Petcetera can go to Hell. (long)

The BBQ Pit
1

Petcetera is by far the worst, the WORST store I’ve ever dealt with, pet or otherwise. This afternoon did it for me.

A few weeks ago I got 2 female rats. Real sweet, nice and tame, etc. The one had a little sneeze when I got her. Nothing to worry about, they said, rats sometimes sneeze just like us. Ok, fine. As days passed her sneezes increased in frequency and intensity. Then the wheeze started. Her breathing sounded like a bunch of squeaky door hinges. I knew that she had to be sick, so I called them back and told them of the situation. “Yeah, she’s got a respiratory infection,” said the employee in a bored tone. “So, what should I do?” I asked. “Take her to the vet,” she said simply. I put my foot down at that. “There’s no way I’m spending money for a vet’s appointment because she was sick when I got her,” I said. “She’s great, and I want to keep her, but I don’t want her to die from this. So either refund me the money for her or pay for the vet’s cost.”

“Oh, oh, well, we have antibiotics we’ll give you, at no charge,” She said.

Fine then. So I went there to get it. And guess what they gave me? A box of fish antibiotics. fish antibiotics. I took the damn stuff but I wouldn’t give my rat any, it would probably kill her. So I took her to the vet. $157 bucks later, she’s on REAL antibiotics and doing much better. But, it doesn’t end there. When I had initially got her, they claimed they kept the males and females seperate. Well then, there must have been an immaculate conception, because she gave birth to nine babies two weeks ago. And Petshitera refused to take any of the babies to sell as pets once they are weaned. Don’t get me wrong, I love these lil’ babes, but there’s no way I can care for my now 11 rats. I gotta find homes for them soon, but nobody is interested.

Also, their Brainless Wonder salespeople tried to make me get them pine bedding and a glass aquarium for the rats when I got them. Lucky for me I had read up a lot on rats before I got them and found out that the oils in pine and cedar are toxic to rats. Aquariums are also bad because they do not provide adequate ventilation and ammonia from urine can build up and compromise their breathing. Guess what they kept their rats in? Bingo! A glass aquarium with pine bedding. Stupid fucks.

They won’t get a cent more from me, that’s for sure. Now I’m wondering, is there some kind of legal action I can take? Someone I can report them to? Not necessarily for all the money I had to spend, but those other poor rats shouldn’t have to live in crappy conditions.

BTW, my other rat is fine. For now.

2

Here’s some advice from one of those groups of rat and mouse fanatics.

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(emphasis mine) I know there’s got to be at least a dozen hilarious responses to this, but I’m simply too dumbstruck by the idea of an organization working to improve the living conditions of rats, and moreover that they’d be outraged by the idea of pine bedding. They’re rats! They survive in the worst of conditions all over the planet. They live in sewers!

Sorry for the hijack – Petcetera does indeed sound like it’s run by idiots. (Fish antibiotics?) But that last part really caught me off guard.

4

Eh? Not to be rude, but if you’d read up “a lot”, you also should have known that:

  1. Rats are prone to respiratory infections like prostitutes in underdeveloped countries are prone to HIV, and there’s not a whole lot you can do about it, except…
  2. Don’t keep them on beddings that contain toxic phenols like pine and cedar, which aggravate the rats’ poor lungs, causing respiratory infections. Thus…
  3. If your prospective new pets are being kept on this bedding, or in aquariums, or anything else makes you uncomfortable, go somewhere else, because they’re not likely to be in the best of health. In fact…
  4. Find a breeder and get your pets through them instead.

I’m sorry to hear about your rat, but IMHO this pet store did nothing surprisingly wrong. Like you said, they are salespeople, not veterinarians (and actually, I’m surprised that they even recommended you take the baby to the vet instead of trying to push some hokey bird and fish antibiotics INSTEAD). Should they be more knowledgeable about WHAT they are selling? Sure, but it’s a very rare pet store that has employees who actually know what the fuck they’re talking about, which you have now learned.

Hope the infection clears up soon. You might get consider getting some semisweet chocolate chips and giving her a couple of those a day until it clears up, as there’s evidence that the chemicals (theobromine?) in chocolate can help open up the airways, making it easier to breathe. Plus, it’s chocolate!

In regards to finding homes for the babies, whereabouts do you live?

5

I totally thought you had it in for Peter Cetera & just had some spelling issues… :rolleyes:

6

Some people like dogs. Some people like cats. Some like rats. Maybe for allergy reasons, space reasons. Your argument assumes that rats are ultimately lower in your eyes than dogs and cats or XXX. Not everyone shares your opinion, however.

A pet rat is a lot different than one that is not domestic. The pet store ones probably never grew up in the sewers, or had to fend for themselves. But unless you can replace rats in this following sentence with dogs or cats or any and all other forms of animal:

than I tend to want to not agree with you. In reality, I’m a dog lover, cat liker. Never had a rat, or a mouse, or a snake, or what not. But obviously the OP loves her rats and wants to care for them. You’d be surprised the stories I have seen on that one Animal Planet channel!

No animal is worth giving up on until it dies.

/Shadez

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And some aren’t even worth giving up then!

8

Oooh! Petcetera is a PET STORE! For some reason, I thought you were talking about Pete Cetera - you know, the blonde singer from that band Chicago?

You’re the meaning in my life
You’re the inspiration…

Anyway, I’m glad your rat’s doing better.

9

I’m not saying people shouldn’t care about pet rats. I’m simply saying that, as a species, I think of rats as living in some pretty shitty conditions, so the idea of an organization set up to go to the legal mat against Petcetera because their rats were sitting on pine shavings struck me as humorous. No offense was meant to rat owners or their advocates.

10

Most employees at pet stores have no idea what they’re doing. Sure, there is the odd place where the people actually know how to take care of the animals they are selling, but it’s not that common. Since I bought a pregnant hamster, I haven’t got an animal at a pet store since. It’s really not that hard to tell male and female hamsters apart, considering the hugely disproportional size of hamster testicles to the hamster’s body :slight_smile:

I have two gerbils I got from a breeder, who knows a lot about the animal she is selling. Breeders tend to love the animal they are selling. Also, it’s just as cheap if not cheaper to buy an animal from a breeder (unless you’re talking purebred dogs or cats, but that’s a whole other issue). My pair of gerbils cost $10 together, and she sold sets of 3 for $12.

Fact is, pet stores, like any store, are pretty much in it for the money. They sell animals because the consumer wants them, not because they love them or know how to care for them.

11

Right, but rats naturally exist in shitty conditions. Living in an aquarium with absorbent pine chips is something they just weren’t meant to do–it’s a kind of speciesist relativism. It’s probably perfectly OK to keep rats in a piece of PVC pipe with a quarter-inch of standing sewage–they probably even run on floaters like a lumberjack can run on a log: a scatalogical hamster-wheel, if you will.

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You’re right, and point taken. I freely acknowledge my own ignorance, vis-a-vis rats. Next time just I’ll giggle quietly to myself and move on.

:eek: Now that’s a lovely mental image!

13

I didn’t actually find out that the pet store was using pine for their rat’s bedding until after I had gotten them. I had assumed it was aspen, which has no odor or harmful oils and is safe for rats.

Yes, I know that rats are subsceptible to respiratory infections, but it is a store’s responsibility to not sell sick animals. Besides, when I got her she was only sneezing a bit - she sneezed maybe 3 or 4 times max that day - and they DID tell me that a little sneezing was normal. It wasn’t until a few days later that I could tell that it was an obvious infection.

I think pet store employees ought to know a decent amount of information about the animals they sell. Think about it - if you took your car to a garage, you’d expect the mechanic to know how to work on it, right? It only makes sense.

Rats are no less important than a dog or a cat. There is a thread (I can’t remember if it was in MPSIMS or General Questions) about someone’s pet water snail that was dying. I didn’t see anyone bashing them about caring for a snail. Domestic rats are very clean and very smart, and very friendly. They have never once bitten me. In fact the vet told me that you are more likely to be bitten by a dog than by a domestic rat - and she also said that rats are every bit as intelligent as a smart dog. My sick one knows her name and comes to me when I call her.

I think I have good reason to vent about how Petcetera has screwed me around, and about how they treat their animals. To those who have nothing better to do than bash me because I care about the welfare of animals that are not properly taken care of, you really need to get a life. And some compassion for other living things.

And thanks to those who are supportive.

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May I ask what their names are?

I hope your rats turn out okay. Any chance there’s a chapter of the Humane Society or the ASPCA around to report them to?

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“Most employees at pet stores have no idea what they’re doing.” quote, Tamaraqueenofgoths

Just wanted to step in here with my two cents, and change that to “most employees at *large chain, mega-mart * pet stores have no idea what they’re doing”.

Because there are two pet stores in my town that are small, family-run businesses, and the folks that work there are pleasant, helpful, and honestly care about the critters and clients they deal with. One guy is an absolute genius with tropical fish and reptiles, whose opinions I would trust more than my vet’s when it comes to my iguana and cichlids. At the other store there are five dedicated individuals who know my cats by name and even ask me about them if we meet in the grocery store or walking down the street. They even called me at home once to let me know my cats’ favorite food was on sale!

Now, I’m not saying there aren’t any knowledgeable staff at the mega-stores. But with the quantity of customers they serve, and the rapid employee turnover they have, and the menial wages they pay… well, I’m guessing that animal (and client) care isn’t as important to them as the profit margin. It’s just too bad that these giant chains are replacing… oh wait, that’s another rant entirely.

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I do agree that you are more likely to find knowledgeable employees at a smaller pet store, though not always. I got the pregnant hamster at a small place, and while I think they girl who works there most of the time really cares about the animals, they are overcrowded and not as clean as they could be (probably understaffed due to business being taken away buy larger pet stores :slight_smile:

Anyhow, I just wish there were more pet store owners like the ones you describe, as it seems to be a pretty rare thing.

Also, I live in Boston, which is VERY limited as far as pet stores go. There’s a pet store in Allston (pregnant hamster), and a Petco in Cambridge, which is a pretty far hike from my apt.

17

Send them a letter- cetified- with a copy of the vet bill and a copy of your rat purchase reciept. Ask for the amount. Nicely. If they demur, sue them in Small claims.

Under separate cover, send a letter to their Corp HQ and include a copy which tells about rats & pine/cedar. CC a copy to the local Humane Soc.

Find a non-chain pet store and ask them to take the baby rats off your hands- they will, usually. Be aware that most of them wil end up snake food. :eek: :frowning:

If not- put an ad in the paper. Note that you really don’t want that many rats, as rats are not as freindly to humans if they have a rat society thing going.

However, the antibiotic in the fish medicine is 99% likely to be a normal antibiotic like Tetracycline or something. It probably would have been fine. A quick reading of the label and a Google and you might have been able to save yourself a Vet bill.

18

I forgot this - since you need to get rid of the baby rats, and the pet store won’t take them, try and see if you can offer them to a breeder. Google “rat breeders and your location”, and you will probably get quite a few. Also, if you’re concerned about them becoming food, most breeders that I know of won’t sell their animals for food.

19

Now that I didn’t think of. Good idea. I’ll try it and see what happens…

I’ve sent emails out to pretty much everyone I know, and posted signs with super cute baby pics all around the city (with footnote that says “For pets only - Not Feeders!”:)) . No luck with those, though.

Some people did say they’d love one, but current living conditions with roomates/parents/other pets would be too conflicting.
Guinastasia - thanks. :slight_smile: Their names are Bettina and Lola. Bettina is the mama rat (and she’s a GREAT mother!) The babies have no names as of yet, except one, who was a runt that I might keep. She was squished by the others in the womb and as a result her head is slightly misshapen. Not freaky looking, she just has a rounder-looking head than the others. She also stands out b/c she is very sweet and loves to be cuddled while she licks the palm of your hand (the other pups don’t do this). I named her Sugar. :slight_smile:

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I hope your rat pulls through all right, I’ve heard a lot of good things about them. Damned if I know if fish antibiotics would have done her any good at all, though, I’m sure the dosage would be way off at best. (Both of my store-bought bettas are on tetracycline for fin rot. Future bettas will be aquired from a breeder who knows not to keep them in tiny cups without changing the damn water. Don’t get me started on how stores keep bettas. Poor little fish.)