A family are ‘distraught’ after two guinea pigs bought at Pets at Home died within a week ‘with Strep symptoms’.
Sam Mesher and daughters Ava, 4, and Mia, 11, saw their pet Coco die after having her for just three weeks, and then Coco’s replacement, Fudge, died a few days later.
Sam claims the animals were infected with Streptococcus, commonly known as Strep, which was discovered among Pets at Home’s guinea pig population last week.
The pet store stopped selling guinea pigs due to the outbreak.
The family loved the company of Coco and Oreo, who they bought from Pets at Home in Taunton at the end of December when Coco suddenly stopped eating and ‘had a runny nose’.
With the guinea pig struggling to breathe, they rushed Coco to Vets for Pets and left her in their care.
Within days, Coco had died.
Sam said: ‘My 11-year-old was distraught, in floods of tears.’
The Vet report, seen by Metro, shows Coco had stopped eating, had breathing issues and was given antibiotics.
Symptoms of Strep, which is bacterial, include nasal discharge, reduced appetite, difficulty breathing and swelling.
Sam purchased a new guinea pig, Fudge, on the same day from Pets at Home to keep Oreo company.
Her 11-year-old and four-year-old daughters adored Fudge, even though she was struggling to bond with their other guinea pig.
Sam said: ‘A week later, my children were holding them before school. We noticed Fudge had a nosebleed, she seemed fine but we thought it was strange.
We thought it was straw stuck up their nose.’
Within an hour, Fudge was dead and ‘had blood pouring out of her nose.’
She added: ‘It was awful. I grabbed the guinea pig, and drove straight to Pets at Home.
‘I was raging, how could this happen? It was two guinea pigs dead in a week.
‘I put the guinea pig on the desk of the vet in a Tupperware box.
‘I loudly said “this is my second dead guinea pig in a week”.’
The mum claimed: ‘The vet said to me that they had nothing to do with us. They fobbed us off to Pets at Home.
‘It was blamed on how sometimes you get the runt of the litter. She said we had been unfortunate. Guinea pigs don’t present themselves as ill.’
There is no vet report or test on the cause of Fudge’s death, although Sam has supplied a picture of the dead animal with blood pooled out of their nose and mouth.
Pets at Home stress it is not possible to determine whether Strep was the cause of Coco and Fudge’s death.
Strep infection can cause guinea pigs to catch pneumonia and could cause them to die suddenly without showing any symptoms.
Sam said: ‘It was like I was returning a faulty t-shirt each time like they were commodities.
‘They suggested we could start again with another guinea pig. I thought it was disgraceful.
‘My girls could not believe it, they had just cuddled the guinea pig. They were in floods of tears.
‘This is ridiculous, this is traumatic for a four year old and an eleven year old.’
Because her daughters did not want to leave Oreo alone, the family went out and bought Pepper.
Both Pepper and Oreo are now alive and appear healthy. Sam speculates Oreo could have been carrying Strep without showing symptoms.
A week after the family adopted Pepper, Sam returned to Pets at Home Taunton to buy a run when she noticed something was up.
She said: ‘There were no guinea pigs. All the cages were empty, I have never seen it like that in Pets at Home.’
‘A store assistant said we are just waiting for the new lot to get in.
‘I thought something is going on, you never don’t have guinea pigs. Pets at Home are fobbing me off.’
When she then read about the Strep outbreak affecting Pets at Home, she ‘thought this is exactly what my guinea pigs had.’
‘Pets at Home see them as just £30 commodities’
‘I literally felt like I was being consumed by guinea pigs, when they say they are low care animals.
‘It was so distressing to find the guinea pigs ill.
‘My girls loved these guinea pigs, they are meant to last five to eight years, not three weeks. It has been turmoil for my children.
‘Getting a new pet is meant to be a good experience. Now we are checking every day on them to make sure they aren’t dead.
‘We spent over £200, not even including the cage.’
Pepper and Oreo appear to be healthy and without any issues.
A Pets at Home spokesperson told Metro: ‘We know how difficult it is to lose a beloved pet and are in contact with Ms Mesher.
‘Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to retrospectively determine if their specific illnesses were connected to streptococcus equi zooepidemicus.
‘However, a refund has been provided to cover the costs for Coco and Fudge, and we have also offered to provide a free consultation and check-up for Oreo and Pepper to ensure they are both happy and healthy.
‘We are confident that the issue has been isolated and fully managed, and we will be resuming the sale and adoption of guinea pigs very soon.’
Pets at Home have around 433 across the rest of the UK.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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