Question for Breeders

sphynxkitten

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Hi There--

I hope noone takes offense to my questions, as they are not meant to be offensive. I have great respect for you reputable brreders out there!
Here goes. Last month I adopted a shynx kitten. As per agreement, all health records, reg papers, and copy of the contract would be sent with my kitten when she was flown to us.
When the kitten arrived, she had crusty brown discharge all over her eyes, she had yellowish green crust around her nose, was sneezing, wheezing, had terrible gas, and by the next day or so, soft stools. She was eating, and drinking, but not kittenish at all. All she did was poo, sleep, and eat.
On our 3rd visit to the vet, the fecal exam showed she had Giardia. Previous exam said she had a virus. So now kitten is on antibiotics for the virus, probiotics for tummy(before finding Giardia)and just finished meds for the Giardia. Unfortunatley the symptoms for Giardia are still present. Vet says he may give her Panacur(not sure of spelling)for 7 days. My kitten pretty much hates me for all the meds I have had to force on her 3x daily the last couple weeks. She runs everytime she sees me coming. My kitten has also had a problem with stepping in her poo, box can just be cleaned, she poos, and steps in it. I have done everything possible to get rid of this bug. I cleaned disinfected with bleach, Clorox Everywhere. I use plastic bags in her litterbox, clean disinfect then daily, clean disinfect her food/water dishes. I wash her paws several times a day when I know she used her litterbox etc...nothing is helping. My 9 yr old daughter is home ill today with, you guessed it, a tummy ache, nausea, and mild diarrhea. Possibly Giardia! I have no spare room to keep the kitten in until this is gone. I just feel like I cannot risk the health of my family anymore.
Is it unreasonable to expect the breeder to step up and take the kitten back since she sent her to me with this disease?
When she sent the kitten, she did not send with any vet records, copy of contract, or reg papers. After several e-mails(no answers to phone calls)and begging her to at least send the vet records to maybe help find out what is wrong with my kitten, I finally got some papers. No copy of contract was sent, and no official vet records, just a pet health record booklet(from Revival Animal Health, online catalog)that anyone can order, with the dates of vaccines checked in the boxes. I have noticed that things the breeder had told me, do not coincide with the checked dates. For instance(I have ALL correspondence via e-mail saved, and went back and checked)she e-mailed me to tell me that my kitten was spayed (no spay certificate was sent either)on March 21st, and that she was doing well, aand her husband was picking her up. In this health booklet she wrote under Medical history, that my kitten was spayed in February. Then she e-mailed me saying that my kitten had her rabies shot the day she had her health certificate done, which was March 31st, but the box is checked and dated March 19th, when she had some other vaccines. She has still not sent me her rabies certificate, and it was not written on the health cert, and airlines have no record! If she had any fecals done, they are not listed in this booklet. I know things can happen, and that everyone gets busy, but isn't 1 month too long to make someone wait for health records when the kitten is sick?? And then to send no official health records from a vet? And no copy of the contract as agreed upon?
I also understand that animals can get bugs, and it is sometimes unnoticed, but when a kitten you adopt out is found to have an illness, especially one that is hard to get rid of, and can affect humans, do you do anything to help the new family, or offer to take the kitten back? Breeder has offered to pay for the Metronidazole, but not the several trips to the vet, or antibiotics, or probiotics, or fecal exams etc...or to take the kitten back. I'm just afraid that since my daughter is sick(unknown if it is Giardia, but dr may treat her for it since she was exposed)my other children may come down with this. Plus the kitten may still have it!
I hope I don't get flamed for asking these things. I do feel bad about all of this, and for my kitten! I do have to put my family first though.
 

goldenkitty45

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Did you sign ANY contract before you bought the kitten? In my contracts I have that the cat/kitten must be seen by a vet within 48 hrs (not counting weekends) from the date of purchase and IF the vet finds the cat is not healthy they may return it for partial refund ONLY with documentation from the vet as to what is wrong.

Sounds to me like she sold you a sick kitten or another kitten other then the original. I'd try to get my money back and return the kitten. Where do you live vs where the breeder lives?

Its not right for a good breeder to sell a sick animal!
 
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sphynxkitten

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Did you sign ANY contract before you bought the kitten? In my contracts I have that the cat/kitten must be seen by a vet within 48 hrs (not counting weekends) from the date of purchase and IF the vet finds the cat is not healthy they may return it for partial refund ONLY with documentation from the vet as to what is wrong.

Sounds to me like she sold you a sick kitten or another kitten other then the original. I'd try to get my money back and return the kitten. Where do you live vs where the breeder lives?

Its not right for a good breeder to sell a sick animal!
I live in Mn, she lives in Utah. I did sign a contract, but breeder told me to sign, and send it back to her, and she would send a copy along with all her other papers when she shipped the kitten, which she did not do. Can't remember what it said exactly. I got the kitten on a Saturday, e-mailed the breeder about all her symptoms the same day. Breeder said it was probably just stress to keep an eye on her and if need be, take her in if she got worse. She was also told the following Monday that I had no vet records, no contract, and no reg papers, that was part of the agreement. She did seem to get better, the wheezing stopped, the gas slowed, but she did have one case of diarrhea, and still sneezing, so I did take her in. Just not in 48hrs. She never mentioned me having to do that, she said that everything had been taken care of as far as wormings, vaccines including rabies, and spay, so I had/have no idea about the contract since I don't have it here. I know, stupid me, I should have made my own copy before sending it back.
 

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I think she should have provided you with two copies, both signed by her.

Really sorry to hear this happened. Did you visit the breeder and the kitten before purchasing?
 
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sphynxkitten

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Originally Posted by bab-ush-niik

I think she should have provided you with two copies, both signed by her.

Really sorry to hear this happened. Did you visit the breeder and the kitten before purchasing?
No contract provided at all, besides the one I signed and sent back. I should have known better. Shame on me. Couldn't visit the kitten, she was in a different state. Thanks for you reply.
 
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sphynxkitten

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Did you sign ANY contract before you bought the kitten? In my contracts I have that the cat/kitten must be seen by a vet within 48 hrs (not counting weekends) from the date of purchase and IF the vet finds the cat is not healthy they may return it for partial refund ONLY with documentation from the vet as to what is wrong.

Sounds to me like she sold you a sick kitten or another kitten other then the original. I'd try to get my money back and return the kitten. Where do you live vs where the breeder lives?

Its not right for a good breeder to sell a sick animal!
Also, about Giardia, although she had symptoms of it, the first fecal did not come out positive, which is commonly the case with this. It can take several samples to get a positive for Giardia, if you get one. The first test just showed her bacteria level was unbalanced, so she was put on Probiocin. Unbalanced bacteria "could" have been caused from stress, and would not have been cause to return the kitten. The contract would not cover something like Giardia if it had a 48 hr vet visit requirement for illness, as it can take weeks to diagnose. I should mention also, that when I took her to the first(3 days after getting her)vet, he was more interested in interrogating me because I had no vet records for my kitten, or any proof whatsoever, besides health cert which had no info on it, so he didn't do anything for us, just said it could be from stress! It wasn't until I took her in again, to a different vet, that he did a fecal, and found the inflamed intestines, and unbalanced bacteria, and gave us the antibiotics for her virus, and probiocin, and over a week later another fecal and diagnosed the Giardia.
 

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I'm sorry your kitty was ill. Although I can't comment on the issues with the breeder as that is not something that I have much experience with, I can tell you that when our little girl Lily had a bad stomach last year, that was also suspected Giardia. The Vet prescribed 7 days treatment of the full dose of Panacur per day and it worked wonders. After the 7 days her poop was normal consistency and not smelly. The condition hasn't returned since.

I hope that the same is true for your kitten
 

goldenkitty45

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Sorry but NO way was that kitten stressed with all that was wrong. She sold you a sick kitten. Without a copy of the contract to specify exactly what you can do at this point would be hard. Its her word against yours. She has the only copy of the contract.

I always had 2 copies - one for me, one for the owner. I hope you are not out a lot of money for the initial price, but you still got ripped off. I'd put the word out about this breeder.

You might want to consult with a lawyer (which should be free) to see what your options are - but without a contract, you will have a tough time getting any money back.
 
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sphynxkitten

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Sorry but NO way was that kitten stressed with all that was wrong. She sold you a sick kitten. Without a copy of the contract to specify exactly what you can do at this point would be hard. Its her word against yours. She has the only copy of the contract.

I always had 2 copies - one for me, one for the owner. I hope you are not out a lot of money for the initial price, but you still got ripped off. I'd put the word out about this breeder.

You might want to consult with a lawyer (which should be free) to see what your options are - but without a contract, you will have a tough time getting any money back.
I may not have a contract, but I do have all correspondence by e-mail stating the total adoption fee( yes I am out alot of money over $1000)and that she received that amount. Plus I have the stubs from the money orders she received as payment. The e-mails also state that she would send all papers such as a copy of contract, vet records, and reg papers, which she did not send until the other day, a month later. Plus all my pleas for her to get these things to me. I feel, if anything, she breached any sort of contract by not sending these things. In addition, alot of what she said in her e-mails are untrue, such as the date of spay in e-mails is different from what she marked on vet records, rabies is marked different on vet records from what she told me, and I finally received a copy of the rabies cert today and there is yet another a 3rd date! The rabies cert says she ggot the vaccine March 21st, she told me March 31st, but the date she wrote on the vet booklet is March 19th. I would think if I had to resort to court that she would look like a liar, or at the very least, a very irresponsible breeder. Do you think I should contact TICA and CFA, as these registeries are what she is affiliated with.
 
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sphynxkitten

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Originally Posted by flisssweetpea

I'm sorry your kitty was ill. Although I can't comment on the issues with the breeder as that is not something that I have much experience with, I can tell you that when our little girl Lily had a bad stomach last year, that was also suspected Giardia. The Vet prescribed 7 days treatment of the full dose of Panacur per day and it worked wonders. After the 7 days her poop was normal consistency and not smelly. The condition hasn't returned since.

I hope that the same is true for your kitten
Thank you for your reply. I hope the panacur works as well, but the problems with my little girl stepping in her poo, I think affect her recovery. I wash her paws everytime I know she has been in the litterbox, and check them throughout the day, but she seems to do most of her "business" in the middle of the night, and so I'm sure ends up licking some poo off her paws. It's getting harder and harder to even get near her, as she runs away from me now because of all the daily doses of meds, and I'm sure the paw washings, and bottom wiping.
 

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I feel awful for your situation. I always have 2 contracts as well & Believe me everything under the sun is covered to protect both parties, It's my responsibility as a breeder to do so. On a different note, I had a situation in which I had 2 cats stolen & I contacted CFA & Had them back home that week because they sent this breeder a letter from their lawyer letting her know that she would be revoked if they weren't returned. I am currently dealing with another bad situation where I just bought a kitten covered in Ringworm & the breeder "had no idea".....Unacceptable!! It gives us good breeders a bad name. Report her to the Registry as well as anyone else who will listen. That's alot of money to be out of, But it goes much deeper when it affects your children & having to watch this poor kitty go through it all, Good Luck with it all & Remember what goes around comes around.....Hopefully sooner than later.

Also...Just a thought on her stepping in her poo, Please anyone jump in on this, Is it possible that you could put a diaper on her to keep from re-infection? I know this sounds extreme but if your there with her constantly & can keep it clean? I just wonder what habits would stem from doing so if any? Just a thought, perhaps just reaching to far....lol
 

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I would write the associations and send them a copy of everything (emails, money stubs, etc.) and then contact a lawyer if the associations don't do anything within a reasonable amount of time.

You may have enough evidence to get your money back.
 
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sphynxkitten

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Originally Posted by cookandcompany

I feel awful for your situation. I always have 2 contracts as well & Believe me everything under the sun is covered to protect both parties, It's my responsibility as a breeder to do so. On a different note, I had a situation in which I had 2 cats stolen & I contacted CFA & Had them back home that week because they sent this breeder a letter from their lawyer letting her know that she would be revoked if they weren't returned. I am currently dealing with another bad situation where I just bought a kitten covered in Ringworm & the breeder "had no idea".....Unacceptable!! It gives us good breeders a bad name. Report her to the Registry as well as anyone else who will listen. That's alot of money to be out of, But it goes much deeper when it affects your children & having to watch this poor kitty go through it all, Good Luck with it all & Remember what goes around comes around.....Hopefully sooner than later.

Also...Just a thought on her stepping in her poo, Please anyone jump in on this, Is it possible that you could put a diaper on her to keep from re-infection? I know this sounds extreme but if your there with her constantly & can keep it clean? I just wonder what habits would stem from doing so if any? Just a thought, perhaps just reaching to far....lol
I'm sorry about what you and your kitten are going through with the ringworm. That is terrible! I also find it hard to believe that some breeders say they had no idea these things are going on. Being a first time kitten owner, I did think it strange that a short flight(4 hrs)would stress her as much as it did, with all the symptoms she had for the virus, and the Giardia, but I had no idea it was as bad as it seems right now. About the virus she said she saw no signs of illness, and that she must have picked something up during her spay, which is marked in her book as being in February, but e-mails as March, so the virus must have been dormant for anywhere from 2-8weeks before I got her?? I'm sure she saw no signs of the Giardia since she has several cats/kittens, and I'm sure she can't distinguish one cats/kittens fecal matter from another, but when I e-mailed her(the day I picked her up from the airport)and told her of all these problems, she should have told me to take her to a vet ASAP, especially if that is what was in her contract for the health guarantee. Course it wouldn't have mattered because as I said before, the Giardia was not diagnosed until they found the cysts last week. Another scary part to this story is she is selling her home. God help the new owners that move into a home(and yard)that may be infected with Giardia! Sorry for rambling on about this.
I am happy you got your kittens back! I hope I can get this resolved soon. Thanks for your reply.
 
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sphynxkitten

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I would write the associations and send them a copy of everything (emails, money stubs, etc.) and then contact a lawyer if the associations don't do anything within a reasonable amount of time.

You may have enough evidence to get your money back.
Thank you for your help. I appreciate it. Hopefully this will all be resolved soon. Only thing is I will feel terrible giving my kitten back if that's what it comes down to. She has obviously been iresponsible in her breeding practices.
 

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I am very sorry that you have had such a bad experience with your first kitten.

First of all - stress affects the imune system, but not in hours - it takes a couple of days. So there's no way that the kitten can have developed stress because of the flight and get sick in four hours.

Second - nothing indicates that humans can contract giardia from cats, so if your child is sick, it's probably something else, but it can't be ruled out totally, of course.

If it is a hard case of giardia, the best way to get rid of it is Panacur. Often 7 days isn't enough. It's recommended to give it for 2 weeks instead and sometimes it's even necessary to take a break for 1-2 weeks and then give another 2 weeks cure.

Unfortunately we are stating to see that giardia sometimes can be resistent to Panacur, but hopefully not in this case.

Panacur and other medicine is hard for the stomach, so sometimes the sympthomes won't go away, even if the giardia is gone, simply because the bacterias are totally screwed up and it can take a long time to get it back to normal. Also the giardia gives bacterias like e.coli the opportunity to grow and she can be suffering from an overgrowth after the giardia. So if she still have sympthoms after a while, it's not always giardia causing it, so be sure that you treat for the right thing.

The best way to avoid her from re-infecting herself is to get her stools under control, of course. You might wanna try an old advice that can be extremely helpful and much better than a lot of medicine and diet food. You boil some white fish (not too fatty) and you boil some peas - a lot, so they are easy to squash and then you blend it half and half. Don't feed her any canned or dried food and it will probably make her stools much better.

I feel really sorry for the poor kittie and for you as well and I hope that everything will turn out for you in the end and that you will discover that there are also a lot of responsible breeders out there.
 

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I haven't shipped a kitten before, but I would send the new owner two signed contracts, one to send back and one for her. If any one has some one only send one and say they are going to send it back with the kitten, photo copy it, then you will have a copy if they fail to send it. When i'm getting my baby ready to be shipped to her new family, there is enough to remember to get her ready the last thing I want to worry about is a contract, which the new owner should have in the first place. It makes me sick that people can sell, let alone ship a sick kitten. Correct me if I am wrong, but Garadia is caused by stagnent water isn't it? There is no reason for this baby to have gotten this other than being left with nasty water, if a person can do that then I guess they have no problem lying to you and cheating you out of money, try and do your best to get the word out on these people, they have no busines having a turtle, never mind breeding cats that people pay good money for! It will be hard to prove things with out the contract signed by the breeder, thats why she didn't send it i'm sure, this isn't the first time the have done this you can bet, and they are sneaky and know how to get around the laws on these deals they do. If these people spent half the effort they spend trying to cut corners and save money, and get around the laws, and put it into accual care of the animal, they could do things etical and be respectcal breeders instead of money sucking scums!

I hope your baby gets well, and don't worry about her "hating you now" they (animals) are very loving and forgiving, and when she is well, all she will remember is you are the lady with the can opener and loves her
 
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sphynxkitten

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Originally Posted by Tick-Tag

I am very sorry that you have had such a bad experience with your first kitten.

First of all - stress affects the imune system, but not in hours - it takes a couple of days. So there's no way that the kitten can have developed stress because of the flight and get sick in four hours.

Second - nothing indicates that humans can contract giardia from cats, so if your child is sick, it's probably something else, but it can't be ruled out totally, of course.

If it is a hard case of giardia, the best way to get rid of it is Panacur. Often 7 days isn't enough. It's recommended to give it for 2 weeks instead and sometimes it's even necessary to take a break for 1-2 weeks and then give another 2 weeks cure.

Unfortunately we are stating to see that giardia sometimes can be resistent to Panacur, but hopefully not in this case.

Panacur and other medicine is hard for the stomach, so sometimes the sympthomes won't go away, even if the giardia is gone, simply because the bacterias are totally screwed up and it can take a long time to get it back to normal. Also the giardia gives bacterias like e.coli the opportunity to grow and she can be suffering from an overgrowth after the giardia. So if she still have sympthoms after a while, it's not always giardia causing it, so be sure that you treat for the right thing.

The best way to avoid her from re-infecting herself is to get her stools under control, of course. You might wanna try an old advice that can be extremely helpful and much better than a lot of medicine and diet food. You boil some white fish (not too fatty) and you boil some peas - a lot, so they are easy to squash and then you blend it half and half. Don't feed her any canned or dried food and it will probably make her stools much better.

I feel really sorry for the poor kittie and for you as well and I hope that everything will turn out for you in the end and that you will discover that there are also a lot of responsible breeders out there.
From what I have read it is uncertain that humans can contract Giardia from animals, but as you said, it can't be ruled out either, and just going by what my vet said, since my kitten has free roam of the house, with the exception that we keep the bathroom, bedroom, and basement door shut, she is possibly able to spread these parasites around simply by walking on the furniture, or batting at a toy that was left on the floor, or by walking on the countertops(thankfully I haven't seen her do this yet!)etc..especially because she steps in her fecal matter, and I'm not always here to clean it off at the time she does it. All I know for sure is that my daughter had stomach cramps, nausea that turned into vomiting, and mild diarrhea that turned into explosive diarrhea, for 2 days, and that these are symptoms of Giardia. I am happy to say that she is feeling better and was able to go to school today.
My kitten is on probiocin for the loose stools and unblananced bacteria, but it has yet to help. She's been on that since 4/18. She has been off the meds for the Giardia since Monday, but still has loose stools, and last night I noticed a bit of blood in one of her stools, which are indications of the Giardia still being present. I will talk to my vet about what you told me about the panacur, and the dosings, and the e.coli. This is the first case they have seen in a cat, at their clinic, so this info is very helpful.
I will try the fish and peas this weekend, hopefully it will work. If her stools firm up, when she steps in her poo, at least it won't stick to her paws, which means less risk of reinfection from that.
Thank you for your advice/help. Just by all the caring repsponses I have received, I know there are some great breeders here.
 
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sphynxkitten

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Originally Posted by celestialrags

I haven't shipped a kitten before, but I would send the new owner two signed contracts, one to send back and one for her. If any one has some one only send one and say they are going to send it back with the kitten, photo copy it, then you will have a copy if they fail to send it. When i'm getting my baby ready to be shipped to her new family, there is enough to remember to get her ready the last thing I want to worry about is a contract, which the new owner should have in the first place. It makes me sick that people can sell, let alone ship a sick kitten. Correct me if I am wrong, but Garadia is caused by stagnent water isn't it? There is no reason for this baby to have gotten this other than being left with nasty water, if a person can do that then I guess they have no problem lying to you and cheating you out of money, try and do your best to get the word out on these people, they have no busines having a turtle, never mind breeding cats that people pay good money for! It will be hard to prove things with out the contract signed by the breeder, thats why she didn't send it i'm sure, this isn't the first time the have done this you can bet, and they are sneaky and know how to get around the laws on these deals they do. If these people spent half the effort they spend trying to cut corners and save money, and get around the laws, and put it into accual care of the animal, they could do things etical and be respectcal breeders instead of money sucking scums!

I hope your baby gets well, and don't worry about her "hating you know" they (animals) are very loving and forgiving, and when she is well, all she will remember is you are the lady with the can opener and loves her
Yes, Giardia is caused by ingesting the fecal matter of an infected animal. Normally through drinking water that has been contaminated with the fecal matter. I suppose she could have got it from getting into some infected poo in the litterpan, or licking it fom her own paws, if other cats/kittens where infected. I would imagine it came from her large dog and passed to the cats/kittens. In any case, I'm pretty disappointed with the whole thing.
I have e-mailed her and given her a chance to resolve this, and if she chooses not to(proving to be irresponsible)I will then contact CFA, and TICA, and go from there to get the word out on her.
Today my kitty hissed at me when I came near her. It's hard to imagine things getting better, but I know they will eventually.
Thank you for your reply.
 

goldenkitty45

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Giardia (according to my vet) can be tracked into the house on your shoes from the outside.

I only had one experience with this (and lost a kitten to it). No one was sick in the house and at the time no cat was allowed outside. BUT there was a stream in the backyard and it was a "slow" stream. The vet told me it was quite possible that giardia was picked up close to the stream by us walking around in the area close to the water and then tracking into the house.

The kittens running around could have pick it up from the floor and gotten sick.
 
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