Hi there,


Yesterday I adopted a new kitten from a breeder online. It was all very sudden, I've never adopted a kitten that wasn't through the SPCA before, and am a little unsure about what steps to take first. Here's the background on the adoption...

She's just over 8 weeks. I am the second person to take her, the first being an out of province couple who apparently returned her within a few days at 6 weeks of age. She returned from the couple with a severe limp that the breeder insisted must have been from being kicked, or slammed into a door, etc. I was told that the original adopters had claimed that she'd developed a bump on her leg and a limp. She's still limping...but runs, jumps and is showing no outward signs of physical pain. I haven't been able to do a more thorough check over her yet as she's yet to sit still long enough. But am keeping a very close eye on her. Wondering if maybe she has some soft tissue damage?

In my original emails with the breeder, I was told that she had been checked over by a vet. However after adopting the kitten and bringing her home, I sent another email and was informed that she'd only been seen right after birth. And that she'd had de-worming and a 4-way vaccine administered at home

Now I'm assuming she's gotten her first vaccinations at 6 weeks, and I've talked to two different vet clinics about when to get the rest of her vaccinations. She's booked in next week to see animal chiropractor as well. But I'm not sure if I should get her checked over by a yet asap or wait until she's due for her next round of vaccinations. (I have another adult cat at my residence, all up-to-date on her vaccinations etc.) I just want to make sure she's healthy and that nothing catches between the two of them.

Lastly she's currently eating a brand of kitten kibble that I don't think is the best, and she's been having some gas. Should I start gradually switching her over now or wait and see? My other cat is on a grain-free kibble and partial on a raw diet. Also so far she'll eat, drink and then wait about 15 minutes between using her litterbox. Followed by a thorough cleaning.

Personality wise, she's been a complete love bug and wants nothing more than to race in between my feet and get plenty of cuddles. She slept great through the night and woke up once for a snack and a drink of water.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read over this and reply! She's had a bit of a traumatic start and I want to make sure that everything is going to get better for her so she can live her life to the fullest.

I would take her in immediately.  It sounds like she was from a backyard breeder. I have heard a good one wont let kittens leave until they are at least 10 weeks old or older. Do you have proof of shots if not you may have to start over. 

A vet definitely needs to check her leg right away.

You should have been given paperwork on the kitten if it was from a licensed breeder. If not, you can't believe anything you've been told about care, shots, worming, or what happened.

Thanks for giving this kitten a loving home!

Thank you guys! I'm taking her into the vet tonight.

Awesome! Let us know what the vet says about everything. [emoji]128077[/emoji]

sarthur2 said:

A vet definitely needs to check her leg right away.

You should have been given paperwork on the kitten if it was from a licensed breeder. If not, you can't believe anything you've been told about care, shots, worming, or what happened.

Thanks for giving this kitten a loving home!

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Its very true. But the detail about home giving of the vaccination is plausible.  That sort of breeders do so sometimes,  so it may even be true.

The problem is, if she was adopted out at 6 weeks as it sounds, it was a little early vaccination.  Not good this either.

Frankly, I dont know what happens if you re-vaccinate the kitten and the kittens risks thus double dosage, to be on the safe side so to speak.   I presume it should go OK, but I dont dare to recommend it, I dont know for sure.   Ask the vet, and be prepare to make it anew.

So good and bad news. Good news, she slept the entire car ride and had her claws trimmed with no problem. Not too bad news...She wouldn't let the vet take her temperature and was right grumpy. 

Bad news, she's suffering from a left hind patellar luxation The vet believes that it has been that way since birth. The vet attempted to get it back in but it popped right back  out. They've told me that with her current condition, she will be okay. There's a small possibility that within the next six months it could right itself. If not, once the bone has hardened, it will either stay the same or eventually get worse. 80% possibility of it remaining the same after six months and adulthood. 20% chance of it worsening and needing corrective surgery. This surgery would be roughly $2,000 CAN. Yikes.

Other than this, I've opted to re-give her vaccinations. She's scheduled for two weeks time. Her eyes were a bit dirty in the tear ducks and she's been sneezing off and on so we're going to reevaluate that as well.The vet also gave me a sample bag of some food, Hill's Healthy Advantage Kitten. Haven't heard of it but will do some research.

I definitely don't want to return her to the breeder, as I suspect she'll only resell her to another customer with the same backstory. However I feel like I was taken of advantage of, and haven't decided what to do about this. Who knows if her lineage is even correct?

What kind of cat is she? Can you post a picture?

Did the vet say whether a cast or brace would help her leg while she's growing?

Other than the leg and possible URI, the kitten sounds healthy. I think that's pretty good news!

The kitten needs a loving home, so keeping her is the best thing you could do! I would take the high road and file it under "lessons learned" - buying a kitten on Craig's List is not the way to acquire a pedigreed pet in the future.

The kitten was returned to the "breeder" due to her leg defect. The breeder is pretending it occurred while the kitten was "adopted," if that even really happened. The poor kitten is essentially unadoptable as a purebred with her leg problem. If you returned her she might well be destroyed. I think it's lucky that you found each other.

I'm sure the kitten will bring you much love and joy, and you'll never regret "rescuing" her. [emoji]128149[/emoji]

The vet said the only thing to do was keep an eye on her, the groove in her knee wasn't deep enough on her left side to sustain the kneecap in place. Originally they told me that she was a pure blue point ragdoll and siblings were listed as so. However after the transaction was complete and I'd taken her home, they'd emailed saying she was 1/16 Siamese. Who knows whether this is true or not. She does look a bit Siamese to me, however I am definitely not a an expert by any means. Lesson learned indeed! The vet questioned my decision to keep her and I told him flat out, if I don't do it, who will? Least this way I'll know she's getting the love and tlc needed. Still she's an absolutely sweetheart and is very good with her litter box which is all that I can ask for! I have an occupational animal therapist coming tomorrow afternoon to check her and see if there's anything to be done down that route.

Here's some picture from last night. 

Couldn't get a full body - she won't stand still at the moment.

She's precious! A real baby doll!

I do think she's got more than 1/16 Siamese though, but she's just beautiful! [emoji]128149[/emoji]

The occupational animal therapist is an excellent idea! Let me know how that goes.

Thank you for taking such great care of this special little gal. I don't think you'll ever regret it. Have you named her? [emoji]128522[/emoji]

littlefoot03 said:

 
So good and bad news. Good news, she slept the entire car ride and had her claws trimmed with no problem. Not too bad news...She wouldn't let the vet take her temperature and was right grumpy. 

Bad news, she's suffering from a left hind patellar luxation The vet believes that it has been that way since birth. The vet attempted to get it back in but it popped right back  out. They've told me that with her current condition, she will be okay. There's a small possibility that within the next six months it could right itself. If not, once the bone has hardened, it will either stay the same or eventually get worse. 80% possibility of it remaining the same after six months and adulthood. 20% chance of it worsening and needing corrective surgery. This surgery would be roughly $2,000 CAN. Yikes.

Other than this, I've opted to re-give her vaccinations. She's scheduled for two weeks time. Her eyes were a bit dirty in the tear ducks and she's been sneezing off and on so we're going to reevaluate that as well.The vet also gave me a sample bag of some food, Hill's Healthy Advantage Kitten. Haven't heard of it but will do some research.

I definitely don't want to return her to the breeder, as I suspect she'll only resell her to another customer with the same backstory. However I feel like I was taken of advantage of, and haven't decided what to do about this. Who knows if her lineage is even correct?

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If she continues to be unwilling to have the temp taken in the behind, you can take the temp in the armpit of the foreleg.  Its not that accurate, but good enough for most practical purposes.  Its lower down there, about 3F or one full C degree.   The trick is to know what temp she usually has, so you will know what it is when you need to know.  so, make a new play game, and measure her now and than in the armpit...

Canadian vets are renown to be really costly, even standard treatment costs.  And very few cheap low price clinics too.  So I suspect, qualified surgery for 2000 CAN dollars isnt that bloody.

littlefoot03 said:

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• littlefoot03
• May 27, 2016

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• littlefoot03
• May 27, 2016

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I agree with you, she looks a little siamese-ish.  My reaction seeing the pic is she may be a balinese, ie a semi-longhaired siamese. 

However, I suspect siameses are allowed outcross, and its easy for a breeder to get this allowed from the association.

You did got with you all the certificates and pedigree?   If so, it was apparently allowed, and you dont need to worry.

If you didnt got any official paperwork from a serious association alike CFA, Tica or similiar, this is no real problem either.  Without papers its a beautiful moggie.

The only question is if you will continue to call her for a ragdoll look alike or a balinese look alike....    Sorry for being this brutal, but so it is....

And ethically you did completely right.  It will perhaps costs you.  But you have done a rescue.   There are folks whom rescue a cat in dire need from the street, and pays thousands dollars in vet costs and many weeks of own efforts.  Just because.  They are humans, and they stand for it even if it costs.

You are essentielly doing likewise.   Although your situation is better, she is a real, stunning beauty.

Please, what is this therapist?  Its someone whom professionally helps cats, or  working with cats whom are doing  animal assisted therapy?

If she is human friendly and like to be give and get cuddle, she could always be such a animal therapy cat...  There are several possible variations.

To answer your questions. She part of a little, and the rest of her siblings (2) from what I could tell, have much more distinct ragdoll characteristics and are much darker in coats and markings. They're no longer up for adoption but I'd seen them prior on the site. They were significantly higher in price but listed with the same birth dates. I do have pictures o

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littlefoot03 said:

 
To answer your questions. She part of a little, and the rest of her siblings (2) from what I could tell, have much more distinct ragdoll characteristics and are much darker in coats and markings. They're no longer up for adoption but I'd seen them prior on the site. They were significantly higher in price but listed with the same birth dates. I do have pictures o

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Oops! She just jumped onto my keyboard and posted before I was done..silly kitten. Sorry. *She was part of a litter...*I do have pictures of the parents but didn't feel comfortable posting them as they're not my cats. I've been letting people know that we're unsure of her breed history but that she's an absolute doll. Had a friend over with her two daughters and she came racing out and played with them for about an hour. No hesitance at all and extremely people friendly. 

The therapist we had visit is to help her. She's an occupational therapist whom eventually specialized in animals and now has a qualifications in the animal rehabilitation division as a physiotherapist. We've heard incredible things from other friends about her, and she was absolutely fantastic with Eve. She gave her an adjustment and a once over. Very similar to the vet but without the screeching and frantic behavior. She perked up right afterwards and the therapist told us that it's not too bad and hopefully with some care and patience, she'll either grow out of it or fingers crossed, never need surgery.  

littlefoot03 said:

 
So good and bad news. Good news, she slept the entire car ride and had her claws trimmed with no problem. Not too bad news...She wouldn't let the vet take her temperature and was right grumpy. 

Bad news, she's suffering from a left hind patellar luxation The vet believes that it has been that way since birth. The vet attempted to get it back in but it popped right back  out. They've told me that with her current condition, she will be okay. There's a small possibility that within the next six months it could right itself. If not, once the bone has hardened, it will either stay the same or eventually get worse. 80% possibility of it remaining the same after six months and adulthood. 20% chance of it worsening and needing corrective surgery. This surgery would be roughly $2,000 CAN. Yikes.

Other than this, I've opted to re-give her vaccinations. She's scheduled for two weeks time. Her eyes were a bit dirty in the tear ducks and she's been sneezing off and on so we're going to reevaluate that as well.The vet also gave me a sample bag of some food, Hill's Healthy Advantage Kitten. Haven't heard of it but will do some research.

I definitely don't want to return her to the breeder, as I suspect she'll only resell her to another customer with the same backstory. However I feel like I was taken of advantage of, and haven't decided what to do about this. Who knows if her lineage is even correct?

Click to expand...

Since you said you have someone that is like a kitty chiropractor, if you continue to adjust the tendon back into the groove, it may eventually stay in place, depending on how deep the groove is.  This article explains it very well.  My friend's cat got injured as an adult and they actually had to amputate his leg, because repairing it would require external fixation and this cat would not have tolerated that, but he has done well and is now 18 years old.

http://pets.thenest.com/luxating-patella-cat-heal-itself-10157.html

As for the vet giving you a bag of Hills Dry Kitten Food, I am one of those people who believe cats and kittens should eat WET food, and if you want to use both wet and dry, then both should be meat based, moderate fat, low carbohydrate foods.  Most dry foods have way too many carbohydrates, and cats do not drink enough water to compensate for the extreme dryness.  Although Hills is working hard to improve its line of foods, I'm still not thrilled with the ingredients.  Most vets don't know a lot about cat nutrition and they just trust the company to provide the best foods.  Kittens should NOT have DL-methionine (look it up on Google), however. Methionine is one of the 8 essential amino acids that the body cannot make itself and must get from foods , and it is freely available in fish, eggs, beef and dairy. There are none of these in this food so they have added the chemical version rather than adding one of the meats that would provide it naturally.  There is probably not enough DL-methionine in it to cause anemia, but since it is not supposed to be fed to kittens, I would not feed this food to a kitten. 

Hill's Ideal Balance Natural Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe Kitten Dry Cat Food

Chicken, Brown Rice, Chicken Meal, Pea Protein Concentrate, Brewers Rice, Chicken Fat, Dried Egg Product, Yellow Peas, Chicken Liver Flavor, Lactic Acid, Fish Oil, Flaxseed, L-Lysine, Vegetable & fruit blend (Green Peas, Apples, Cranberries, Carrots, Broccoli), Calcium Sulfate, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Iodized Salt, Taurine, Potassium Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Mixed Tocopherols for freshness, Phosphoric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Natural Flavors

littlefoot03 said:

 
To answer your questions. She part of a little, and the rest of her siblings (2) from what I could tell, have much more distinct ragdoll characteristics and are much darker in coats and markings. They're no longer up for adoption but I'd seen them prior on the site. They were significantly higher in price but listed with the same birth dates. I do have pictures o

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This has a natural explanation.  As your girl isnt entirely up to the breed standards, she will never  make a  carriere on the Shows.  (I presume thus, she has Pedigree and certificates, so you CAN participate in Shows?  Or at least, the siblings got the certificates...).

With such not entirely standard cats, they are usually sold as "pet-quality".  With or without the papers.   Which is a shame, I myself believe strongly every child has the rigth to its parenthood, its heritage, and should be sold with full paperwork, even if pet quality.    The pedigree as such costs just a small fee from the Association, its no big money.

OK, what happens with such a pet quality cat with papers, whom anyway participates in a show among the other pedigrees?   It gets examined, it gets an opinion.  Let say he is alone in its group, and thus wins the group, getting the Ex1  (Excellent 1)  mark.   Normally, such a cat would automatically get also a Certificate, a point to get the Championship status..  But here, the" certificate gets drawn",  ie the cat doesnt get the certificate, because its not up to the standard....

And if there are, say 4 participants?  All four get the Excellent, although just one gets the Ex1 and goes on up into next level of the competition. Our hero gets Ex4...   And outwardly, it never shows he isnt of good breed standards...  Or say, they are 10, only the 5 first get the Ex, the rests arent numbered, they just get their Excellent degree....

Of course, the judge may write a remark of type; nice and friendly very easy to handle, but not entirely up to the breed standards.

Its very seldom they get lower marks, although theoretically there are marks as Very good, and Good.

Getting the mark of Very good is of course really not good at all,  if you hoped for at least an Ex.   Although I presume they may occur more often in the Household Pet class.

Its of course a little embarrasing for the owner to get the certificate drawn, esp is she hoped the cat was of very good quality and would easily get the certificates, and with time, the Championship title....    While for others, whim KNOW their cats isnt Show standard, it doesnt matter much.   They feel its fun anyway.

That is a description in Fife, the big european Association.

The major american associations have  different routines, but you get the idea.

And yeah, if its true there is a not very far  outcross, the results on the kittens will differ somewhat. 

That is why the Associations defend so strongly the idea of purebred cats.   If  a breed, a cat is purebred, there are not much of  sudden differences...  This is the big difference between  a purebred cat, and a moggie whom is a look alike.    Even if the individuals could be exactly the same, yeah, the moggie could be better up to the breed standards... 

Last, but not least.   I suppose you are suspecting it was a little of a Cuckoo.   Your beautie was really from a different litter, but made up and registered as part of this litter no??    Not impossible, with BYB you never know for sure.   But as my lenghy post try to explain -  some small differences are entirely plausible, and usually are solved this way -  the breed standard cats are sold for a higher price, while their littermate, whom isnt up to the breed standard, is sold for cheapier as pet quality.

Often its just some color fault, or as here, the muzzle somewhat too long.

A real physical fault should give quite a substantial reduction