[Bronte18]

So a couple of days ago, I bought a few things from pets at home. This included a couple of igloo house things for rats which I thought would be a good addition to their cage. I added the igloo things and everything was fine. The other night I was sleeping and heard a painful squeel coming from the girls cage, I flew out of bed shouting because I thought something had gone on like a fight or my cat somehow got into the room and got a hold of the rat. I ran over to the cage and one of my baby girls foot had gotten trapped at the top of the igloo and she was freaking out trying to pull her foot away from it. Its a plastic igloo thing, with a design on the top of it with slits, I had no idea this could possibly happen. I mean, Ive heard of dangerous rat wheels and stuff but this piece of plastic looked to innocent. I managed to get her foot out and calmed her down. After five minutes I had a look and her toe had swollen right up! luckily I had some metacam and gave her a generous dose (calculated ofc) because when I touched it she would fidget and squeek. Im taking her to my vet tomorrow as im going to get my other girl checked out anyway, im pretty much theres nothing that can be done other than pain meds but just to be sure ill take her. My question is, should I contact the store I bought it from and complain about the product or what? I dont want this happening to anybody else and im absolutely furious at myself for not noticing, im usually extremely cautious with what I put in their cages...

 

[KloverBeans]

I would call and inform the store about the issue, maybe suggest anyone else who buys it to watch for the same problem. But I wouldn't call and make a fuss or return the items. Just take a screw driver or knife and widen the holes so if it happens again their feet just fall through. It is weird tho, only issue I've ever had with homes is being afraid of my girls getting their tiny fingers caught between the door and cage. Actually had a baby rat die by accident that way. They liked to scuttle out and I closed the cage way WAY to fast and his head got caught... it was a horrifying experience to say the least. ):

 

[ellismera]

I had Issues with a few toys I've had for Pets at home. But that was with my hamster. I would take it back a explain what happened. Thou sometimes accidents do happen. I've found the sputnik igloo that hangs or sits is good. And ive had no issues with them with my hamster or my rats.

 

[webspinnr]

Also contact the company I'd say. The store probably won't do anything or even let the company know.

 

[LittleBird]

You may be surprised to find that her foot looks completely normal this morning. Rats heal super fast!

One of my girls suffered a very similar injury a few weeks ago, but in our case, her foot fell through a chewed hole in a hammock and got caught. I heard frantic screams and ran to see what was going on and found Anya hanging upside down by her leg thrashing about! Once I was able to free her and take a look at her leg, it had begun to bruise and swell immediately around her ankle. I thought for sure it would be black and blue the next day. This happened on a Saturday night, so the vet wasn't open and so I figured if it looked bad, I'd either have to take her to the E-vet or wait until Monday to get her in to her regular vet. But Sunday morning she woke up and there was not even a sign that anything had happened! No bruising or swelling and she was running around without pain! I was amazed!

I would contact the company and let them know what happened. If these items are being sold for small animals, they need to be safe for small animals. It's feedback like yours that could help improve the design on future models so that other furbabies don't suffer the same type of accident. I wouldn't approach it with them as a complaint but more as "I thought you needed to know this so you can improve your design."

 

[EmilyGPK]

IMHO it is often best to send in an adverse event report direct to the manufacturer. I have down this for pet products in the past and they always seemed very eager to have the information and normally gave me something for my trouble. Sometimes they want the product returned to them for analysis but will refund you if this is the case. I think the last time I did this was for dog tooth cleaning wipes that were within date but moldy (ew).