Ginny's sneezing ...

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

There's rescues, and rescues, and rescues, though.... 

Anyone can set up as a rescue. Some are brilliant!  But I came across one in London that was appaling. Truely appaling! The woman running it was a one man band opporating out of her three bed terraced house - no pens. She had up to 40 cats roaming free... None of the cats where vacinated and we heard tales that flu and FeLV had ripped through her house and killed 15-20 at a time. But she's still there, still going, and still classed as a rescue. 

I guess they all do what they can with what they have. And for sure if it wasn't for them, the next step for a lot of cats would be raiding the bins behind the chippy. 

[Desley (booktigger)]

It does seem like an odd practice, although I have to admit to having done it myself a few times, it isn't ideal though, and can result in quite a few phone calls to get paperwork sorted. I wouldn't be too happy at having to have that kind of treatment done on an animal so soon after homing though, I really would expect that kind of thing to be picked up on and dealt with already.

[Millys Mum]

Still seems odd, its not difficult to undo paperwork if a cat does get returned. They cant have much faith in their rehoming skills! 

Sometimes moving into a new home can cause allergies to flare up until you get used to the new environment. Im glad shes not as sneezy 

[scattycat]

How comes you havent offically adopted her?  Its odd they would send her off without paper work being done, afterall you could do a bunk and disapear.

I'm not too sure myself but that is how they do it apparently, I think it's so you can see if the cat fits in ok, and if it does you then officially have the cat, if not the cat can go back. I do understand your point, though they do deliver the cat to your home address - so if you did do a bunk you'd have to do a pretty elaborate plan to get in a 'home' 

We've noticed that she's not sneezing quite as much now, it's got to be too soon for the anitbiotics to have worked yet, so we think that her stress levels have reduced and she's now feeling better (if that makes sense).

She's also hissing/grumbling less at the boys and the boys have been walking past her without so much of a grumble from Ginny! 

Tiggy's Mum - we know that the rehoming centre should really be paying for all of the treatment, but we can afford to go halves, plus they have LOADS of cats (I think they have around 43 cats currently) some of which they've had for 7 years. We dont think they'd be like the RSPCA who might turn a cat away, we feel that they would take it on, so yes we feel a bit annoyed we're having to pay out before we own her, but on the other hand we dont mind - it's strange thing to try and explain but ultimately we dont mind - obviously if she needed a big op we wouldnt pay for it.

[Millys Mum]

How comes you havent offically adopted her?  Its odd they would send her off without paper work being done, afterall you could do a bunk and disapear.

[Tiggy's Mum]

Poor Ginny    Hopefully the antibiotics will sort her out in no time. 

With regards the cost side of things I think that any normal rescue would have the cats vet checked prior to rehoming so the teeth issues would have been picked up and sorted out so I wouldn't have thought it unreasonable to expect them to have the work done before you oficially adopt her.  Having said that I think that if you can afford it then paying for it or going halves would be a nice gesture and enable them to continue helping and rehomeing other cats.

[Ela]

Well she's on a course of antibiotics for a couple of weeks. Our vet said it is a dose of cat flu, though which has been brought on due to stress of being re-homed.

As re-homing is a time of stress it is exactly  the reason why Cats Protection branches and shelters have been advised by their HQ that it is necessary to pay any vet bills for the first 4 weeks. Obviously if someone is silly enough to let the cat/kitten out and something happens to the cat/kitten as a result of that then the new owner would be liable.

[scattycat]

Well she's on a course of antibiotics for a couple of weeks. Our vet said it is a dose of cat flu, though which has been brought on due to stress of being re-homed.

The thing he was rather concerned about were some of her teeth though.

He opened her mouth up and the teeth at the back of her mouth were covered in tartar and the gums started to bleed. We explained that Ginny wasnt officially ours yet and that she is due in at the centre's vets to have the cyst removed, he said we should ask their vet to at least scale and polish her teeth and if any are really bad remove them.

This does appear to be the one downside with how the rehoming practice is done, as at least with the RSPCA they have a full vet visit prior to you collecting them. So far, we've discovered a couple of things wrong with her which really should have been fixed prior to us having her.

Anyway, so I need to update the centre on the vet visit and say about the teeth. Do you thinik the centre should pay for all of the teeth work - or that we should go halfs (we're going halfs on the cyst removal). We knew to expect vet bills for a cat of Ginny's age, but we didnt quite expect them even before we officially adopt her.

[scattycat]

My Max has sneezing fits with no snot or cough. Could be an allergy? He once had mega sneezing and the vet used tweezers to get a grain of finest catnip out of his nose  Ask the vet to check if anything's stuck!

Oh I forgot that, the nurse on the phone said she could have something that's tickling her - and she does love catnip - so that's a definete possibility! 

[swampmaxmum]

My Max has sneezing fits with no snot or cough. Could be an allergy? He once had mega sneezing and the vet used tweezers to get a grain of finest catnip out of his nose  Ask the vet to check if anything's stuck!
Hope it resolves nice and quickly for you.  If she gets a runny eye or nasal discharge may mean they give antibiotics

[clarenmax]

I'm sure that's all it will be, and any antibiotics given will just be a precaution really.

When are you taking her in?

[scattycat]

Gave the vets a call and they said it'd be best to bring her in just to have her checked out.

I spoke to the lady who delivered Ginny to us, and she said it is quite common for them to catch a cold due to the stress of a new place, which I totally agree can happen (as when I get stressed out I usually end up with a cold!), so hopefully that's all it is - I just hope our vets dont want to do blood tests etc!

[clarenmax]

When Maxy first came to us he developed a bout of sneezes and snuffles, and we took him to vets to be safe.  Saying that though, that was mianly as he is FIV+, and he was given antibiotics as a precaution, so not sure whether Ginny's sneezes would warrant a visit.  It could just as easily be dust or pollen though, if there are no other outward signs that she's poorly?

Might be worth giving the vet a call to seek their opinion if you're concerned.

[scattycat]

We got Ginny last Saturday from a re-homing centre and have had to book her in at their vets for 23 July to have a cyst removed from one of her cheeks - now we've noticed that since yesterday she's started sneezing, though it's quite often.

We dont know whether she's just got her nose in some dust or whether she's now got a cold.

What is the best course of action - is it to take her to our vets as would they giver her an antibiotic injection?

We've had a good look at her and she's not got a runny nose or weepy eyes, which is why we're a bit confused.

We do have 2 other cats so dont want if it is a cold for it to be passed onto the boys - so is the vets the thing to do.