in article , Frank Pittel at
wrote on 8/29/04 2:46 PM:

Karen Chuplis wrote:
: in article , Frank Pittel at
: wrote on 8/29/04 9:45AM:

: KellyH wrote:
:
: snip
:
: : Again, ITA. I feel the shelter I volunteer for is too lax, and it's
: : starting to really bother me. Case in point, we have a guy who adopted
a
: : kitten from us. The kitten came down with a URI two days later. He
takes
: : her to the vet, vet charges $87 (for what, I don't know, he's bringing
us a
: : receipt, plus he had a certificate for a first free vet exam). He is
all
: : kinds of ****ed off that we adopted out a "sick" kitten, we knew she was
: : sick (she seemed fine at the time), we should reimburse him for the vet
: : visit. Oh, he also says he can't pay his rent now because of this. I
say,
: : bring the kitten back and we'll give you your money back for the
adoption
: : fee and the vet visit, just go away and don't adopt another kitten. I
have
: : never had someone react with such anger about a kitten becoming ill.
The
: : person in charge has said to let him keep the kitten, but reimburse for
the
: : vet visit. I fear for how he may react at the next illness. Sorry to
go
: : on, but this situation is really eating me up.
:
:
: The shelters aren't completely blameless either. I know they mean well and
do
: their best. Then again so do most people that have cats. Case in point.
: Earlier
: this summer I got a kitten that was rescued from a train yard. The
conductor
: that rescued it couldn't keep it and either I took it or it was going to a
: shelter. A few weeks later I decided that he needed a friend so I went to
the
: local shelter and after filling out a pile of paperwork that included a
: certificate from a vet that the kitten I had was healthy. I picked out a
: kitten,
: paid them the adoption fee and took it home. Part of the agreement I
signed
: when
: I got the kitten was that I would bring it to a vet within a week of
getting
: it.
: I made an appointment with the vet for the next day on the way home. When
I
: got
: the kitten to the vet I was told that he had a URI and that it was
contagious.
: Of
: course I had already introduced him to the other kitten by then. I ended
up
: having two sick kittens.
:
: I called the shelter to let them know that I had gotten a kitten with a
URI
: and
: was informed that I couldn't prove that it got it there!! All I wanted to
do
: was
: let them know of the problem so they could treat the other kittens they
had
: there.
:
: Three weeks later the kitten I got from the shelter turned up with
ringworm.
: Fortunately I caught it early and it didn't spread to far or to the other
: kitten.
: However as a precaution I had to dip both of them. Once again I called the
: shelter to inform them of the potential problem they had and their
response
: indicated they didn't care.
:
: I didn't want them to refund any vet bills. I didn't want the to refund
any
: money. I know that having pets means that I'm on the hook for vet bills
when
: they get sick or injured. All I wanted to do was let them know that I had
: gotten
: a kitten from them that had contagious conditions and that they needed to
: check
: the rest of the kittens/cats that they had. Each time they responded with
: denial.
:
: I don't think that it was unreasonable for me to expect to get a healthy
: kitten
: from the shelter. I was told when I first got there that all incoming
animals
: were isolated until checked by a vet before introducing them to the rest
of
: the
: population. I was assured that the kittens they were adopting were
healthy.
: The
: one I got from them not only wasn't but got my healthy kitten sick!!
:

: To be frank, almost every cat I have ever heard of adopted from a situation
: where there are a lot of other cats, be it a shelter or not, has had to get
: over a bout of something or other. First off, new environments cause stress
: and that sets of URIs. Ringworm is just awful common too. Cats, like humans,
: experience depression of immune system under stress and there isn't much you
: can do except support whatever happens. I'm sure they will be fine soon.
: thank goodness it isn't more serious than this.


Don't get me wrong. I'm not upset with the shelter and in fact believe that
they
did there best. What upset me was there reaction to me telling them that the
kitten I got from them had a contatious URI when I got him home. I would have
thought they would be interested so that they could check and treat the
kittens
that they still had.

As I told the person I spoke with on the phone the kitten I had was mine and
getting it treated was my reponsibility. I made it clear I didn't want a
different kitten or have them pay the vet bill. I will even take a large
percentage of the responsibility for my other kitten getting sick since I
should
have kept them seperated at first. I do think that having been told of the
problem that the shelter should be in some way responsible for the health of
the
kittens in the cage area after they were informed of a problem.

The same holds with the case of ringworm. I understand that it happens but I
would have thought that they would be interested in knowing that there was a
problem in the cages/pens/holding areas that needed to be disenfected.

Like you say I'm thankfull that the problems that the kitten had and
unfortunatly spread to my other kitten was fairly minor (Is there actually a
minor URI?) that responded well to the antibiotics. They even responded
quickly
to the ringworm treatment.

I do think that if a shelter adopts out kittens that were potentially sick
with
ringworm, a URI, etc should either be required to inform the adoptee of the
probable expense or cover a part of the expense. My sister got a kitten many
years ago that turned out to have a URI when she got it and they provided the
medication at no cost to her.

Again I realize that the people that volunter at teh shelters are doing there
best to ensure that the animals they offer for adoption are healthy. I do
think
that it's not unreasonable to expect that unless I'm informed otherwise that a
kitten I get from a shelter is healthy.

BTW - Although my two kittens are still sneezing ( the vet told me it's to be
expected and will stop in another couple of months ) they are both the picture
of health and have become the best of friends. The little guy that I got from
the shelter is the sweetest and friendliest kitten I've ever had. They
certainly
did a good job of socializing him.

Indeed, they should have said soemthing if it was known about. I'm glad they
are doing so well!