Newly Adopted Kitten has Stomatitis Characteristics, Help?

icsealebrity

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Just yesterday, I brought my first cat home, a kitten named Reggie, whom I saw online on the shelter's adoption site. When I arrived at the shelter, there was thick, gooey saliva dripping from his mouth. His bowl of cat food appeared to be untouched. He also had a drool rash (which I researched about just today, the shelter volunteers said he was completely healthy so I shrugged it off.) A gorgeous tuxedo kitten, he started hiding at first, but soon came up to me and started purring when I pet him. He was quite adaptable and is now used to walking around my room. However, he wouldn't eat at all, though he lapped up some water. I ended up feeding him cooked beef as a temporary solution. Worried, I searched online for answers. His symptoms matched some form of stomatitis exactly. The drool rash seems to be spreading right now, and no vet clinics nearby are open at this time. If the kitten was sick before adoption, would the shelter cover the expenses? I'm thinking of returning him to the shelter for now, as I cannot afford surgery or treatment currently. (It would cost $1000+) Right now, I'm absolutely heart-broken that he has to go. I wasn't expecting the kitten to be sick on the first day, and I really do want to keep the precious angel. Does anyone have any suggestions or tips? Thank you so much for your help.
 

GoldyCat

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What do the adoption papers say about a health guarantee? Depending on their policy the shelter might take the kitten back and offer you a different kitten instead, or they might pay for any medical expenses since the kitten was obviously sick when you got him. Or if there's no health guarantee in their adoption policy they might not do anything.

I would get him to a vet as soon as possible, partly to get an accurate diagnosis and partly so you'll have something official to show the shelter. If you wait too long they could claim that the kitten got sick after you took him home.
 
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