I adopted 2 kittens through Kitty Resq from petfinder.com on May 20th. I was told the kittens were coming from death row at a high kill shelter in Georgia. If this part is true, I will never know. I can tell you that my email confirmation from KittyResq said my kitten was coming from the Midwest. Perhaps that was just a typo, or maybe it's all a lie. When I arrived to pick up the kittens, Barbra the woman who runs the so called "rescue" out of her home in Long Beach (which I didn't -realize until I got there - thought this was a real rescue group) told me one of the kittens was not doing well. They thought she was moments away from dying. The transporter came from her leg in NJ and they think she arrived just in time... We were there standing int he driveway for a good 1-2 hours waiting to see what the outcome was going to be and then I was allowed to come in and view the kitten who was eating human baby food and seemed to be perking up (I was told they gave her sub-q fluids and they think she was just dehydrated from the 2 day transport). I didn't ask - I was told she could come home with us and she should be fine. Well, she was certainly NOT fine. A few hours later she declined again, probably to the same state she was in when the rescuers thought she was going to die. I called Barbra and told her and she told me to give her fluids and Karo syrup through syringe. Not once did she offer to come over and help (we live 25 minutes away) or for me to bring her back or do take the kitten back, she just told me what to do and to keep her posted.
I was going to go to the ER but didn't think the kitten would make the trip, so I frantically kept stimulating her to keep her awake as her body went limp on numerous occasions and continued to syringe her fluids and baby food over the next 12 hours. She went to my vet the next day (I had already had the appt. Set up to have them checked out, since I have other cats and wanted to be sure they were health) who diagnosed her as being a 1 on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being emaciated. I was told she was between 6-8 weeks, which they must be to be adopted out, but he thought at most she was 5 weeks and maybe even 4. She weighed only 10 OUNCES - to give you an idea, a VERY tiny. She had an extremely bad case of ear mites one of the worst my vet had ever seen and an eye infection. I was sent home with a bag of 4 medications, baby food, syringes, etc...
Kept the "rescue" up to date on everything - not once did she ever offer to come help, or for me to return the kitten back to her. So, I cared for this sweet little girl around the clock for 7 days. Sometimes she'd perk up, other times were just as scary as the first. It was a roller coaster, up, down, up, down, up, down. All the while, emailing back and forth with Barbra. She knew everythign the whole time. Even gave me some "tips".. How nice...
After 4 vet visits including 2 trips to the ER over memorial day weekend, we had to put her to sleep and end her suffering. Her body was just too weak and she couldn't handle anymore. She had started swelling up and her abodomen filled with fluid which began to fill into her lungs. We had to put her to sleep on memorial day.
I emailed KittyREsq asking for a refund of my adoption fees as not only was I out the $225 fee to adopt a Siamese kitten, but I had medical fees that totalled near $1000. She replied saying they do not refund adoption fees but they would of course replace my kitten and insurance should cover my vet bills.
Well insurance only covers up to$500 and the insurance company was asking for medical history and paperwork from the shelter she came from in Georgia. When I started requesting this info. I was ignored by Barbra from Kitty Resq. I had my cousin who is an attorney get involved and she also refused to disclose the name of the shelter to him as well. For some reason, she is very secretive about where these kittens came from. Makes you wonder if they really come from kill shelters at all?
The replacement kittens I WAS offered were NOT siamese. Even though she currently has a whole litter of siamese kittens at her residence - I SAW them. She dangled one in my face for a day or two emailing me pics and telling me how perfect he'd be for me and then when I asked her if she was going to adopt him out to us she told me she just couldn't bare to let him go.
Okay, as if that wasn't bad enough, the insurance company would not accept my claim unless I had the info. From her and the shelter in georgia, which she still would not provide. The atty requested the info. From her again basically saying she didn't cooperate by providing this very simple information we may have to file a suit. Her response was that she didn't like his email and to go ahead and proceed how we see fit.
So as it stands now, I am out nearly $1000 in vet bills because the pet insurance policy will not cover pets under these conditions:
- under 8 weeks of age
- with a pre-existing condition or symptomatic illness
- without the proper documentation to support the claim
So she adopted me a sick kitten that died 7 days later, kept my $225 adoption fee - will not provide the items needed to properly submit my claim and has not chosen to cut off communication with either myself or my atty. - so I am also out the money for the vet bills that I never should have incurred in the first place.
There are so many legitimate shelters here in new york, go see one of them and stay far, far away from this shady operation.
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