# Pets at home



## K1nS (Feb 8, 2010)

Does everyone else hate pets at home as much as me??

I got a little bunny last summer from there, paid £26 for her aswell, which I thought was a rip off.. Anyway, she was fine the first few days, then she started to get a swollen foot. I thought that maybe it was down to her banging her feet on the floor as we have thin carpet in the living-room and its concrete underneath. It didn't get any better so we phoned pets at home, explained whats wrong and they said to bring her into their vets which they have in their itself and they would pay for all vet costs as we had only had her a few days. 

The vet told me that she couldn't find anything wrong, asked if she was still eating and drinking ok (which she was) and gave her some antibiotics just to be on the safe side, she said she would be fine because of her still eating and drinking so I thought nothing of it. A week later we had to take her back in just for a check-up, it was a different vet this time and you know what he told me?? That her leg was completely dead. She had some sort of infection, which she would have had whilst in pets at home itself and she needed to be put down. :crying:

I was so angry at them first off for selling me a sick bunny, but also because the other vet didn't pick up on this! I kept thinking that maybe if she had said something before, she would still be here now :crying:

You know what pets at home actually said about this? They gave us a refund for her and said we could have another rabbit for free. Do they really think that I would trust them again after that



I have heard so many horror stories about that place, mainly involving fish. I know a good friend of mine went to buy some fish, when she was looking around, a few of them were already dead and left in the tanks!


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## owieprone (Nov 6, 2008)

infections/problems like that are pretty rare, it may not have been noticable when you first took her in what exactly was causing the problem, and only when you went in the second time was it advanced enough to diagnose it on examination without tests. the fact it was (assuming this asyou've not mentioned it) hopping about showing no other signs of problems the rabbit itself was probably not in any pain, the necrosis probably killed off the nerves as it went.
i don't think the vet 'missed' anything per se or didn't do her job right as she gave you ABs and examined it, without an obvious response to pain/discomfort and/or actual visual and maleable signs of necrosis it would be hard to spot.

as you said the first vet gave her antibiotics so i doubt that any other intervention would have help much more than slowing the necrosis or amputation. how long was it between visits, out of curiosity.

thumping of the rabbits food on a floor wouldn't cause this problem, remember they do this outside on 'dirty' uneaven/sharp stone, i doubt a carpeted concrete floor would cause any problems.

i think the vets and pets at home have been reasonable with their offer.

it's a shame for you poor bunny but i'm not sure it could have been caught in time to help it or even if [email protected] were negligent, they wouldn't have knowingly sold a problem bunny as it would mean giving your compensation.. not good business practice. and with vets instore it means that any treatment etc would have been onsite at hand anyway. i think it was unfortunate rather than incompetence.

as for fish.. well they're harder to keep and transfer tank-to-tank properly than people realise and the [email protected] employees need proper training to look after them. (not saying they get it though!). also some fish don't travel well or deal with tank changes well. Even EXCELLENT shops have problems. the one we get our hermits from for instance recently had a tank crash (where the water nutrients suddenly change for no apparent reason) and killed the entire tank of inverts. 
also, the public need constant supervision around tanks, some of the dead fish could easily have been caused by some wee idiot banging on the tank rather than insufficient care.

i think it all depends on the branch as to how well it deals with certain animals.


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## SEVEN_PETS (Aug 11, 2009)

I can't speak for pets at home, but most pet shops buy their animals from huge mass produced farms, where the health and temperament of the animals produced are not taken into consideration so many animals bred from these places have problems and some have to be put down either before they reach the pet shop or after purchase.

Firstly £26 isn't a rip off. I'm glad they put a good price on the animals because it prevents impulse buy, although it would be better if it was a higher price than that, around £35-£40. I paid £35 each for my rescue rabbits and would pay the same again.


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## K1nS (Feb 8, 2010)

SEVEN_PETS said:


> Firstly £26 isn't a rip off. I'm glad they put a good price on the animals because *it prevents impulse buy*, although it would be better if it was a higher price than that, around £35-£40. I paid £35 each for my rescue rabbits and would pay the same again.


I do agree with you there, but I do think £26 was abit much. Obviously people have different oppinions which is fair enough 

"how long was it between visits, out of curiosity."
It was 6 days, 5 days worth of antibiotics and then she went back the next day 

"thumping of the rabbits food on a floor wouldn't cause this problem, remember they do this outside on 'dirty' uneaven/sharp stone, i doubt a carpeted concrete floor would cause any problems."
I was just kinda thinking out loud with that one, I didn't have a clue what had caused her foot to go like that so it was just something that came to mind


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## owieprone (Nov 6, 2008)

5 days is more than enough for something aggressive like to advance enough to give a proper diagnosis. If the antibiotics didn't do anythign to slow it down, i doubt anything you could have done would have helped.

i dunno i though £26 was a good price for a bunny. From a rescue it would be £30/40 quid to pay for the neutering.

i thought it might have been a think-out-loud, but thought i'd comment on it anyway. it was probably damage/infection from before it was given to the shop tbh, there's not much in the shop that would cause the damage or cause such a devasting infection that ABs wouldn't slow advancement.

poor old bun. at least it probably wasn't in a large amount of pain.

i wouldn't write off [email protected], just maybe that branch


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## Jowan (Dec 14, 2009)

I love pets at home. I buy loads of stuff for my tribe there. If I think they have ripped me off I just get loads of the free sample foods lol I even send my mum in for them.


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## Marcia (Mar 10, 2009)

I hate pets at home with a passion and that's why i don't shop there anymore. I'd much rather support smaller pet shops anyway.


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## K1nS (Feb 8, 2010)

Marcia said:


> I hate pets at home with a passion and that's why i don't shop there anymore. I'd much rather support smaller pet shops anyway.


A new pet store has opened close to me, I wish there was more around though... it seems big pet stores, like pets at home have over took smaller pet stores now. Pets at home I find are really expensive for everything, the staff also seem alot nicer in smaller pet stores


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## owieprone (Nov 6, 2008)

Marcia said:


> I hate pets at home with a passion and that's why i don't shop there anymore. I'd much rather support smaller pet shops anyway.


Our [email protected] is actually really good and they have a cheap no-preservative cat food and a rat owner who looks after the small animals there. the fish section is abysmal but you can't have everything.

other local fish shops are better and we have a marine tank anyway, so only buy particular animals/plants which pah just don't stock.

our best local shop actually shut down, but it wasn't really geared towards small animals, it was mainly horse orientated so wasn't that good for the rats or cats. They did have a small animal section and it was fab! the other local one is the other side of town which i've yet to go to due to it's rubbish location.

i think when it comes to pah it all depends on the branch itself, abit like halfords, it all comes down to the assistants knowledge. if pah is anything like halfords.. you DON'T get much training.


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## K1nS (Feb 8, 2010)

owieprone said:


> Our [email protected] is actually really good and they have a cheap no-preservative cat food and a rat owner who looks after the small animals there. the fish section is abysmal but you can't have everything.
> 
> other local fish shops are better and we have a marine tank anyway, so only buy particular animals/plants which pah just don't stock.
> 
> ...


Thats so true, well I know for me, I won't be going to my local [email protected] for actual animals again  Its a shame though because I don't have any pet stores close which actually sell pets, its just pet supplies hehe


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## Mum2Alfie (Jan 4, 2010)

When we lived in Brentwood Essex they had a little pet shop, and I found it more expensive than [email protected] Sounds strange I know, but there wasnt even a [email protected] around or even close for it to be in direct cometition with it so I dont understand it. But I like [email protected], yes it is a little more expensive for things like bowls and collars etc, I go to wilkos for that kind of thing or even Tescos. However we go there to get cages and hamsters. We had our hamster that died from there after a month but its hard to spot something wrong, they were very nice about it, gave us a free hamster. I find it always clean and the fish in ours seem ok. We got our other hamster and gerbils from there and they are thriving lil fattys!


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

I love my nearest Pets at Home  all my pets have been healthy and well cared for whilst there. 

I am surprised you think £26 is a rip off. Rabbits can live 10+ years, and you think £26 is a rip off for a pet you get to spend so long for? I paid £35 for my girl from a breeder 8 years ago and would happily have paid much more.


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## K1nS (Feb 8, 2010)

happysaz133 said:


> I love my nearest Pets at Home  all my pets have been healthy and well cared for whilst there.
> 
> I am surprised you think £26 is a rip off. Rabbits can live 10+ years, and you think £26 is a rip off for a pet you get to spend so long for? I paid £35 for my girl from a breeder 8 years ago and would happily have paid much more.


Its just my oppinion


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## Emmiiee (Jan 3, 2010)

I lovee my local pets at home, its quite small! so really dosen't have that many animals there, and they always seem very well cared for, we go there often for animal food and toys! and the staff normall have the animals out holding them and ineracting with them, we adopted a rabbit crunchie from there, he was the only one in the adoptiong place, looking so lost bless him, and he is gorgous! x


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## K1nS (Feb 8, 2010)

Emmiiee said:


> I lovee my local pets at home, its quite small! so really dosen't have that many animals there, and they always seem very well cared for, we go there often for animal food and toys! and the staff normall have the animals out holding them and ineracting with them, we adopted a rabbit crunchie from there, he was the only one in the adoptiong place, looking so lost bless him, and he is gorgous! x


I am glad Emmiiee... maybe its just my local [email protected] thats the problem then hehe


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## Marcia (Mar 10, 2009)

K1nS said:


> I am glad Emmiiee... maybe its just my local [email protected] thats the problem then hehe


I've been into the Swansea one and i had to point out that one of their gerbils was clearly a male in with females  But they knew better and my sister told me that they had gerbil pups in the tank a week later


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## K1nS (Feb 8, 2010)

Marcia said:


> I've been into the Swansea one and i had to point out that one of their gerbils was clearly a male in with females  But they knew better and my sister told me that they had gerbil pups in the tank a week later


Tut. Thats so wrong, its obv down to staff training though like said before.  Imagine going in for the one gerbil, then to find out that she was preg! :nonod:


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## sunshine80 (Jan 25, 2010)

I hear so many bad things about Pets at Home stores but the one near me is great. They have quite a few animals and they are all well looked after I bought 2 male chinese hamster from there (they are now nearly two years old) and the man sexed them to double check before I got them (although with chinese hamsters this is pretty obvious so not sure why he even bothered turning them over). I buy all my pet foods, toys etc there from the dog to the small animals and the fish (although the fish section is better than most [email protected] I do not buy them there very often). 

It has got a lot better the last few years though - I can rember going in to get gerbils about 5 years ago and being told that they would not even try and sex them. The other pet shop near me is not any better though (it is a private run one) - when I asked them about their gerbils they said that they only ever get males and do not get females in. I bought two who were luckily both males but sadly one died shortly after I got him. I went back to pet shop to try and get another male (and was told the same story) only to get it home and discover it was a female (luckily it was before I put it with the other gerbil). I took it back had to argue my point as they claim even the vet can not sex them at that age (strange I managed it then) - they said I could taken another gerbil but I checked the four/five they had (after being left to catch them out their tank myself) and they were all females so I eventually got my money back but still no friend for my lonely gerbil (I eventually got some young males from a breeder). This may be why I think Pets at Home is quite good because the other 2 privately run pet shops near me are both worse than the pets at home one.


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## Nonnie (Apr 15, 2009)

I hate [email protected] with a passion (which is a shame, as they do a really good dog food which is well priced) and i refuse to give them a penny of my money.

Its very easy for them to outwardly appear professional and caring. When i go into my local one, its always very clean; the animals look well looked after and are cleaned out and in decent sized housing.
Its what goes on behind the scenes thats the worry. Where they source their live animals from is digusting. They sell them too young, they dont quarantine them, and they will PTS sick ones rather than have them treated. 

Dont get me started on their "adoption" section. Makes impulse buying even more common due to people seeing it as a convienient place to dump poor animals when the novelty has worn off. Then they palm off their older stock (although how a 9 week old bunny can be regarded as old is beyond me) and put a little "no one wanted me" sob story with it.

Ive yet to meet a member of staff over the age of 20 with any sort of animal knowledge. They all seem more interested in chatting and making sales than the welfare of the animals they sell. One i spoke to didnt even know what vaccinations rabbits needed.

Personally i feel £26 is far too cheap for a rabbit. £45-£50 might help put off some people, and in return help the fact that there are over 30,000 buns in rescue.


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## Maiisiku (Feb 20, 2009)

I don't hate pets at home, but after the experience I have had with roborovski hamsters I won't buy pets from them again. I got 2 girls from them. Both of them had psychological problems. I have never been able to get Tama's trust so I feel it's my responsibility as an owner to at least give her a stress free, well fed life. But she has no social interaction because she is very very scared of me and no matter what I tried I could never gain her trust. 

I do however buy my pet supplies from pets at home. They deliver and I don't drive. They have a good selection of things. The pets at home near me kept their rabbits and ginias really well but the hamsters had no bedding and they didn't know how to sex them I had to do that myself. 

I get my rodents from a local small petshop. They get them from a breeder who does a lot of diffirent ones. I got my first syrian from them and another last year. She died of pnemonia but that was not their fault, not my fault (house was heated well) and something that was unavoidable. I also got my gerbils from them 1 year old and going strong! On friday I am getting 2 mice from them. I have had robo hammies from other people but when I moved my landlord said no more than 3 cages. So we kept the gerbils and 2 hamsters. I don't think I'd have more than 3 cages anyway now that I have a cat. Although she does like her hamster TV 

Back on topic, it does depend on your branch. Some of them do train their staff or do their research personally. But some of them don't.


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

it would have been cheaper for them to put her to sleep than continue to treat her. Rabbit breeding and selling can be very immoral


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