OK. So Azul is sick. When I got her I was told her mother had a touch of Conjunctivitis and that Azul was given some meds "just in case". I was told that her sneezing, etc. was allergies. She started sneezing more and more, coughing some, had runny eyes.. NOT allergies. So i took her in to my vet. She has ( so far) feline Chlamydia and Mycoplasma felis, two tenacious illnesses she could have ONLY caught from the cattery breeder. When checking with the vet she "saw" as a kitten I learned that she had NOT had any of her vaccinations, had NOT been tested for FELV ( two things covered under her health guarantee along with "no infectious diseases"). I fact, the ONLY time that vet had seen her was the day before I brought her home to get her meds for........... Mycoplasma. Yes. The breeder knew she had it before she sent her home with me. Told me it was allergies.
So now I'm in a funk. These aren't deadly diseases, but my vet has estimated the full treatment of them to be close to $500. Apparently, esp when together, they are a bitch to get rid of. Also, there is the teeny tiny chance ( very remote) that she could pass the feline version of Chlamydia on to my family. It's not the same as the people version, but still a nasty head ick requiring prescription to get rid of. Plus she will need a full panel of other tests to rule out all of the other things she may have because the breeder didn't do any of them. $$$$
Only after getting a hold of her mentor and a super "big wig" in the Sphynx community who recommended her did I hear back from the breeder ( she moved to Colorado shortly after we brought Azul home). She is offering/ willing to buy the cat back from me.
What do I do??!! That was an EXPENSIVE cat! And I don't want to pay ALL that money for a cat that is SICK because of the breeder! And shell out another $500+ to get the sick taken care of, ON TOP of the regular health costs of maintaining the cat. A big part of me says SELL HER BACK! Set the money aside and wait till after this pregnancy to get another from the super big wig breeder. Or put it in a savings account, as I never should have spent that kind of money on a cat. But another part of me says there is NO WAY I can do that to my kids. I really like the cat. She is a pain in the ass and I HATE her litter box, but she cuddles up with me when I sleep. She snuggles my belly. I like the cat. And my kids completely adore her! They only get a few hours a day with her because the rest of the day she is locked in our room with her litterbox, which we have to keep separate from Kael. So they would MISS her, but they haven't spent TOO much time with her.. I just don't know what to do. I need some advice and feedback. I promised myself that I would never do again what I did with Chloe and Lola. I wanted to make a long term commitment. But can I afford that commitment? Should I try?
6 comments:
Kinda what you need to think about is: Would you have gotten this cat in the first place if you knew you had to pay this $500?? If you can't afford it right now, you can't afford it. That being said, I would not only sell the cat back but ALSO get reimbursed for the vet bills you have already accrued. And if you truly want another Sphynx, get one when you can afford it, and make sure you have signed paperwork and any and all documents WITH you before you hand over ANY money for a cat. Buyer beware and all that. Treat this as a learning experience.
AND...know that this ISN'T your fault with this cat. A totally unexpected massive extra $$. Just make sure that next time you have all your T's crossed and I's dotted.
I say sell the cat back too.
Specialty breeds always have special problems it seems. I was finding the same kind of things with the dogs I researched. They generally have bigger vet bills associated with all that too.
Being locked in a room to protect it from the kids or whatever isn't much of a life for her either. That is why we got rid of our dogs...it wasn't fair to banish them to kennel kingdom because of the kids. It wasn't much of a life for them and they are WAY happier now.
Hard choice to make. Best of luck with your decision.
I would sell the cat back. I would also contact whomever is in charge of the accreditation of that cattery. Then, take the children to the pound and get a pound kitty. You do not need the expense of a 'show' cat.
Most highly bred cats are not for families, they are for the retired, nothing to do older adults. My mother had a cattery after I graduated from college. She loved showing them and breeding them.
I would not have an animal with perfect bloodlines - they are a pain in the a**... too many temperments, physical problems, and work. I am one of the older adults and my husband just adopted a puppy from the pound (yesterday) and he and Ruth are in hog heaven.
Just my thoughts on the matter.
Mary McG in TN
This cat is most definately a family cat, that isn't the issue.(Jen my post wasn't clear. She gets all night, nap time, and about an hour or so each morning and evening ( with the kids) out of the room. She just doesn't have free run all day to 1. keep the kids from the litter box and 2. keep her inside as this is summer and the slider is open for a good portion of the day) And as I'm not really a cat person the hairless aspect is what sold me on the breed, something you can't get from the pound. I fully support our local animal shelter in many ways, but I wanted to make sure that this was a "forever" commitment. I wanted the cat to be exactly what I wanted to ensure that, which is the reason we chose a specific breed over a shelter kitten. The issue isn't does she fit in to our home, because she does. It is... should we support this breeder? She had good references but obviously the ball got dropped here. Can we afford to risk a potentially unhealthy cat? After the hundreds we've already spent we've tested her for the majority of issues and, with the exception of these treateble two, she came up clean. I don't know. I'm still torn.
You could try to get the breeder to pay for everything since she guaranteed her health and knew about this health issue before you bought her?.... but I thought this cat was in trade for something with a friend. You didn't know this breeder?
Either way.... I would be torn too, but in the end, if you can't afford to take care of it, you probably shouldn't have a pet. This issue aside, you never know when you might need to shell out money for something. Cooper had a bad tooth and it cost us $500 to remove it. But otherwise, in the 8 years we've had him, all we've paid for previously was wellness checks and routine shots. So you never know. But you can't keep turning pets in when they start to cost money. They all inevititably will.
If this gets sorted out and you keep her, or you send her back and decide to wait till later, I would also look into pet insurance.
Davinie: She was discounted due to favors owed to me, not free. No, I didn't know her. She's known by a friend of a friend, that kind of thing. The issue isn't "can we afford to take care of a pet" because we can. We also set aside a chunk in savings just for pet bills, etc. as well as purchased the insurance plan ( they are such a good idea!!). But Alyca made a good point: had the cat had this extra chunk on the price tag, would we have bought it? The answer is no. And right now, the breeder isn't offering to pay for all of the medical expences that her negligence has caused or could potentially cuse in the future. We're still debating the issue. It seems either way we're pretty damned. If we keep her we supported a bad breeder, paid out the ass for a cat that is NOT what we wanted, and risk a big medical mess in the future. If we give her back we're branded again as "that" kind of pet owner, the kids miss out on a pet, and we're back to square one with filling that position with the risk that next time will be just as effed up as this time was.
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