62 replies to this topic

[chocolatechip]

I just read about a 13 year old boy who bought a rat from pet-co and died the next day.  As pet-co is known for not treating there animals correctly, I am not surprised this has happened. The boy died from a disease his rat had, it was a bacterial infection. This just adds to the fact that you should always be very careful when buying a new small animal. If your hamster/rat/mouse ever bites you or scratches you, clean the wound immediately and disinfect it.

 

To read more about this subject, go to this link. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/child-dies-infected-rat-family-sues-petco-22671659

 

Remember to always be very very careful with your pets.

 

Stay safe everyone

 

 

ChocolateChip

[Lon]

Aww that's sad. I love rats.....

 

But you sohludn't always lead this and think that every animal you encounter has an illness that could affect you. I know this from experience (and probably others) I got bit by Gunther at the shelter he was in, but I didn't and wasn't able to clean disinfectant it (for obvious reasons.) But I'm still ok....I think.

Edited by Iris ♥, 27 February 2014 - 06:06 AM.

[Freep]

All animals have the potential to pass on bacteria when bitten as all living things have bacteria in the mouth. 

I do agree to always be carefull with bite wounds as afterwards infection can get in that is not related to the animal too.

 

Just be carefull but dont over worry about things

[Dusk]

As freep said. All animals are able to pass bacteria and illness to humans. It's best to disinfect any cuts anyway Yes it's very bad that this poor boy has died. Though I think he may have had a allergy of some sort, because petco may not give their pets the best care but they don't completely ignore them. They do have check ups before being sold in store. I'm sure they would know if a rat was able to kill a healthy human.

Edited by Shadow, 27 February 2014 - 06:19 AM.

[GhostOrca]

Wow. Poor boy. BUT, any animal has the potential to kill a human witha bite wound or such. Cats Have such a hong bacterial amount in their mouths, it can easily infect someone. As Shadow said, I thnk they would have realised if a rat was able to kill a human, so maybe something was wrong with the boy such as weak immune system or such. But it's such a shame that the boy died so young

[IttyBitty]

For more information on Rat Bite Fever, I recommend visiting this site to clarify some of the comments above.

My heart goes out to Aidan's family, and it is truly sad about what happened. He sounded like a great kid, he'll be missed.

[chocolatechip]

As freep said. All animals are able to pass bacteria and illness to humans. It's best to disinfect any cuts anyway Yes it's very bad that this poor boy has died. Though I think he may have had a allergy of some sort, because petco may not give their pets the best care but they don't completely ignore them. They do have check ups before being sold in store. I'm sure they would know if a rat was able to kill a healthy human.

 

Well, if you would have read the article, you would have read that the boy was diagnosed with rat-bite fever, other wise known as streptobacillus. Also, when Petco buys pets from breeders, the breeders are not required to have any information about the pet. It is when the pet gets to the Petco store, they may give them vet checkups.

[MegaHamster]

ENOUGH!

ENOUGH!

 

I'm sick and tired of seeing posts on this forum bashing/flaming big-chain Pet Shops stating that they are purposly negligating and ALWAYS abusing or misusing or WHATEVER! Okay, so my Petco isnt the best but I like my Petsmart very much and even if the customer service isnt 100% that still doesnt mean that they are the worst ever? You all overreact and think way too highly. It's not good to expect so much from life. Seriously. 

 

The grandmother should have done research on rats more carefully. Such as rat-bite-fever or that oh I dont know, rat-mills? And yes I may sound hypocritical that I'm protecting and slamming Petco at the same time, but hear me out: If it was a possiblity that rat came from a mill, or was just happened to be sick at the time, or maybe they're making it up! There is no 'soild' proof anywhere in this article that states that the rat had actually a infection? 

 

I dont see anywhere in the article, and the author doesnt provid any photographic documented evidence or links to show us that actual testing was done, and well even if that wasnt any of our business that still shows that it's a mystery saying that it could be a lie to make Petco and chained petstores look bad. 

 

I'm just saying - dont jump to conclusions? Also, it seems that the grandmother and/or parents were more at fault here. My heart goes out to them for losing their child but still, they should have done their research. 

[chocolatechip]

ENOUGH!

ENOUGH!

 

I'm sick and tired of seeing posts on this forum bashing/flaming big-chain Pet Shops stating that they are purposly negligating and ALWAYS abusing or misusing or WHATEVER! Okay, so my Petco isnt the best but I like my Petsmart very much and even if the customer service isnt 100% that still doesnt mean that they are the worst ever? You all overreact and think way too highly. It's not good to expect so much from life. Seriously. 

 

The grandmother should have done research on rats more carefully. Such as rat-bite-fever or that oh I dont know, rat-mills? And yes I may sound hypocritical that I'm protecting and slamming Petco at the same time, but hear me out: If it was a possiblity that rat came from a mill, or was just happened to be sick at the time, or maybe they're making it up! There is no 'soild' proof anywhere in this article that states that the rat had actually a infection? 

 

I dont see anywhere in the article, and the author doesnt provid any photographic documented evidence or links to show us that actual testing was done, and well even if that wasnt any of our business that still shows that it's a mystery saying that it could be a lie to make Petco and chained petstores look bad. 

 

I'm just saying - dont jump to conclusions? Also, it seems that the grandmother and/or parents were more at fault here. My heart goes out to them for losing their child but still, they should have done their research. 

 

I totally understand where your coming from here.. my Petsmart is wonderful, too. All I was trying to prove, was that not all pet stores are safe and that you should be careful. And overreacting? I'm sorry, but the fact that some one died from buying a pet rat, is very scary. Also, all of us on this forum think highly. Because we care about the safety and care of each other and our pets. She did not do her research, you are correct there. But you also have to know that the family has another rat, so they were somewhat aware of owning rats. This was just a freak accident. It wasn't really anyone's fault in my eyes. How can someone blame the parents for wanting to please their child?

[MegaHamster]

I totally understand where your coming from here.. my Petsmart is wonderful, too. All I was trying to prove, was that not all pet stores are safe and that you should be careful. And overreacting? I'm sorry, but the fact that some one died from buying a pet rat, is very scary. Also, all of us on this forum think highly. Because we care about the safety and care of each other and our pets. She did not do her research, you are correct there. But you also have to know that the family has another rat, so they were somewhat aware of owning rats. This was just a freak accident. It wasn't really anyone's fault in my eyes. How can someone blame the parents for wanting to please their child?

 

I'm sorry I blew up okay? 

[chocolatechip]

I'm sorry I blew up okay? 

 

Lol, it's alright we're all just hear to express our opinions so reason to be sorry!

[OIive]

Aw, the poor boy. :(

 

I love rats too - it's unfortunate this happened. I've never been bitten by a rodent before to be honest! My piano teacher's cat nipped me lightly on my foot once. I wouldn't be wary of every single animal you meet, though. Be careful but don't stress too much over it! I also agree that the boy may have had a weak body or some kind of illness.

[Freep]

I'm sorry I blew up okay? 

 

Not everyone on here shares the same opinions with each other and that is a great thing, we all listen and respond in the best way we can.

All I advise is staying calm in a post and getting your point across in a positive way so that others feel able to respond to you in the same manor.

[MissMisty]

What a tragic accident. :(

 

Anything can happen unfortunately, not that it makes what happened any less tragic.

If anyone is to blame then I think it would be the store but I don't think Petco or the family are particularly to blame. Accidents happen and they can have awful results. 

[bobthealien]

He DID NOT DIE the next day! It took around 2 weeks for this to become fatal, and you must remember (at least to my knowledge) that a rat carrying this will NOT be sick in any form, at least from what we can see. This is tragic, yes, but there can't be blame solely on Petco.