‘Why did my guinea pigs have to die?’ (From This Is Lancashire)

‘Why did my guinea pigs have to die?’

5:20pm Friday 4th January 2013 in News

A VETERINARY practice has launched an investigation into how two animals died after being treated there.

Katie-Louise Allen took both her guinea pigs, George and Henry, to Companion Care vets, based at the Middlebrook Retail Park in Horwich, after George cut his eye on some straw.

The 21-year-old law student says the two 18-month-old guinea pigs were both “perfectly healthy” but after the vet administered an injection for “itchy skin” they changed and stopped eating — losing “half their body weight in a few days”.

Ms Allen said it was the first time she had visited the surgery and chose it because of its flexible opening hours.

She took Henry along to keep George company and, while at the surgery, the vet did a routine check on them both before giving them a jab.

A week later, she took the animals back for their second dose and told the vet they had been acting strangely but says she was told it was normal.

Ms Allen said: “Almost immediately my guinea pigs started to deteriorate. They were not eating and rapidly losing weight.

“I booked another emergency appointment for them and saw a different vet.

“She stated they had lost more than half of their body weight in a few days and prescribed a food substitute I had to administer through syringes as they were no longer strong enough to eat themselves.”

Ms Allen spent £300 on treatment for the guinea pigs and says she could not afford the £400 it would cost for a postmortem to find out what had caused her pets’ deaths.

She added: “I have kept guinea pigs for 18 years and have never known anything like what I have witnessed in the last month.

“I accept my guinea pigs are now gone forever before living even half of their expected life plan.”

Companion Care Vets customer services manager Sarah Hibbert said the case was being investigated.

She added: "We recognise the distress of losing a pet and offer our sincere condolences to Miss Allen.

“We are currently investigating the circumstances of this case and until our internal investigations are complete we are unable to make any further comment."