- Joined
- Oct 23, 2016
- Messages
- 1
- Purraise
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Hi, I feel like I am living in a nightmare, and I don't know what to do about it. This year I put down a deposit on an Oriental Shorthair kitten with what is supposed to be a reputable breeder near Seattle. After putting down the non-fundable deposit, I learn that my kitten isn't being housed with the breeder, that she'd had an "accidental breeding" and had given the kittens to a breeder friend of hers to keep until they were ready to go. I wasn't expecting that, but she explained it well enough, so fine. Then things got weird. The first thing that happened was her specifically requesting that I not contact her friend to tell him that I had reserved the kitten, that she would be communicating with him. Okay, no problem. But then not two weeks later I see him post a picture of MY kitten on Facebook advertising it for sale, and I immediately messaged him to let him know that it was my kitten in the photo that he was selling and had the original breeder not contacted him? He told me that was something I'd have to work out with her but then ultimately took down the photo. So I'm assuming she never let him know that the kitten had been reserved.
Anyway, that was alarming and irritating, but it wasn't the end of the world. Two more weeks go by, and I'm dying to see pictures/videos/ANYTHING of my kitten. The breeder friend has a OSH Facebook page that he regularly posts updates to, but I never saw anything about my kitten, not even once. So, I re-approach him kindly asking if he could send me an update on my kitten, that I was so excited to see her, had only ever seen the one picture, etc. The reply I got was so cold it left me reeling. He told me he wasn't "comfortable" doing that, that I wasn't even supposed to know that the kittens were at his house, and that he was very "uncomfortable with the situation." I immediately shared the message with the original breeder, and she tells me that he's just an "odd duck," and that I should only speak to her from there on out, not to contact him again.
Okay, so fast forward a little more, and my kitten is finally old enough to leave. Original breeder gets my kitten from her friend, meets me, I pay a total of $1100 for this OSH kitten, and I go home. Long story short, I was given a semi-feral kitten (TERRIFIED of humans - the original breeder admitted multiple times that she did not think her friend had been able to "give them the time" they needed because he was "sick") that was not only chock-full of roundworms but also carrying ringworm, which spread to me, my dog, my boyfriend, my boyfriend's cat, my friend, and another friend who watched my apartment for me. My lesions became severe and horrific because my doctor had originally misdiagnosed them as being Lyme disease, so I wasn't treated properly for almost a month before the ringworm came to light; I had lesions all over my body, even on my face/nose/cheek!
I contacted both the breeder and her breeder friend about the situation, and the original breeder deflects all blame to her friend. The friend owns up to the fact that he'd had a ringworm problem and says he'll send me a package with medication. That package included a single pill meant for a 50lb dog and some homemade ointment. I was given instructions to divide the pill up in 50 equal parts and then distribute it based off of my kitten's body weight. Basically, it was an utter nightmare to crack open that pill and *hand count out* approximately 800 little beads inside the capsule and then divide them. When I ultimately had to take my kitten to the vet for the roundworm, my vet was horrified that I'd been told to administer medicine in that way, and I was so ashamed for having listened and followed through. I then had to pay for the vet visit plus all the new medications.
Fortunately, the original breeder did give me $100 to (almost) cover my kitten's vet visit, but at this point I have also paid for my boyfriend's cat's ringworm visit/meds, my friend's, my dog's, etc. And from everything I read about ringworm, I am going to be living with this nightmare for a long, LONG time. I'm sorry, but I didn't pay $1100 for a poorly socialized, roundworm and ringworm-infested kitten! I love her and wont part with her, and the roundworm is an easy fix, but this ringworm situation is out of control! It has stressed me out beyond belief! Am I entitled to ask for a partial refund?? Not that I think I would actually get it, but this is crazy! I still can't believe this has happened.
Anyway, that was alarming and irritating, but it wasn't the end of the world. Two more weeks go by, and I'm dying to see pictures/videos/ANYTHING of my kitten. The breeder friend has a OSH Facebook page that he regularly posts updates to, but I never saw anything about my kitten, not even once. So, I re-approach him kindly asking if he could send me an update on my kitten, that I was so excited to see her, had only ever seen the one picture, etc. The reply I got was so cold it left me reeling. He told me he wasn't "comfortable" doing that, that I wasn't even supposed to know that the kittens were at his house, and that he was very "uncomfortable with the situation." I immediately shared the message with the original breeder, and she tells me that he's just an "odd duck," and that I should only speak to her from there on out, not to contact him again.
Okay, so fast forward a little more, and my kitten is finally old enough to leave. Original breeder gets my kitten from her friend, meets me, I pay a total of $1100 for this OSH kitten, and I go home. Long story short, I was given a semi-feral kitten (TERRIFIED of humans - the original breeder admitted multiple times that she did not think her friend had been able to "give them the time" they needed because he was "sick") that was not only chock-full of roundworms but also carrying ringworm, which spread to me, my dog, my boyfriend, my boyfriend's cat, my friend, and another friend who watched my apartment for me. My lesions became severe and horrific because my doctor had originally misdiagnosed them as being Lyme disease, so I wasn't treated properly for almost a month before the ringworm came to light; I had lesions all over my body, even on my face/nose/cheek!
I contacted both the breeder and her breeder friend about the situation, and the original breeder deflects all blame to her friend. The friend owns up to the fact that he'd had a ringworm problem and says he'll send me a package with medication. That package included a single pill meant for a 50lb dog and some homemade ointment. I was given instructions to divide the pill up in 50 equal parts and then distribute it based off of my kitten's body weight. Basically, it was an utter nightmare to crack open that pill and *hand count out* approximately 800 little beads inside the capsule and then divide them. When I ultimately had to take my kitten to the vet for the roundworm, my vet was horrified that I'd been told to administer medicine in that way, and I was so ashamed for having listened and followed through. I then had to pay for the vet visit plus all the new medications.
Fortunately, the original breeder did give me $100 to (almost) cover my kitten's vet visit, but at this point I have also paid for my boyfriend's cat's ringworm visit/meds, my friend's, my dog's, etc. And from everything I read about ringworm, I am going to be living with this nightmare for a long, LONG time. I'm sorry, but I didn't pay $1100 for a poorly socialized, roundworm and ringworm-infested kitten! I love her and wont part with her, and the roundworm is an easy fix, but this ringworm situation is out of control! It has stressed me out beyond belief! Am I entitled to ask for a partial refund?? Not that I think I would actually get it, but this is crazy! I still can't believe this has happened.
