KoopCats
Lairian
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2019
- Messages
- 42
- Points
- 44
Hi everyone! I'll preface this with: our new baby is 100% perfect and we feel completely blessed by our new addition, and so far she has proven totally healthy thank goodness! That being said, we paid thousands of dollars for this cutie, and only did so because we thought we were paying for a top notch breeder and I'm currently livid, and wondering if I have a right to be or if I'm just misunderstanding?
We're completely new to purchasing from breeders so I really just want to know if what we've run into is normal, or not. I did SO MUCH RESEARCH before selecting our breeder. I researched, I had my best friend research, had my husband research... we genuinely thought we selected a reputable, caring, health conscious breeder. On the website, it advertises that the cats are FIV and FeLV tested, dewormed, vaccinated, and are checked out and come home with a "health letter by the vet" - there are tons of positive reviews to be found, and even a vet recommendation letter on the site.
Well, we took our new kitten to the vet for her well check a day or two after she came home, and I was horrified. First of all, the "paperwork" with her "health records" was just a folded up pamphlet with 3 stickers on it from an at-home vaccine kit (which I had to google because it didn't even say which vaccines it was for on the paper). Nothing else. No vet records (not even a vet record of her spay surgery), nothing. I looked closer at the "letter of health" from the vet that she came with and realized that it was purely an external check (think, "no underbite, no visible parasites, internals unknown). So my vet (obviously being highly concerned) called the vet who filled out the vet letter.... and I kid you not, the breeder's vet said they "did not trust the breeder" and were unable to confirm or verify if any vaccines had been administered or any health testing of any kind had ever been done, as the kittens actually had never been treated by them or fully examined by them other than the one external check up before coming home. So basically, the "letter of health" we received isn't a letter of health, as the staff who wrote it informed us they couldn't verify the kittens health at all??
The breeders website also boasts a "vet recommendation" letter on the website, and it isn't even from the vet that the kittens were taken to.
My vet then called the breeder directly, who admitted that she had not done any testing for worms, had just self administered de-worming medication and never did any vet tests to make sure they were worm-free AND that they had not been FIV or FeLV tested.
I ended up having to pay hundreds of dollars for what should have been a $57 "well check", because my kitten needed to be FIV and FeLV tested, skin tested (she came home with a rash that the breeder said was harmless but obviously now I don't trust that), an upper respiratory infection, fecal test for worms.... and I have to take her back again because the breeder never had her microchipped (super irresponsible in my personal opinion). Not to mention I'm freaking out that my baby may or may NOT have been vaccinated since the breeder did it herself at home, allegedly...
Am I over reacting? Is this normal? I've always adopted form shelters and they give me full vet records of everything - all vaccines (administered by a licensed vet at a vet facility), records of spay/neutrer, fecal test results for worms and parasites, microchipped, the whole nine yards.
I welcome any advice or responses, and truly hope that I'm out of line / being ridiculous!
Thanks in advance, friends!
We're completely new to purchasing from breeders so I really just want to know if what we've run into is normal, or not. I did SO MUCH RESEARCH before selecting our breeder. I researched, I had my best friend research, had my husband research... we genuinely thought we selected a reputable, caring, health conscious breeder. On the website, it advertises that the cats are FIV and FeLV tested, dewormed, vaccinated, and are checked out and come home with a "health letter by the vet" - there are tons of positive reviews to be found, and even a vet recommendation letter on the site.
Well, we took our new kitten to the vet for her well check a day or two after she came home, and I was horrified. First of all, the "paperwork" with her "health records" was just a folded up pamphlet with 3 stickers on it from an at-home vaccine kit (which I had to google because it didn't even say which vaccines it was for on the paper). Nothing else. No vet records (not even a vet record of her spay surgery), nothing. I looked closer at the "letter of health" from the vet that she came with and realized that it was purely an external check (think, "no underbite, no visible parasites, internals unknown). So my vet (obviously being highly concerned) called the vet who filled out the vet letter.... and I kid you not, the breeder's vet said they "did not trust the breeder" and were unable to confirm or verify if any vaccines had been administered or any health testing of any kind had ever been done, as the kittens actually had never been treated by them or fully examined by them other than the one external check up before coming home. So basically, the "letter of health" we received isn't a letter of health, as the staff who wrote it informed us they couldn't verify the kittens health at all??
The breeders website also boasts a "vet recommendation" letter on the website, and it isn't even from the vet that the kittens were taken to.
My vet then called the breeder directly, who admitted that she had not done any testing for worms, had just self administered de-worming medication and never did any vet tests to make sure they were worm-free AND that they had not been FIV or FeLV tested.
I ended up having to pay hundreds of dollars for what should have been a $57 "well check", because my kitten needed to be FIV and FeLV tested, skin tested (she came home with a rash that the breeder said was harmless but obviously now I don't trust that), an upper respiratory infection, fecal test for worms.... and I have to take her back again because the breeder never had her microchipped (super irresponsible in my personal opinion). Not to mention I'm freaking out that my baby may or may NOT have been vaccinated since the breeder did it herself at home, allegedly...
Am I over reacting? Is this normal? I've always adopted form shelters and they give me full vet records of everything - all vaccines (administered by a licensed vet at a vet facility), records of spay/neutrer, fecal test results for worms and parasites, microchipped, the whole nine yards.
I welcome any advice or responses, and truly hope that I'm out of line / being ridiculous!
Thanks in advance, friends!
