "GP" is listed)
• Vetective - An exotic vet finding service. It seems to make use of a lot of the information from some of the aforementioned sources.

Hopefully, you can use this list to find at least exotic vet in your area who treats guinea pigs. Assuming you do, your next step should be to make sure the vet is well rated. Check out Yelp reviews, or try seeing if your vet is mentioned in the links above. If your vet is unrated, and you want to make sure they are able to care for your guinea pig properly, you can next try calling up the vet with some specific questions you know the answer to, and see if they also know the answer. Here is an example test question from Guinea Lynx: 

• Q: What antibiotic do you prefer to use on adult guinea pigs with a URI (upper respiratory infection)? 
• A: Baytril, Doxycycline, and Chloramphenicol are good choices. If they list any penicillin based drugs, hang up the phone...

If the reviews look good and/or they pass the test, then it sounds like you've just found yourself a good guinea pig vet!

I'm so lucky to have a good v--Hey, don't touch me there! I'm ticklish!

In some cases, there might not be a good guinea pig vet in your area. For example, we had some guest piggies from Palestine who had a lot of trouble finding a good vet in their part of the world. If you find yourself in this situation, here's what we recommend:

• If you know in advance that you're going to be traveling to an area where good veterinary care for your guinea pig will be harder to find than where you currently are, then consult Guinea Lynx's Rural Emergency Medical Guide. It describes how you should explain your situation to your current vet before leaving the area, and he or she may be able to give your human some long shelf life drugs in cases of emergency for where you're going.
• If no other options are available, you can find a good dog & cat veterinarian who is willing to work with you. Make sure you educate yourself as much as possible online before meeting with the vet. If you have any doubts about any of the advice you've received, post about your situation on a reputable guinea pig site and get some feedback.

Does anyone have any stories about finding a good vet they'd like to share? Let us know if the comments section if you do!