ComplaintsforSave A Kitty Athens

• Initial Complaint

  01/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I adopted a cat in October and since day 1 I have been piled up with medical bills. I came across an adoption agency that offered to give me a Healthy 3 month old kitty, I was also assured the kitty would go under check up 2 days prior to adoption day so they assured the kitty was perfectly healthy and up to date. hours after getting the kitty he has a bunch of fleas and a "wonky" eye. I have been to several doctors who have misdiagnosed my kitty since day 1 over an upper respiratory infection to now being a neurological and the pricing for tests at this point are coming out to be 5-7 thousand. currently my fur baby can't walk anymore and It taking 3-4 medications on a daily basis to fight for a underlining issue that is still unknown. I am angry and reached out to the facility several times about helping with the cost and to let them know go badly they basically lied about a perfectly healthy kitten that has costed me about thousands of dollars to help get him better.

  Business response

  02/15/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2022/02/02) */ We think it is important for all to know a quick bit about Save-A-Kitty Athens. My wife was volunteering at the local Humane Society around 8 years ago and used her years as a nurse in the surgery room to help move more cases through. This led to other things within the organization. Occasionally she would foster a cat/kitten. She was offered to take the felines from a rescue that also transferred these pets to the north east. She learned all the rules etc. That was around 2015. By 2016 we founded SAKA (SaveAKittyAthens), formed an LLC and a 501(c)3 charity. Her office was in a new building 24 x 30 which was turned into a cattery. Sheila would photograph the kitty/cats and place their picture and bio on three different websites that were offering pets for adoption (direct from us to the new owner). Completing 2021 with 426 adoptions, all to the northeast or Detroit to Chicago. Our Humane Society Clinic has a full time veterinarian who has been with them more than 5 years--very capable very available to us. Those who wish to adopt fill out a request. They have to give their address, phone etc. They also have to agree to the items in their adoption contract. They have to give two references on their ability to be a pet owner as well as a veterinarian, all of whom will be called by us. We have adopted more than 2000 felines in the time we have been incorporated. In the past two years Sheila and I and our volunteer developed and had built kennels that were made by people who work with them--no bars, Plexiglas with ventilation, bathroom and living area separate, best brands of food etc. This is a very professional operation that we operate with pride. This is not open to the public so there is no traffic from the outside. Starting in 2016, no felines have been put down in city Selter for lack of space. Sheila has prepared the chronology of this event: 9/28/2021 -- Email to Ms ******: Andrei went to the Humane Society Vet. He thinks that he may be able to come but wants to see him again on Thursday. I will let you know what he says Thursday am--his eye was a little runny so we put ointment in it-- he may have gotten it from wrestling with other kittens. Sheila December 30 (3 months) E mail from Ms. ******: "It's not the matter of giving back the cat, it's the matter of the vet you work with signed off on a kitten cat being perfectly healthy but disregard his eye or the fleas he came with. It took me less than 24 hours of having him to see those two things on him and going to the vet right away. As the invoices I attached to this email you can see I've been now to three different vets to see what is wrong with him and the Neurologist said it would cost me 5-7 thousand to actually figure out what is wrong. So this issue unresolved and won't be for a while but I can mention everything he has been through since. He lost balance on his back legs since day one never fully extended them, his left eye had a film on top of it as well as his trouble breathing. Recently he hardly can walk and falls every few steps and lost 3 lbs of his 6 lbs he was last month. And I can continue on but even the vets themselves question how he was adopted in these conditions." was Thursday Dec. 30, 2021. "*****, I'm sorry you and Andre are hurt. As you know Andre saw the vet twice before he was released to come to you Oct 1. --when you contacted me that he had upper respiratory type symptoms I refunded your adoption fee Oct 10th which was intended to help with the medical bill. (MY CAPS NOW)THIS IS THE FIRST I HAVE HEARD THAT HE HAD NOT RECOVERED. WHAT HAS YOUR VBT BEEN TREATING HIM FOR? What do they think is wrong with him? I would like to see the medical records from you vet so I can show it to our vet. As you know we rescue cats and kittens from our local shelters so we do not know the cat/kittens' history. They are spayed/neutered, given the vaccines they are old enough to have, tested for FIV/FLV and medicated with flea prevention.l As the contract indicates we will take any adopted cat/kitten back if you are not happy with the adoption and are willing to do so. Sheila On Thursday Dec 30, 2021 3:07 PM ****** ...wrote: Dear Mrs. Sheila, For me to try to explain the hurt and pain you caused me and Ares (the cat you sold me as Andre) is completely devastating. How can you be perfectly okay with selling me a cat that was sick from the beginning. It's only been 2 months and I've spent over a thousand dollars out of my own pockets trying to fix his conditions but each time it gets worse. The most appropriate thing you could've done was be honest about his health in the beginning. From being sick all the time and lacking the needs for food and water I feed him directly now and today we go to a neurologist. He can hardly walk and he's in so much pain. How were you okay with this???? He is only six months now and in his 6 months of living he only feels pain. You have broken my heart and everyone around me. I didn't come to adopt a cat who needed constant help, I was adopting a perfectly healthy cat. I'm writing to you because I believe you should at least contribute with the medical bills you've led on to me. The neurologist appointment itself was $200 and now imagine the rest of the visit. I would love to hear back from you. If no response I will be filing a court claim with you. Thank you for your understanding. Review and Comment: 1. Adopters are informed: When the cats/kittens are transported the adopter has a month to return for ANY reason. There is no guarantee or warranty on the animal's health once it leaves the transporter and accepted by the new adopter. 2, Note the first email was 3 months after adopting. We were not notified in advance that there was anything wrong with the kitten's health. Usually we are notified in advance as we may have a veterinarian connection. Even with the time passing, we promptly refunded the adoption fee to help. We were not informed that he had not recovered. No one asked for the veterinarians to discuss the case on the phone. Ms. ****** complained about fleas which can happen on a transport with dogs aboard. The kitty is treated with medicine that when bitten by a flea, the flea dies. Adopters are instructed to use a "Dawn" dish suds to wash the coat of the kitty. The adopter did not say that she has a dog in the house. The adopter went to three different vets. Nothing was said if it was referrals from one to the other, no notice to us, no advice from us asked. Our concern on this is that sometimes the adopters aren't pleased with a diagnosis from one vet, so go to another and another possible trying to get something that can be for sure blamed on us. 3. We are disturbed about are the strong comments such as "selling me a cat that was sick from the beginning." At the time that adoption was made we had around 100 cats/kittens. We probably had quite a few of the Russian Blue breed. If not exact Sheila will hold her name for first chance at the next cat that has the preferred breed or breeds. We have been working for five years plus with this Humane Society, in fact on a daily basis. We are a non -profit company. None of us take a salary. All donations go toward capital equipment or expansion of the building. She received the kitty around Oct 1 but called December 30, 60 days when it is 90 that we were not informed. In the next few sentence she shocks us again: "The most appropriate thing you could've done was be honest about his health in the beginning.". This one is simply a slur, possibly to stir someone up to force us to pay her bills when she never even told us of the situation. Cats, the same as people, have some conditions that were not present or showing in anyway at birth or longer for example autism. 4. We still stand sorry for her loss. The human is not equipped to deal with sudden tragedy. We would accept an apology for her public slurs and ask that she stops doing that. Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2022/02/03) */ ***Document Attached***

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