As some of you may know, I got my Lily from Cats Protection League just after Christmas. I was told, when I got her, that she was perfectly healthy (been spayed) but had a wound on the back of her neck but it has scabbed over and should be OK. After about a week, Lily had licked the scab off and it became an angry open sore, I tried stopping her grooming it and it began to scab over again. A few weeks later I noticed she was grooming her belly a lot so had a quick look (she didn't like me touching her belly) and she had several little sores. So I took her off to the vet to get them checked out, he didn't know what they were but gave her an injection to stop them itching and sent me home. Two weeks later, they were no better and the injection had no effect as she was still grooming them, so off to the vet again. This time (different vet, same surgery) he was very helpful and thought she might be allergic to something, gave me two weeks antibiotics and sent me home. Two weeks later, the sores were looking better but she was still licking them and the wound on her neck, so the vet gave me two weeks more antibiotics and a buster collar to stop her licking them. It's now two weeks on and they're looking much better, the collar has worked a treat and although I felt very mean making her wear it, I feeling justified. I'm going back to the vet tomorrow where I hope he won't give me any more pills and we'll maybe keep the collar on for a few more days to let them heal completely.
So, while all this was going on, my 6-week free petplan from CP had run out so I took out the full cover (middle one, about £13 a month). I went with petplan as she had the first injection for the sores while still in the 6-week free insurance so thought it might be treated as a pre-existing condition if I switched to another one. Because I put on the application form that she had been to the vet for non-routine stuff they asked for full medical history. I phoned CP and asked them to fax it to Petplan. The lady from CP was very helpful and told me over the phone what the history was:
"Lily was a stray who was fed by an old woman, she had 3 kittens and the woman called CP to rehome them all and Lily in November. When she was taken in she had a wound on the back of her neck and some on her belly, they think from a vicious mating. She was treated to 4 weeks antibiotics and spayed, the antibiotics appeared to be working so no more were given".
I was never told about the sores on her belly and the vet and I have been wracking our brains as to what it could be. As I wasn't told it was about a month before I noticed them getting worse and treated them. I'm angry that I wasn't told about her existing wounds merely as I could have taken her to the vets sooner and they've now been there for nearly 5 months. I'm less worried but still concerned about the fact that Petplan might not pay out as they are both a pre-existing condition and I'm not sure if they would cover stuff like that for rescue cats. Her treatment so far has cost about £150 and although I can afford it, I would like it back (minus £50 excess)! Am I justified in complaining to CP? I would still have taken Lily if they'd told me, but I can't help feel that all this might have been sorted out sooner if they had.
