I wrapped her in a towel to drive to my friend's home. The carrier she was sent in was obviously used, was filthy, the bottom had only a thin piece of newspaper in it which was soaking wet from the water (which wasn't frozen) spilling out, and there was no food. When we got there I quarentined her in a guest bathroom. I had arranged this in advance because after what I had heard from others online I knew this woman sold sick cats and I didn't want to expose my cats - or any part of my home to anything that she could be carrying. I set everything up and made her comfortable. I put some water down, and some wet and dry food. She wasn't interested in anything. She just curled into a ball in the cat bed I put in the bathroom and went to sleep.
I called the breeder who sent her to me as soon as I got home and told her the kitten had a fever and was listless. She brushed it off to traveling on the plane and didn't seem too concerned. I also told her that I had requested a Bi-Color and anything BUT a Torti, and she again brushed me off, not only insisting that she WAS a Bi-Color (Like I couldn't tell) but that she was a show quality Torti and worth much more than the kitten I sent her. I was so furious I told her I'd call her with the Vet results.
At 2am I got a frantic call from my friend saying the kitten was in convulsions. I rushed over to the house and as soon as I picked her up, I knew why. She was so hot it felt like she had just come out of the oven. Foam was coming out of her mouth so I first made sure her airway was clear, then filled the sink with cold water and cradled her in it. My friend rushed in with ice to cool down the water more. She went into convulsions once more while I was holding her, then she relaxed. I cleared her airway once again and took her out of the water and dried her off. She slep the whole time, her little body limp. I stayed with her the rest of the night and just cried.
The next day the Vet called and said her bloodwork was a mess. He suspected FIP. FIP is a disease which has no cure, is highly contageous and usually kills kittens. And there's no sure-fire test to confirm it. As adults, they can live with it but it's like AIDS - it keeps beating down your immune system until it can't fight back any more, and then the cat dies. I again cried my eyes out. I asked him to fax me the blood results, so I - unlike the breeder I got my kitten from - could send copies to her to prove MY vet was telling the truth.
I called the breeder up and told her the results. She called my Vet a quack. I asked if she wanted a copy of the report. She said yes. I told her I was going to send the kitten back to her, and I wanted compensated for the one I sent her. She again protested that my kitten was sick when I sent it to her and then implied that mine infected all of her cats and that was why the kitten she sent to me was sick. She said she wouldn't pick up the kitten if I sent it to her and for all she was concerned I could put it to sleep! I asked her once again for her Vet's name and phone number, and she refused, but she finally said she'd send me the vet report of the kitten I sent her.
I decided to call the Vet that gave my kitten the Health Certificate to fly - she said it was healthy 1 day before I got her. Although her name was on it, the Breeder had blacked out her address and phone number. So I just got online and got the number of every Vet in her city and started calling. Before I got the right one, I got 4 which had previously been her Vet but would no longer see her because of the condition of her cats. I got to take directly to the Vet which supposable saw the kitten I had and found out that the kittens she had seen and written the health certificates for were all seal point - a litter of 5 - I told her the one I received with her health certificate was a Torti point. She said there was no way any of those kittens were Torti. I told her I'd send her a photo of the Health Certificate with her name, address and phone crossed out and a picture of my kitten. I found out later she sent the breeder a letter telling her she would no longer be her Vet.
To make a very long and painful story short, I gave the kitten to the friend who's bathroom she had been quarentined in. The seisures had given her brain damage and she walked with her head tilted down and to the left, and in circles. She set up a safe room for her where she couldn't get stuck in a corner (we put up buffers to round the corners) and made a super low litter box so she wouldn't trip, and she lived there until she died a little over 1 year old.
As for "The Breeder", she never sent me the medical records for the kitten I sent her, and aside from e-mailing me to threaten me and cuss me out about "telling her Vet lies" about her and badmouthing her on the Internet, she blocked my e-mail address and has never spoke to me again. And legally I can't name her in this since it would be online, but if someone wants to e-mail me and ask me I'll be more than happy to tell them her cattery name. I don't want this to happen to anyone else - ever. I stopped breeding for nearly a year after this all happened, I was so traumatized. I never realized people could be so cruel, breeding cats to death, selling deathly ill kittens, raising cats in cages. I was disgusted.
BEWARE - THIS BREEDER IS STILL ONLINE AND IN BUSINESS
SELLING SICK KITTENS AND CATS!
And don't think it's only the people online. Here in Arizona there's a breeder who's not as bad, but just as nasty. I've never met her but she badmouths me everywhere because I didn't like the looks of her cats. Some Ragdolls have long faces, some have Pixie faces. I breed the ones with Pixie faces and called her looking for a breeder. She assured me she had the type I wanted - and a Bi-Color - but when Iwent a few weeks later to buy the kitten it wasn't a Pixie Faced one. So I didn't get it. She threatened me, threatened my cats and sent spies to my home to see my cats and report back to her. She got online and told everyone I was a liar and my cats lived in filthy conditions. My cats are my kids, and they have free reign. And the Kittens I breed are handled and go to new homes pre-spoiled. I take pride in selling people wonderful pets and expect them to be cherished and loved in their new homes as much I as they would in mine!
BAD BREEDERS EXIST ONLINE AND OFFLINE.
BE CAREFUL AND BE INFORMED!
DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES I DID!
