Cat buyers make extreme claims and confuse the heck out of me. HELP!

I hope someone from this forum can give me some info ASAP. I run a small
cattery and I recently sold a kitten to some people who came in from out of
state (they put the kitten on reserve). Anyway, they came and took the
kitten (under some additionally odd circumstances) and several days later
they called wanting me address to send me payment. I called back and
provided my address. Now, today, about a week later I hear from them again
and they tell me that they took the kitten to the vet and it had the
following problems: Ear mites, fleas, a resp infection, and worms and the
vet told them it was only four weeks old. They also stated that the kitten
refused to eat anything for the first couple or several days that they had
it. Moreover, the vet reportedly told them that the kitten had never been
vaccinated. They claimed that the vet gave the kitten a blood test, which
confirmed that the kitten had never been vaccinated. Now I am really very
confused. That kitten was seven weeks old -- I'm 100% positive. That kitten
had been weaned for a week here and it had been eating Iams kitten chow
like a little piglet -- no problems. That kitten received it's first basic
4-way vaccine. That kitten had been dewormed. What the heck is going on? I
can buy the idea of ear mites and fleas as it's always possible that I
messed up and missed that because a lot was going on when I sold that
kitten and I had brought in some rescue puppies the week prior -- so
although I did not see fleas or knowingly sell a kitten with fleas (of ear
mites for that matter), it is possible (very possible as another litter
mate apparently had fleas and ear mites). A resp infection could have been
the result, possibly a combo result from the recent new vaccine that had
been given and the move into a stressful home environment -- it now seems
that these buyers are a little wacky. However, four weeks old, NO and a
bloodtest which proves that no vaccine was given -- impossible, right? I
don't get it. The full sister to this kitten went to another home and she
too unfortunately had ear mites and fleas, but other than that the vet said
she was healthy and there were no reports from those people of the kitten
being only four weeks old or no vaccine having been given. I am definitely
going to tighten my methods here to deal with any and all fleas and ear
mites. I really have never had these kinds of problem or had anyone
complain before. Anyhow, Does anyone on this forum have any information
about the potential situation here? Has anyone ever heard of a similar
story? I'm really pretty freaked out because I have always done the best
that I could to keep my cats healthy and my clients satisfied and this
episode is something right out ot the Twilight Zone to me.

--
Message posted via http://www.catkb.com

You make me completely sick. You have NO CLUE what you're doing as a
"breeder."
First, you sold a kitten at SEVEN WEEKS? Seven weeks is WAY too young
to be sold.
SEVEN WEEKS is also too young to have received the 4-in-1 combo
vaccination.
And you sold it out-of-state, to owners you admit are wackos.
And you're so "busy" you can't even treat for ear mites and fleas? Did
you even check?
Why didn't the vet catch the ear mite problem when you took them in for
vaccinations? Doesn't your vet do a even a cursury check?
And you WEANED a six-month-old kitten and put them on "kitten chow". I
assume this is dry food?
And what's the deal with the "combo" shot giving the cat a respiratory
infection? What does your vet say about that?

Sherry

Sereena Nightshade via CatKB.com wrote:
I hope someone from this forum can give me some info ASAP. I run a
small
cattery and I recently sold a kitten to some people who came in from
out of
state (they put the kitten on reserve).

Let me guess...either Siamese...or Persian....?

-L.
(bleh, blech, wretch, pfthooy!)

On Sat, 05 Mar 2005 01:50:54 GMT, "Sereena Nightshade via CatKB.com"
wrote:

confused. That kitten was seven weeks old -- I'm 100% positive.

snip

Anyhow, Does anyone on this forum have any information
about the potential situation here? Has anyone ever heard of a similar
story? I'm really pretty freaked out because I have always done the best
that I could to keep my cats healthy and my clients satisfied and this
episode is something right out ot the Twilight Zone to me.

Gods, where to start.....

To begin with, I am *appalled* that you sold a seven week old kitten.
Eight weeks is considered the absolute minimum age for a baby animal
to leave Mom, and responsible breeders wait until kittens are 12-16
weeks old. You denied that kitten time to be naturally weaned, time
to learn to use the litterbox from Mom, time to learn to use a
scratching post from Mom, time to learn bite and claw inhibition from
Mom and littermates. Honestly, I am not surprised that the kitten
stopped eating -- it's a common reaction to stress in cats, and the
stress that baby underwent is enormous.

As for fleas and ear mites, *you* should have been checking your cats
and kittens. Actually you should have had those rescue puppies in
quarantine where they belonged until you could be sure they weren't
carrying anything harmful to your cats. The puppies are also likely
where the kitten got the worms -- you do know that baby animals with
access to the outdoors or access to animals witrh access to the
outdoors should be wormed at least once a month until they are six
months old, right?

As for the 'blood test', I am assuming that's a titre test, which is
not always accurate in such a young kitten. Why didn't you send the
kitten's shot records home with it? Responsible breeders keep a
mini-medical record for each kitten, including the labels from the
vaccines given.


As for what you should do about this, only your own ethics can guide
you. You did sell them a sick, too-young kitten -- those are absolute
facts. Whether is was knowingly or not (at least on the illness side)
is of course the area that can't be proven one way or the other.

I also think that you should read over the Guide linked to in my sig
and see if you pass those standards. If not, you need to decide what
kind of breeder you want to be -- responsible or not.
Orchid
See Orchid's Kitties! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/bengalpage
Want a Purebred Cat? Read This! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/orchid

wrote in message
oups.com...

You make me completely sick. You have NO CLUE what you're doing as a
"breeder."
First, you sold a kitten at SEVEN WEEKS? Seven weeks is WAY too young
to be sold.
SEVEN WEEKS is also too young to have received the 4-in-1 combo
vaccination.
And you sold it out-of-state, to owners you admit are wackos.
And you're so "busy" you can't even treat for ear mites and fleas? Did
you even check?
Why didn't the vet catch the ear mite problem when you took them in for
vaccinations? Doesn't your vet do a even a cursury check?
And you WEANED a six-month-old kitten and put them on "kitten chow". I
assume this is dry food?
And what's the deal with the "combo" shot giving the cat a respiratory
infection? What does your vet say about that?


Amen Sherry. I was hoping someone else would address this.

After you stop breeding cats, you should take a refresher course in High
School English and learn to use paragraphs.

--
Message posted via http://www.catkb.com

"David via CatKB.com" wrote in message
...
After you stop breeding cats, you should take a refresher course in High
School English and learn to use paragraphs.

--

*snicker*

wrote in message
oups.com...

You make me completely sick. You have NO CLUE what you're doing as a
"breeder."
First, you sold a kitten at SEVEN WEEKS? Seven weeks is WAY too young
to be sold.
SEVEN WEEKS is also too young to have received the 4-in-1 combo
vaccination.
And you sold it out-of-state, to owners you admit are wackos.
And you're so "busy" you can't even treat for ear mites and fleas? Did
you even check?
Why didn't the vet catch the ear mite problem when you took them in for
vaccinations? Doesn't your vet do a even a cursury check?
And you WEANED a six-month-old kitten and put them on "kitten chow". I
assume this is dry food?
And what's the deal with the "combo" shot giving the cat a respiratory
infection? What does your vet say about that?

Sherry


What she said. Go volunteer at a shelter or something worthwhile.

--
-Kelly
kelly at farringtons dot net
"Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG