Why idiots shouldn't have exotic animals.

[draggonlaady]

I just got a call from a girl with a chinchilla; said chinchilla has been lying in one place, twitching its tail all day. Won't/can't get up and move. Cannot hold its head up. Feels cold to the touch. Recommended that she take chin's temperature, and offered to come to clinic and look at chinchilla to get better idea what's going on. Doesn't want to bring it in, doesn't know how old it is, doesn't own a freaking thermometer, after questioning turns out that they have been feeding the chinchilla hamster food. Explained chins are not hamsters, should be feeding CHINCHILLA food. No other species' food. Girl asks what chinchillas are allergic to. I explain that as a species, chinchillas are not particularly prone to allergies, in fact I've never seen allergy problems in a chinchilla, but I suppose in theory they could be allergic to anything a human can be allergic to. Owner says "well, the people we got him from say chinchillas are allergic to apples, and that it's okay to feed him parakeet food." To which my only reply had to be "They are wrong. He is not a bird." Well, can we give him vitamins? No. There is no amount of human-multivitamin you can shove down his throat (and good luck with THAT) that will make bird seed or hamster mix a balanced diet for a chinchilla. What should we do with him? He's really weak and acts like he hit is head." Well, as I said, I can meet you at the clinic and take a look at him, but I can't tell you over the phone what's wrong with him. "ok. well, thanks anyway," and she hangs up. So the chin's probably going to lay there and die because they can't be bothered to 1: look up proper care for the species of pet they have, which is available for FREE at the library or on the internet, and 2: can't be bothered to take it to a veterinarian when it's sick, because that costs money.

Comments

[sphynx-again.livejournal.com]

That's really sad. Nothing should have to die that way because people are too lazy/cheap to care properly for them.

[draggonlaady.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I am not pleased. It is, however, disgustingly common that people get "cool" pets without bothering to figure out how to actually care for them. Humans suck.