- bring her in and their vet would look at her the next time he
visited the store (which wouldn't have been more than a day or two)
- bring her directly to their vet and have them billed (about $60)
- bring her to my vet and get reimbursed (about $40)
I chose to bring her to my vet because I was familiar with her and she
was closer. We put Kiwi on medication and adjusted her diet. I
called the store to tell them the result of the vet visit, and as soon
as I told them she'd be okay they began discussing reimbursing me.
All I had to do was bring in the bill and they'd pay. To everyone's
amazement (including myself), at that point I chose to decline
reimbursement - I said that I'd rather incur this cost as my first
investment in her health and long life, instead of making her entire
existence an issue of money. Something didn't feel right about me
making a $6 hamster into a $40 issue. I was more comfortable footing
the bill myself, and I felt that would keep her "world" cleaner. Or
something. The folks at PETCO were quite shocked, and the next time I
was in there to buy food everyone wanted to meet the oddball who
wouldn't take the money.
I have to say, I've read some really bad press about PETCO, but my
experience was anything but bad. I really felt they stood behind the
animal they sold. Also, it turned out that a change in Kiwi's diet
plus the stress of a new home was the cause of her sickness. I was
pleased with PETCO, and have written my own
statement of my experience with Kiwi to offer
those who believe they cannot work with PETCO.
Kiwi's original name was going to be "A.O. Teakettle" (Ass-Over), or
"Tiki" for short - one time early on I surprised her while she was
running on her wheel and she tried to run away, while still on the
wheel - she ran faster and faster and faster until the wheel just shot
her out the top and she flew into the side of her habitrail. I
thought it was funny - she did not. She also didn't like "Tiki" for
some reason, so I changed it to "Kiwi" and that was that.
Kiwi set the record for the longest hamster walkabout - she
disappeared for 3 weeks one time, and the only sign that she was alive
was the disappearing rabbit food and the occasional scratching sound
coming from under the tub. A have-a-heart trap finally caught her,
but it wasn't her last walkabout. She also seemed to like
antagonizing the rabbits by sneaking up on them and nipping their feet
to start a game of chase. Kiwi thought this was funny, but I don't
think the rabbits did.
Epilogue:
I knew Kiwi's time was coming - the was having trouble with her
balance and only ran in small spurts. I brought her back to the vet
and she agreed that it appeared that Kiwi was suffering from, well,
old age - she was over two years old. She wasn't suffering, and there
wasn't much we could do, so I brought her home with the feeling that
her days were numbered. The only other time she saw the vet was when
I first got her, and now... I had a feeling her life with me was going
to be bookended by vet visits. A week later I found her in her
Habitat - she had gone to join all the other hammies I've known.
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