Should I be suspicious about this?

[georgehairlesson]

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?

 

[georgehairlesson]

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

 

[Mews2much]

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.

 

[Maggies mommy]

I think it sounds good!

 

[ckutkuhn7]

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.

 

[PitRottMommy]

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.

 

[Brooke]

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.

 

[susi794]

Yeah, well, I bought my Lulu from a "reputable" breeder--so that's no guarantee either!

 

[PitRottMommy]

Yeah, well, I bought my Lulu from a "reputable" breeder--so that's no guarantee either!

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

 

[PitRottMommy]

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.

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.

 

[susi794]

Gosh, Pitrottmommy--I HAVE been writing about my Lulu bringing something nasty into my house. The breeder told me to watch her for "sniffles" when she arrived because it had been so cold when she shipped her. Almost out of the carrier, Lulu was sneezing occasionally but it seemed to quickly pass. I quarantined her for a week or 10 days (I can't remember for sure now.) And then she joined my whole cat family. Shortly thereafter Pearly May got horribly sick and I had to rush her to emergency vet clinic--it hit her fast and furiously and before I even knew she was sick, she had gone septic and I had to put her down. Then my newborns began dying right and left. Then everyone else began sneezing, gagging, retching. We have been to the vet many times now and have just started our 4th round of antibiotics. I had my male neutered, because everyone is weak from being sick and I need to make certain no one gets pregnant for awhile until we can shake this thing and have a nice long rest to try to build up some strength. My vet just shook his head and said, "Why did you want to bring another cat into your nice, healthy and CLOSED system?" Lulu had to have been sick when she came--how odd to tell me to watch her for sniffles if she wasn't. The breeder I used was a CFA Cattery of Excellence, had no complaints registered against them and I thought I could trust them. I haven't bothered to contact them since they were difficult to work with in the first place and their health guarantee in the contract states that kittens can show signs of stress from shipping to include "mild upper respiratory symptoms" and that all vet care and costs are the responsibility of the purchaser.
Anyway, my point is that just because someone is a "reputable" breeder, doesn't mean you'll get a healthy cat from them.
This has cost me thousands of dollars and the heartache of losing 12 newborns, a two week old and a 5 week old kitten. Standing by watching my adults retch and gag and hyperextend their poor necks and being damn near powerless to do anything about it hasn't been pleasant either.

 

[Mews2much]

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.

 

[susi794]

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.

I'd like to believe she didn't do it to me on purpose...even though I think she knew.

 

[Mews2much]

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

 

[PitRottMommy]

Anyway, my point is that just because someone is a "reputable" breeder, doesn't mean you'll get a healthy cat from them.

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.

 

[zoes mom]

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!

 

[susi794]

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.

When I had to put Pearly May down I hadn't thought to attribute it to Lulu because it was only the first in a chain of events...prior to Pearly May, my cats had never really ever been sick. I had had to take baby Pruney to the vet for having stepped on his head accidently when he was constantly scurrying under my feet, and then once for diarreah. But the only place I took them was to the vet for their shots. No cats came in and mine didn't go out. I guess I was living in a fantasy world--I had heard all the horror stories of herpes and food allergies etc., but had never experienced such problems. My biggest problem was how I was going to keep Moody from spraying everything in a two hundred mile radius. Only after event after event occurred...only after Lulu began to sneeze constantly and then my other cats began to do so too....only then did I connect the dots. The only other thing that changed was introducing Boo to my home. Now Boo was a completely different story--he has been extremely healthy up until the entire house started gagging. His little immune system was probably in the best shape of anyone's as he was the last to get sick and his wasn't nearly as severe--he has sneezed but none of the gagging/retching behavior at all. So again, it comes back to Lulu. I love her to death, she's such a tender, kind little girl. Very affectionate and sweet tempered, except when I have to medicate her--then she's a nightmare! So, I wouldn't trade her, but would I do it again? Not so sure.

I remember having discussions here about people wondering about studding your male out and we talked about all the dangers that could cause.....any time you intro another cat/environment to your own, you are also introducing another set of factors that may cause incredible issues.

I thought I had researched well, thought I had quarantined long enough, thought I could trust that a reputable breeder wouldn't do such a thing....but the fact that she has that caviat in her contract, tells me a LOT. I don't know what you can do to make sure that it doesn't happen to you...I thought I DID do my homework.

As an aside for Kerry-- all this makes me love you more every time I look at my big, moose of a boy, Boo. And I smile because I gained a beautiful, quality boy and a great friend all in one fell swoop!

 

[susi794]

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

No, she was never good at talking to me in the first place. That should've told me something right there. When I complained, she apologized and said she had been having some problems--her best friend had had a stroke and she was watching her children, she had fencing they were trying to get done on their farm, etc. So I know how busy and hectic life can get...and I wanted a seal point with good type. I paid extra deposit to get pick of the litter--non refundable. Her kits weren't what we had hoped for and she offered me a different bi-color Van kitten, but I wanted a seal point. So when Lulu became available, I took her. There has never been a particularly good relationship with this person and since she has everything all tied up in her contract, I haven't seen the point.

 

[abbyknitter]

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

 

[ckutkuhn7]

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

 

[georgehairlesson]

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.

 

[Brooke]

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.

 

[Mews2much]

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.

 

[georgehairlesson]

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.

 

[Mews2much]

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.