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Original poster

My castrated, diabetic male cat got taken by a stranger to be castrated, he’s very unwell

117 replies

Xxalisoncxx · 03/06/2019 20:07

Hi, please be gentle with me I’m very upset. I have a five year old male cat that got recently diagnosed as having diabetes. We have been keeping him in the house to monitor his diet. Yesterday lunchtime, he managed to squeeze past a delivery driver. We searched all yesterday and this morning for him. While putting out the washing, I heard a lady going round shouting, foes anybody have a black cat. I said yes, thinking oh my god, he’s dead. She declared your cats at the local vets for pets been castrated. Apparently she thinks my 5 year old largish castrated male,was her 6 month old kitten, how I have no idea! They got as far as the anesthesia until they realized it was not the kitten but my male cat and then checked the microchips. The vet has said they take full responsibility for not checking, she can’t understand how the women thinks my fully grown cat is her kitten. I’m still very upset. The fact he was taken there, knocked out and his sugar levels dipped that low I watched him faint on the table. The vets done full blood work on him and said other than his glucose he’s fine. He’s home but is refusing to eat, I’m having to syringe feed him. I know unlikely but has anyone else experienced anything so insane? I still can’t believe the entire situation. He’s due back at the vets in the morning x pic of him in his -what have you done to my ears moment

My castrated, diabetic male cat got taken by a stranger to be castrated, he’s very unwell
OP posts:
LizB62A · 03/06/2019 22:41

Poor cat.
My vet checks the microchips on my two cats at every single appointment and checkup, just to make sure that they haven't shifted (as they can migrate from the initial implantation site)

IMHO every vet should do this - it doesn't take long at all

GiantKitten · 03/06/2019 22:41

Glad you got your cat back, OP Smile

There was a weird vets 4 pets/Stoke on Trent story local to me recently (I'm in Lancs).

Cat had somehow got into a tub "coming back from Pets at Home" (???) here & ended up in Stoke. Pets at Home/Vets 4 Pets said they couldn't be responsible for returning him; owner had no transport, & they said after a week he'd be rehomed (WTAF???) so it was looking dicey, but then someone here offered to drive his owner down to pick him up.

Life is certainly never dull with cats around...

viccat · 03/06/2019 22:50

I'm surprised the vet couldn't tell the difference between a 6 month old and an adult! If nothing else, they will have weighed him and should have realised he had suddenly grown a lot since the last check up. Confused

princessTiasmum · 03/06/2019 22:51

I got a cat from a recue about 5 years ago, i had him for 21/2 years, he was very nervous and didnt like to go out much, he would run around the garden ,but didn;t stay out long,
I noticed one day that his gums looked inflamed as he wasn;t eating much so looked in his mouth
I took him to my vets,for treatment and the vet scanned him and told me the cat had been reported missing 3 years before,
I couldnt believe this,as the rescue i got him from told me that the owner had taken him in as she had cancer and couldnt look after him
The vet took him off me, and poor cats cried i could hear him as she took him away
I rang the rescue and told the woman what the vet said,, the rescue woman said the original owner had rung he fuming,and asked how come the cat had ended up back at the vets,she didnt want him,the rescue had apparently forgotten to pass his chip details on to me
I was devastated ,and in tears, i had him for 3 years almost,and felt so guilty for even taking him to that vets, and always felt i had let him down, especially as he seemed to have a real fear of men, and would hide if any man came into the house
I have never been back to that vets since,as they said the owners had moved and couldnt tell me where to,or i would have had him back
I think the vet should have checked first that they wanted him back
It is not always best to return to original owners

Original poster
Xxalisoncxx · 03/06/2019 22:52

I don't know where her kitten is, truth be told I've not seen her kitten, she lives a few streets away. They gave him the anesthetic around 10. I wasn't contacted until nearly 2.00pm. I'm not sure why she was asking around, I personally think it was due to her not wanting to pay and to let me know she wasn't paying ( ok not her cat but I didn't take him there) she was the one to tell them he's diabetic, I was hysterical at that point. I have no idea if they will charge her

OP posts:
Original poster
Xxalisoncxx · 03/06/2019 23:14

Update- he’s just eaten.all his food and looks a lot brighter! Thank you for all your support, its made today so much easier to cope with x

OP posts:
bumpertobumper · 03/06/2019 23:16

A friend had a cat who had been run over and had a metal plate at the top of his back leg/hip joint. So had a limp, unusual gait but was fine.

He went missing and after the usual searching, posters etc it trainpired that a neighbour had found him in her back yard, she thought he had injured the leg falling off the ( not very high) wall into her yard. So she took him to the vet where she worked! and they for some reason operated and removed the leg, hip and all!

So my friend got her cat back, minus a leg and with his movement much diminished. He adjusted eventually, poor thing.

So irresponsible of the vet not to X-ray him before operating, or not just stitch him up again when finding the metal plate etc...

bumpertobumper · 03/06/2019 23:17

Glad to hear yours is recovering from his ordeal!

Waterfallgirl · 03/06/2019 23:22

@bumper Shock.
So many awful vet mistake stories here, but OP I am glad he has brightened up, and good luck with his treatement. Maybe you should get your vet to contact the vets who he was taken to today - at the very least they should pay for any follow ups you need.

Waterfallgirl · 03/06/2019 23:25

Also, so many people who think they can just help themselves to someone else’s pet !

My next door neighbour has recently ‘lost’ her cat to a neighbour just two doors down who has taken him in, started to feed him / bring him in etc because she “likes cats” ! My neighbour is so upset but won’t say anything as she doesn’t want to upset the apple cart. I just find is so rude that anyone would do this and just brazen it out.

Lilimoon · 03/06/2019 23:25

I'm glad your kitty is improving.
If you are in a union you may be able to get free legal advice.
xx

Coronapop · 03/06/2019 23:28

I would complain about the vet. It is inexplicable that a 5 year old castrated cat was apparently mistaken for kitten.
animalowners.rcvs.org.uk/concerns/i-want-to-raise-a-concern-about-a-veterinary-surgeon/

EleanorReally · 03/06/2019 23:31
Bear
TurboTeddy · 03/06/2019 23:33

Are vets registered with a regulatory body? Their actions were seriously negligent.

They anaesthetised a cat that a cursory check would have shown had already been castrated, it was an adult cat which a vet should not have mistaken for a kitten, they checked the chip and yet you were notified of the error by the (very unobservant) neighbour and your cat was unwell when returned to you suggesting that the anaesthetic hadn't been reversed. It isn't essential to reverse the anaesthetic and I think I used to be charged extra for that for my cat but you would have thought they'd want to give you as little cause for complaint as possible.

Their practices are shocking and raises questions about their competence to practice veterinary medicine. I would feel the need to escalate a complaint to protect other animals and owners.

I hope your very lovely cat recovers quickly.

Toddlerteaplease · 03/06/2019 23:41

I'd be furious if this happened to my cats. My late cat has very severe heart disease and an anaesthetic could have killed her. Thank goodness they were indoor cats!

ReindeerTails · 03/06/2019 23:47

Apart from the fact he's not a kitten. How could they not see he's already been castrated? It's literally extremely obvious. Even a non-vet, non-cat person can see balls on a cat.

NannyPear · 03/06/2019 23:53

Oh gosh what an awful experience for you and your boy :( I hope he makes a full recovery soon.

I would like to clarify a few points as far as the blame to the vet goes.

Most vets carry out pre-op assessments in the days leading up to routine neuterings. At this point I would check both testicles were descended and note this on the clinical notes. I wouldn't necessarily make a point of checking them again.
Many 6 month old cats are big enough to look like adults.
If an owner brings in a black cat and says it's theirs, and we have them registered as having a black cat, and seemy them recently with a black cat, we would trust it's theirs.
Microchips are not a fast way to verify ownership. For a start, they don't legally verify ownership, and scanning them only gives us their chip number, not info. We have to find out the company they are registered to and then phone them to have the info released. I don't disagree in an ideal world this was done every time, but it's far too time consuming, and I can guarantee that the public won't be happy for us to increase prices in order to pay someone to do this.

NannyPear · 03/06/2019 23:55

How is it literally extremely obvious to see testicles on a cat, no less a black one? Have you seen a cat on a vets table? They don't parade about with their tail in the air.

Osirus · 03/06/2019 23:55

I know someone that took someone else’s horse out for a ride instead of their own once. One was bright bay and the other slightly darker. Both the same height, but an absolutely stupid mistake to make.

I hope your cat gets better soon. He’s possibly a bit stressed and unlikely to be feeling as normal with what he’s been through.

Fedoratheexploreer · 04/06/2019 00:07

I’m glad he’s doing better OP, he’s gorgeous.

Whysoannoying · 04/06/2019 00:21

He's lovely, hope he gets better soon!

@RosieposiePuddingandPi you are so right! Years ago I lived on a busy street in a terraced house with a walkway between me and next door. I had two cats, the female was - I think - the runt of the litter, she was very small and as I found out later, actually blind. (She maybe had some sight when younger, I certainly had no clue). Anyway she was the most sociable thing, and as I was at work all day, she used to sit on the wall at the front of the house and get loads of attention from the people going to the 7 day shop two doors down, or the many school children passing at break and lunch times.

One day, she vanished! I put notices and photos up all round the area - and a few days later, some people returned her, saying they thought nobody wanted her as she was always alone! Despite the collar.....(OK no name tag and before the days of microchips, but no cat has a collar if they are unloved, surely...???)

People are weird!

Whysoannoying · 04/06/2019 00:22

And how can you not know your own cat....????

longwayoff · 04/06/2019 06:59

I suggest you change your vet if he/she happily anaesthesises a cat for castration without noticing the absence of testicles on first examination.

Tingface · 04/06/2019 07:11

The vets on here are WILDLY arse covering.

Whenever I’ve had an animal go in for surgery, the booking in on the day has always included a chat with a member of staff about the procedure, including a scan of the animal’s microchip.

It’s absolute bullshit that a vet wouldn’t notice an elderly castrated cat wasn’t an entire kitten before anaesthetising and operating on them.

SoupDragon · 04/06/2019 07:23

Microchips are not a fast way to verify ownership. For a start, they don't legally verify ownership, and scanning them only gives us their chip number, not info.

My vet has my cats' microchip numbers on their records so they would know if a cat I brought in wasn't mine. Obviously they wouldn't be able to identify the cat unless they already knew which one it was meant to be but they would know it's wasn't the cat they thought.

How is it literally extremely obvious to see testicles on a cat, no less a black one? Have you seen a cat on a vets table? They don't parade about with their tail in the air.

Presumably someone removes the cat from their carrier, they don't just appear on the vet's table. The cat in the picture doesntly look particularly fluffy.