How Thoroughly Do shelter Vets Examine Potential Adoptees?

[GranolaLouise]

Well after losing my kitty to illness I am determined to get another cat this Spring.
But how well do the vets examine the sheltered cats before an adoption?
I had my cat for only about 13 months.
They told me she was 8yrs, but after being examined after the adoption I was told that she was more like 10 or 11 yrs.
She also had a whole slew of serious problems.
I know the shelters give common vaccines and check for communicable diseases, but if they did bloodwork, it would signal potential organ failure and problems up the road.
So is the answer to adopt the cat, ask for a few days more to return the cat(some only give 3 days to return the cat)so blood work can be done, the report faxed back and a vet can tell the condition? And that would be well over $100 out of pocket for that exam if the cat is returned to the shelter!
Now some people surrender animals to shelters because there is a problem and they don;t let on, and they can't afford the vet bill. But the shelter is not going to disclose that / They just say all their routine vaccines have been done and they're good to go to their new home. A few months later,SURPRISE!
My beautiful cat died yesterday because there was no bloodwork done and she was in danger of full blown ckd and liver before adoption. By the time I found out from my vet, the return window had passed.
But would I have returned her? NO ! I fell in love with that cat the first time I walked into the shelter and for 13 months she was my dear friend, companion , sentry ( at my pillow in the morning)and teacher...my angel in disguise! God how I miss her !!!!
So, what REALLY is the secret to adopting a healthy cat?

Admin: now that I am not currently a cat owner,but will be as I go a bit further in this grieving process, am I still allowed to be a member of the Forum??

 

[denice]

I am sorry you lost your cat so soon.

I think it depends on the shelter. Unfortunately, I think the exams are very limited for many. They are always on a shoestring budget so the basics are probably all that gets covered. I adopted my cat a little over two years ago and bloodwork beyond the FeLV/FIV test had not been done. The no kill shelter I got Charlotte from routinely has well over 200 cats. You figure the spot test for FeLV/FIV, deworming, vaccinating, a physical exam from a vet, and spay/neuter when needed starts to add up for that many cats.

 

[IndyJones]

Im not sure there is a secret unless you get a pedegree with an extensive liniage. Even then genetics can mutate.

Its impossable to predict if a cat is going to be healthy or sickly its whole life.

 

[neely]

Admin: now that I am not currently a cat owner,but will be as I go a bit further in this grieving process, am I still allowed to be a member of the Forum??

I'm not the Admin but you can always contact any one of the Moderators on the site to ask this question. I don't want to speak for them but as a past Forum Helper on the Team, (now a Veteran), it's my understanding that you don't need to have a cat in order to be a member or post. Many of us, myself included, have been without a cat when they passed away and then adopted later when I felt I was ready.

Regarding your question about adopting a healthy cat from a shelter there are no guarantees in life. Even the best of purebreds can have a future health problem. Two things to keep in mind: 1) visit and acquaint yourself with the shelter where you plan to adopt ahead of time, and 2) as soon as you are ready to adopt set up an exam with your own personal vet. That's the practice I have followed. Our last cat, Neely, was an owner surrender but the shelter told us immediately. Four days after we adopted her she had symptoms of a very bad upper respiratory infection. I notified the shelter because they had a policy that they would cover all the veterinary expenses if reported within two weeks of adoption. Every shelter is different so that's why I mentioned take your time and get to know the shelter where you intend to adopt a cat. Even the healthiest of cats can be diagnosed with a health problem down the road.

I'm sorry about the loss of your cat yesterday. My sincere condolences and heartfelt sympathies go out to you. Thank you for telling us about her. RIP sweet angel.

 

[mani]

Admin: now that I am not currently a cat owner,but will be as I go a bit further in this grieving process, am I still allowed to be a member of the Forum??

Yes of course you are GranolaLouise .. It's a forum for cat lovers.

 

[Jem]

I'm not sure about where you are but all the local shelters around here primarily do a basic health check with newcomers and will treat any known issues until kitty is adopted. Having said that, perhaps a way to help ensure that the kitty you will be adopting doesn't have any surprise illnesses is to adopt a cat that has been at the shelter for a longer period of time and not a new surrender that may not have had time for the shelter workers to notice any possible hidden issues. If there's one thing any cat owner should know about cats it's that they hide their issues very well, so it might take time for symptoms to be apparent. Not only might this put your mind at ease but you will also be giving a new life to a kitty who's possibly been overlooked because maybe it's shy and standoffish or not as "pretty" as others. So many shelter cats don't really come out of their shell in a shelter environment, but when you take them home they are just the best companions. Of course this won't guarantee a healthy cat for the long term, nobody can predict that, but it would help lessen the chances of adopting one where the health conditions were withheld or simply unknown due to the circumstances under which they were rescued.

I also wanted to offer my condolences. It's never easy to let them go, however, at least she had a home and love in her final days.

 

[denice]

The cat that I adopted this last time had been at the rescue for three months. It is also a mostly cage free shelter which I think makes it easier to spot issues. She is FIV positive but that was known when I adopted her. I think it is standard for shelters to take a bit of blood to do the quick check for FeLV and FIV.

 

[nurseangel]

I think it depends on the shelter and the cat/kitten itself. Speck came from a high kill shelter and the vet bragged about what a strong and healthy kitten he was compared to some of those she had seen from breeders. Bob was a different story. He was from a different shelter and we are still working on improving his health.

 

[susanm9006]

My exoerience is not very. One girl came home with ear mites and a respiratory infection. Another with ringworm which the vet described and “skin reaction from vaccination“. If /when you adopt it is good to isolate them from other cats and get them to your vet vet as quick as you can.

 

[IndyJones]

Some (not all by any means) shelters also may lie about the cats condition. I was at a cat cafe trype shelter where several cats had weeping eyes and one particular one was sneezing non stop. They told me it was an alergy but seeing how other cats had weeping eyes told a different story, how could three other cats have uri symptoms if it was not contagious? I don't know if this matters but the volounteer/clerk on desk really didn't seem to like her job. She shooed the customers out 10 mins early, and said they didn't sell fountains when they were on the shelf in front of her. Idk.

About a week after i visited Kabuto had a bout of cat flu and ran a fever for two days until it finaly broke. I don't believe this was coincidence. I brought home the virus on my clothes and exposed my already weak boy to a virus that hit him hard. (he is vaccinated though)