Should I be suspicious about this?

I go on Craigslist daily to look for antique furniture for the new house, but today I decided to click on the pet ads. This is the ad that caught my attention:

"I have a five month old Sphynx kitten. He is pink colered and green eyes. I bought him because i thought since he was hairless my sons asthma would be ok. Well that was wrong.He is a sweet cat I hate to give hime up for addoption, so please only call if u are willing to give him the love and care he needs and deserves. There is a rehoming fee."

I was planning on getting a kitten for Shawn in the summer, but this ad certainly caught my eye. Should I be suspicious?

 

I just keep thinking that having kitties close in age is a good thing.

 

If the kitten came from a breeder why not give him back.
Seems a little fishy to me.
I have severe asthma.
You cn call or email tem and ask questions but be careful.

 

I think it sounds good!

 

Sounds good. Ask lots of questions and look for glitches in her termonology or how she says things to determine her honesty. I would probably be bold enough to ask why she didn't consider giving her back to the breeder. Could be the monotary reasons because I don't think a breeder would give any money back and she is looking for a fee to probably regain whatever she has invested in the poor lil guy. Keep us posted.

 

If this pet came from a responsible breeder, there'd be a clause in their agreement about taking the kitten back (like M2M mentioned). Coming from a responsible breeder would, ideally, mean the kitten comes from HCM scanned parents and has been well cared for. Because this person is posting on Craigslist, I'm leery.

Most importantly, is that you risk putting your other sphynx at risk for whatever transmissible diseases this kitten might have such as Feline Leukemia, Feline Aids, Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP), Herpes, etc. I would NEVER recommend buying off of an ad list for something that is alive and might affect your household poorly.

I'd recommend waiting for a suitable and guaranteed to be healthy kitten with a known history. This "cheaper" kitten may run you much more money in the future and may cause more heartbreak than a healthy baby.

 

I agree with Pitrottmommy wholeheartedly. However, all 5 of my sphynx were rescues or rehomed, so I can also speak to the other side of the story, too...

I say 5 sphynx, because the first sphynx I bought came from a craigslist ad similar to the one you found. I fell in love with him instantly, he was my life. You can read about Harold in the "In loving memory" thread, because 8 short months after I adopted him, he had passed away from HCM. That is the grim and heartbreaking reality of getting a sphynx of unknown origin.

Despite the huge lesson I learned, I still have a big weak spot for sphynxies in need. So, I've taken in 4 more since losing Harold, but have done it knowing full well what risks were involved. Each of them have been scanned for HCM, and will be scanned yearly; each of them were tested, vaccinated, and quarantined for two weeks before being introduced to the others. Still, Helen came to me with herpes and Nelson just had ridiculously expensive eye surgery, also likely the result of herpes. And, any one of them could have been HCM positive, a risk I was willing to accept and a responsibility I was willing to take on before I decided to take on another one.

The most shocking part of all? The costs associated with the medical bills between Harold's cardiologist, Nelson's ophthalmologist and every test I've had done on Helen and Mandy, too, far outweigh what I would have spent on healthy kittens from a reputable breeder!

Edited to add: Despite the extra cost and losing Harold, I don't regret anything, BTW. I've been lucky with the other 4 and wouldn't trade them for the world - or for a kitten with papers.

 

You should post your experience, Susi. I don't think I even know about Ms. Lulu...

 

When I wanted another sphynx as a playmate for Baldwin, I was very careful because of EXACTLY what happened to Brooke. Luckily, two of Baldwin's siblings (from the same litter) came available and I was able to rescue them from a shelter in Kentucky. Not only could I rescue, I also got the benefit of knowing WHERE they came from!

If you're truly interested in rescuing, do your foot work regarding where the baby came from. There are cats out there that need homes and did come from good breeders. Brooke might not have mentioned it in her detailings of HCM screening, but she got lucky this time around: None of her cats scanned positive for HCM. Now, that doesn't mean they're 110% negative. They need to have regular scans---but the chances are lessened when they've had a negative scan in their adult lives. The average affected age for a male cat with HCM is 3 and it's 5 for a female.

 

CFA Cattery of Excellence means nothing .
CFA does not go to the breeders cattery.
A vet signs it off.
You can use a vet that is a friend and CFA would not know.
They told us that when my sister complained about what happened to her.
You really need to do research before you get anything.
I found the lines for Brookes Harold for her and there was HCM in the lines.
Susi I am so sorry a breeder did this to you.
I am being so careful looking for my new sphynx.

 

It is not your fault.
Who knew your whole house would become infected.
Do you still talk to the breeder?

 

Oh, Susi, I do remember reading about having to put your baby down...but I didn't know it was secondary to bringing Lulu into the house. I must have missed that. I thought adding the story here might help the original poster see the purpose behind being cautious. And, I agree, the chances of getting a healthy baby isn't 100% from anyone...but even better are the chances of getting something you don't want from any random kitten that's been exposed to who knows what.

I, like M2M, certainly hope this wasn't something the breeder knew about--even though it sounds likely. I dislike her contract stating that babies can have mild URIs upon arrival. A healthy cat shouldn't, regardless. Now, becoming cold can certainly have its downfalls---but it would be singularly through the cat and shouldn't affect your household...especially after a quarantine.

 

Susi I feel just terrible reading about all you have been through and all the losses It just goes to show everyone to really think things through and to do they're homework before getting a new kitty. Certainly not something to jump into!

 

Susi I'm so sorry, I can't imagine the pain you must be going through

 

Wow, I really hope things calm down for you, I couldn't imagine.

 

I am EXTREMELY over protective/cautious about George and other cats. I don't even take him over to some of my friends houses with cats. Shawn and I are still living with his parents until the house is finished and I threw a huge sh** fit when Shawn's sister brought in a stray one day. I started yelling and demanding her to take it back outside until she took it to a vet. I was planning on asking TONS of questions, seeing if he had papers, and seeing if they would let me take him to a vet prior to buying him to get him checked out and tested. It is true that CFA does not mean the breeder is reputable, but there are also scammers out there on websites like Craigslist too.

 

Sounds like a good plan. As you can see, there are risks no matter where you get a kitty from, so just trust your gut! It never hurts to call and ask a million questions. I've found that when you ask a lot of questions, the genuine people that are really trying to find a good home for their beloved pets are more than happy to answer and work with you. If they get scared off by your questions or don't want to deal with you - more than likely, they aren't working with the best intentions.

There are tons of scammers out there, but there are also real cats that need homes. It sounds like you know what you're getting into!

If you're curious, out of my 5:

Helen was from a Craigslist ad. The guy was totally lying to me about where she came from, I knew he was trying to hose me, but when I saw her and where she was being kept, I didn't care. I shoved $50 in his hand and took her anyway. I just wanted to get her away from there. She went straight to the vet for a checkup and through a series of strange coincidences, I even located her breeder and ended up finding out her entire history and getting her papers and pedigree.

Walter was off a kijiji.com ad. His owner has a serious stroke so his daughter was rehoming him. She had no medical or breeder history on him, and estimated his age.

Nelson and Mandy came from the Yahoo rescue group. They were a pair used for breeding by a local BYB who got tired of making kittens and surrendered them. They have no papers, either.

Harold was off craigslist. This is the one where I got scammed, because I'm fairly certain the girl who sold him to me was aware of his HCM and was trying to get some money out of him before he got sick. (I won't go into great detail, but hindsight is 20/20) He also didn't come with any papers but after he died, I traced him back to his breeder and SL member, mews2much helped me find his pedigree.

 

There was a sphynx on craigslist a few months ago in my area.
My sister wrote them and they wanted $1000.
Then I had her ask some more questions and they never wrote back.

 

Now that's illegal. Re-homing fees are now supposed to be that expensive.

 

There are so many people doing that.
They have a ad on CL and you write them and they ask for a lot of money.
It was Red Flagged so there must have been complaints.