Horrible news today

gapeach

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We foster kittens for a small rescue that doesn't have nonprofit status. Our adopters sign a contract : keep inside, up to date on shots, spay and neuter and if rehoming they come back to us. Usually in leu of a fee the rescue asks the adopters to just take the kitten /cat to the vet upon adopting.

Our first foster pair was adopted out together. I called to check on them periodically. The lady called and told me Resa was sick. I instructed her to take her to the vet. She told me she wouldn't make it there before they closed. I told her to make certain she took her the next morning. When I called she told me she was doing much better.

Now I've found out today Resa died. I failed her. I trusted this woman and she let my Resa die.
 

catwoman707

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That is just tragic news, so sorry.

I have a non profit rescue group so I am very familiar with all of the practices, etc.

There have been times when an adoptor has contacted us soon after adopting, to say the cat/kitten seems sick, or whatever the issue might be, I am the medical contact and advisor, so if/when this happens, I talk to the adoptor and find out what is going on, we have our own meds as far as dewormers, diarrhea meds, antibiotics, eye meds, earmite meds, and vaccines.

If it is something that I can give meds for, great, but if not and it hasn't been very long since the adoption, I feel obligated to send them to one of my vets and pay for the visit as well.

It doesn't sound like this was a possibility though with Resa. I can't understand why, what had happened....

Did she give any details or symptoms? How long had she had them?
 
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gapeach

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It was around a month after they were adopted out. She had really bad diarrhea. The lady had never taken them to be wormed or vaccinated yet. The reason we don't charge any fee is so the adopter has the funds to vet and then the rescue gets them spayed. If the woman would have let us know that she couldn't afford the vetting we would have taken her to the vet. She just lied and told me she was better the next day.
 

di and bob

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I always struggle over whether I should ask about kittens and cats I have adopted out that were abandoned at my place.Especially when it is years later.I have paid for the neutering and spaying of many just so they had a chance at a better life, but sadly sometimes it is not to be. I always feel tremendous guilt and see their sweet little faces in my dreams. But then I try to remember that I HAVE helped many to find wonderful forever homes, and at least a chance is better then no hope at all......You are doing the best you can, and have helped SO many to find the homes that they deserve, don't be so hard on yourself over the failure of a few. Everything in this life has it's failures, if everything was perfect there would be no need for rescue places at all. All in all, they STILL were given a chance! I don't know what that lady was thinking, but she did call. It may have been something that was fatal from the start and no amount of money would have helped.She was kind enough to adopt them and I'm sure she is mourning the loss and living with the guilt. Resa would be the last one to want you to feel so bad, and although it's definitely not right that she died, she's at peace now and I'm sure holding your love in her heart.I'll pray for her little soul, please don't let this affect the great work you are performing! Take care and God bless you and your rescue. RIP little Resa!
 
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gapeach

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Thank you very much Di and Bob, those are very kind thoughts. I won't let this effect my fostering. Although we are going to take a couple months break. The rescue and I are discussing taking Penny back from the lady. On one hand I don't want to because I honestly think she loves her. But she also told me she took her to the shelter to see if they could do anything for her and she died there. I'm pretty sure that is all a lie and Resa probably died at home on the day or night that she insisted she was better. Also she didn't tell me even after I had asked about them until it was time for the rescue to get them spayed. And then I keep asking myself if she will keep Penny utd on her shots or take her to the vet if she gets sick.
On the bright side the rescue has come up with a new policy: twenty five dollar fee for cats that are already vetted and seventy to be prepaid at the vet for ones who have had no vetting.
 

peaches08

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Sometimes, there's just not much that we can do. Even with excellent medical intervention.

I'm sorry about the kitty. I know that doesn't take the pain away.
 
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gapeach

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Peaches, it's hard. Trusting someone to take your babies. Thank you for the thoughts.
 

catwoman707

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I'm wondering, why doesn't this rescue simply get them fixed, vaccinated, dewormed, and given meds for diarrhea, then simply charge an adoption fee?
This is what makes my rescue group so successful. This ensures that they are healthy and good to go to their new homes. We also have them fill out a pretty detailed application, to rule out any possible problems, for instance we ask for indoors only, make sure if they are renting that we call the mgr to find out if cats are allowed and if they need to pay a deposit, if there are very young kids who might not handle a kitten well, but an adult cat might do fine, whether they plan to declaw, (and if so they get denied) and so on.

My fosters notify me right away if there is a uri, or diarrhea, eye/ear issues, anything not right. I get meds to them and they all know how to properly dose.
Some of the costs are not alot, like I buy the large bottles of Pyrantel dewormer, it's very inexpensive.
 
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gapeach

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Catwoman, our rescue doesn't get much funding because it doesn't have nonprofit status. Some of our animals are sponsored out of the shelter, those have shelter vouchers for vaccinations etc. The others are strays or ones that will be taken to the shelter, all of these expenses are paid out of pocket by the one lady who runs the rescue. She has never charged anyone an adoption fee because she wants them to spend their money on taking the kitten /cat to the vet. Adopters sign a contract stating that they will keep utd on vaccinations, spay/neuter and keep inside. This kitten had a uri when I fostered her but the rescue got me the meds and she was well when adopted out. If the adopter would have followed through with the vetting that she was supposed to do Resa would still be alive. After this occurred we have revised the adoption process so the ones who haven't been vetted will have a fee of seventy dollars to be prepaid at the vet's office, to ensure the adopter will follow through with vetting.
 
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oneandahalfcats

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Oh gapeach I am so sorry to read of this.. You must have been heart-broken ..please don't feel like you let this kitten down, because you didn't. The circumstances are so unfortunate, but the reality is that we can't control all situations and things like this will happen sometimes, unfortunately.



I think its really sensible to charge some kind of adoption fee and its good that your group is going to have some monetary provision implemented for vetting. At our local shelter, there is a fee of $75.00 for cat adoptions, more for dogs. I was lucky I suppose that there was a cat sale on when I adopted Max and Maggie - I was more than happy to pay the fees.

I used to think differently about adoption fees as I felt that charging fees didn't necessarily guarantee anything, and it doesn't really, but it must help to weed out some potential problems and more importantly help to subsidize rescues and shelters.

I wish you peace with this in the coming days ...
 
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gapeach

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Thank you Rosiemac and One and a half cats for your thoughts.
 

nurseangel

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I'm very sorry.  You did your best and it's not your fault.  There is no way you could have predicted this outcome.  
 
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gapeach

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Thank you Nurse Angel. We are strongly considering taking Penny (Resa's foster sister who was adopted out with her) out of the home.
 

kimmismom

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I’m so sorry about the loss of Resa.
 As the others said, you did the best you could and the outcome was completely unpredictable. I hope she enjoys her time running and playing over the Rainbow Bridge.


If possible, maybe you could do a home check to see how Penny is doing? It’s pretty clear that this woman can’t be trusted since she lied about Resa’s health and didn’t bother taking her to a vet. The best option may just be to pull her out of the home.
 
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gapeach

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Yes Kimmismom. Thank you for your thoughts, we are talking about taking Penny back. She even lied to me when I asked about them. Telling me THEY were good, when she'd only had Penny for months. She also let a friend stay with them who has a sick unneutered male. She says nothing happened but how could she know? It would certainly explain why Penny hasn't gone into heat. We will probably get her this week.
 

jcat

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I'm very sorry about the loss of Resa, and hope you manage to get Penny back and into a home where she's properly cared for.
RIP, Resa.
 
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gapeach

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Thank you everyone for your thoughts. I will probably be picking Penny up this week to get her spayed. Then the rescue and I will make the call on whether she will be going back or not.
 
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