Hi there,

I was hoping someone would be able to give me some advice i could pass onto my friend.

My friend bought a sphinx cat 1 week ago. Its now very ill, has had very bad case of the runs since she collected her, and her skin is in a poor way.

On what grounds does she have to return the cat for a full refund? Does she have any case what so ever to return her? The lady has offered a return with a 400 quid off the price she paid?!..

If anyone could advise that would be great.

thanks

Has she been to the vet?  If she's returning the cat because it's ill and the breeder knows it to be ill then she's entitled to return the cat for a full refund I would have thought.  Did she sign any agreement to this effect? 

yeh shes been to a sphinx specialist.

Not to sure on what she has signed and not signed i will ask her! all i know is that the breeder keeps hanging up on her etc.

That's a shame - I give an agreement that pups can be returned within 7 days if they're ill.  Only once has a pup become ill within that time, but insurance covered the illness and pup fully recovered and stayed with his family - it was just one of those things.  If the kitten is returned then she should have a full refund or another (healthy) kitten replacement I'd have thought.

I dont think she signed an agreement so to speak. She got given all the relevant papers and health tests the kitten has had.

Its just unfortunate there are some animal breeders out there unwilling to help once they have the cash in there hand.

Shame really.

Why is she taking off £400?
Lea :)

I feel so sorry on my friend. :( She will be wanting whats best for the cat, but it just seems a little unfair to have a cat less than a week and the breeder isnt interested, so she is going to be left with a healthy wack of a vet bill and a cat that is very unwell...

It truly depends on what is wrong with the cat, if the cat has picked up a bug/virus after collection that is not the breeders fault, has the cat had a change of food etc to cause the runs, what was the diagnoses of the cat from the vet? Depending on that..........

If the illness is down to bad care or breeding from the breeder then of course she is legally entitled to a full refund, trading standards will back her and she needs to get in touch with them. :-)

But, if the cat was healthy with no issues on collection, (which I hope it was otherwise why would she take it?) how is that the breeders fault? This is why we have insurance to cover for such issues, hopefully the cat came with free insurance? Surely the breeder was looked into and the way the kittens was raised etc, they are not exactly common cats.

Unfortunately only the vet can confirm what is wrong with the cat and why it has happened, she will need the vets report for the breeder or trading standards, it may well be nothing to do with the breeder which is why she is only offering a part refund if the cat was well when it left her, she will have to treat it and nurse it back to health then wait for a new home or keep herself, understandably, she is probably upset that a kitten she reared may be coming back ill and may feel it was not looked after properly.

She needs that vets report, before any decision can be made. :-)

Thanks so much i will pass your reply on.

:-)

Which registry is it registered with? If it's the GCCF she can certainly report it to them and they do take such instanced very seriously (need vet certificates though) and have banned many a breeder for selling sick kittens. Was it not sold with insurance? (Oh and £400 off the price -Gordon Bennett, how much did she pay? Was it for showing? I don't know pet prices in the breed but most breeds pet price would be UP to £400.)

Don't know much about cats but puppies often get an upset stomach when they are first in their new home, different water and different bugs it is not surprising really. Agree that a sample needs to be analysed and the vet needs to write a report on the cats condition, it may well have nothing to do with the breeder.

Yes the cat was for showing...They go for anything up to 1200 (eek)

Is it possible the kitten has been eating more than it should?   If you have other animals, it may be pinching someone else's food ;)

I would have thought the kitten/cat sales insurance would cover all of this.

Kittens very often get upset tummies when moving to a new home.  A bit late now, but it really is essential to keep the kitten on the same food as the breeder used for at least the first week.  Many breeders will provide a small quantity of the food they use to send off with the kitten.  I don´t know anything about the Sphynx breed so can´t help regarding the skin except to say that I THOUGHT it had to be lightly oiled occasionally (not sure how occasionally though).  Who is the kitten´s pedigree registered with?  If it´s with the GCCF then it´s worth checking with them or better still the breed club (somewhat belatedly, admittedly) if this breeder had a good reputation and asking them for advice.  A good breeder would only sell a kitten aged at least 13 weeks, fully vaccinated, registered (either on the active or non-active register) and with kitten insurance for the first 4 or 6 weeks.  If the kitten is registered with some other governing body other than the GCCF, and which has been accepted in the UK since I left their, then I can´t offer much help.
http://www.sphynxcatclub.co.uk/index.htm
http://www.sphynxcatassociation.co.uk/

Sounds a little more than change of diet/ home. There is also reference to poor skin.I know their skin has to be looked after but dont know how quickly problems could occur assuming the cat was lookinghealth when it was collected  I would definitley get advice from the sphynx clubs as honeymoonbeam suggeested.
Poor little thing I hope she gets better