stupidest pet shop in the world??

[davey]

my girlfriend went to pets at home to get my chin some chews and food, when she came back she had a bag of birch twigs which is apparently bad for them? and also sell yougurt drops which are high in sugar and contain animal fat, next is the blocks of mixed crap that is full of vegetables, mainly made up of carrott which iv heard can bloat chins, and all this assured by the manager that its ok for chins! so i rang them up and when i questioned the lady about all the above she said yes i no the yogurt drops are high in sugar but didnt know about the animal fats, she then moved on to just sayin bring the stuff back in for a refund and wouldnt answer about the rest of the bad things they sell thats bad for them so i told her im going to make a comlait as they are really killing chins and dont care about it. they also sell small blocks of chew wood that doesnt tell you what type it is, and not one pertson working in that store could tell me, im absalutely raging! any ideas of how i should go about my complaint or am i wrong and over reacting? lol

 

[davey]

d'oh! **complaint** lol

 

[GorillaJTA]

Most pet stores sell all of that. Managers cannot be expected to be versed in the diet needs of every animal (though they should be able to look it up)- but most literature out there is wrong and equates chinchillas to guinea pigs. Most pet stores get their information from the food manufacturers who are out to make a buck even if it shortens the life of the animal.

 

[Isabella Whateva]

It's sad, but unfortunately there's not much to be done about it. Sometimes small mom and pop pet stores will listen if you try to tell them about products that are really bad for chins, but usually they just get offended. Big chain stores like Petsmart and Petco can't be argued with though. They are corporations. You can always make a complaint by calling the 1800 number. The sad thing is there are even a huge amount of veterinarians and scientific books out there that say these bad things are good for chins. Basically, they're still kind of a "new" pet, so not a whole lot is known about them.

All you can do is take great care of your own chins and try to educate others the best you can, but you can't win all the battles.

 

[Carleigh]

When I go to the pet store I go straight to the hay, then know exactly where in the wall of unhealthy/unsafe treats the apple sticks are located. Other than that I don't even glance at anything they sell for small pets. However, birch is safe for chinchillas. I have large branches in my boys' cages and they recently chewed one in half! It's unfortunate that they are allowed to sell so many unhealthy treats, but the best we can do is just direct anyone and everyone who has questions about chinchillas online to this forum.

 

[Riven]

Well table scraps aren't really good for dogs but people feed them anyway and dogs are been around for a really long time. Moral... people will do what they want to anyway!

Birch is questionable. I use birch here with no issues.

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

Yeah, I was at Petsmart getting some emergency backup hay and a family was looking at a Fancy Rat. The mom asked if it could be in a ball and the guy said sure -- they can stay in it and run around all day.

I held my tongue and decided to let them find out for themselves how nasty all the poops and pee would be for the poor ratty...

 

[PetoftheDay]

You can always write to whoever owns the store and let them know. The good thing is ignorance can be addressed with education, and you never know, it might just take. I'd give them options for distributors of "chin safe" treats and supplies, it just might help. No guarantees, but you can always try.