I recently purchased my first Ragdoll baby..a male Seal Bicolor. We drove 7 hours to Lawrenceville Ga to pick him up after receiving an email from the breeder advising he was ready. We arrived at her "cattery" to find the smallest, skinniest kitten we had ever seen.
We questioned his size and was told he was fine. Long story short, we took him to our vet 48 hours after we picked him up. According to our vet, this 9 week 5 day old kitten weighed 15 ounces and appeared to be the size of "maybe 6 weeks old" with diarrhea and upper respiratory infection. I could feel every bone in his skeleton. I immediately contacted the breeder who advised, "if you're not happy, you can return him". I have NO intention of returning him to this "breeder" for any reason. This is not about the money. I would really appreciate opinions on this issue. Thanks very much.
ok if she was a reputable breeder she wouldnt have let the kitten go until 12 weeks.
im sorry u have gone through this
i think u need to report her if she is registered.
but most of all he is ur child now good luck and i hope become well soon with all ur care, love and attention.
Hi & welcome to you and to Oliver. it is so sad to hear about "breeders" like this and the standards they "uphold". Lucky, lucky, Oliver that he landed with you, I love the fact that you have no intention of letting the "breeder" anywhere back near him, he is safe now with you and will thrive with your love and care I am sure, in spite of his poor start in life.
I imagine, other forum members that are in the same part of the world as you, will have good advice for any action you may or may not be able to take with this "breeder".
Congratulations to you both, keep us posted with pics and progress please
Sue
x
This type of situation upsets me. I have had several clients come to me from GA as they visited "breeders" and were appalled at the situation. I assume you received a contract with a health clause?
If a cattery is registered with RFCI, CFA, and or TICA it is still not a guarantee they are good but would make me feel more comfortable.
Rule of thumb is that the kitten weights about 1 lb per month of life. So at 12 weeks they are usually about 3 lbs. Most breeders let the kitten go around 12 weeks of age for socialization issues. If they early alter that is another reason not to leave until about 12 weeks of age. If your kitten was sick with an URI then the additional stress of changing homes didnt help the situation. Hopefully with love, rest, healthy food, and vet care he will recover completely.
Riley Wrote:We arrived at her "cattery" to find the smallest, skinniest kitten we had ever seen.
I know this is hard advice to take, but even after a significant investment of time and money, NEVER take a kitten if you do not feel comfortable about the kitten or the environment in which he was raised. You will just be supporting something you do not want to see continue. A good breeder will withhold a kitten at the last minute if concerns arise about the family or environment. Prospective owners should do the same.
Hi and welcome to the forum.
I too unfortunatly was taken in by a so called 'breeder' when I purchased Dusty at supposedly 8 1/2 weeks and it turned out she was only 3 weeks old. She weighed more than your kitten at 600g which is 21ounces so I would question your kittens true age given the weight and him being male who tend to be bigger than the females anyway.
The good news is Dusty turned 1 yrs old last may and is a happy, chubby girl who is bomb proof.
Your little one needs to put on weight, there is a strong chance he may well be quite poorly and has caught something from the 'cattery' which will show up in a week or 2. I'm sure your vet has advised you regards feeding him, but I would suggest you put him on 4/5 small meals a day to try and build him up. If he is eating well, that's great but if he isn't, feed him whatever he will eat, chicken, fish etc just to give him some strength to get over the stress of his move, he might prefer strong smelling food if he's having difficulty with his sense of smell.
With regards the breeder, I saw her advertise another kitten this year and reported her to the site manager, her advert was removed. Unfortunatly she wasn't registered so not much else I could do.
Good luck and please do keep us up to date with all his progress.
Jan