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

[Xxalisoncxx]

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

*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.*

Totally agree with this!!

As a lifelong cat owner there is no way that any of the 6 month old kittens I've had could ever have been mistaken for a 5 year old cat. At that stage I would describe them as 'little cats' but it's very obvious they are still older 'kittens' and far from fully grown - it's not just their size and weight, but the condition of their fur, their usually skittish demeanour and their 'gangliness' (can't think of a better way to describe it).

I've also had more black cats than any other colour - sometimes up to 4 of them at one time - and of course you can tell them apart! Size, shape, tail length, stocky/slim, ear size and shape, eye colour, any tiny patches of white … the list goes on. Not to mention any decent owner would recognise their personality, behavioural traits and the sound of their voice (purr, chirrup, miaow). From a distance, yeah, you might think the cat at the bottom of the garden is yours but as soon as you can see it properly you'd almost certainly realise it wasn't for some or all of the reasons listed above.

That woman sounds barking and I hope your cat hasn't suffered any lasting damage. The vet beggars belief … the whole lack of testes, never mind the 6 month v 5 years thing …. they should also be paying for any follow up check/treatment at your regular vet in my opinion, and for as long as it takes to ensure he's recovered from the anaesthetic. It seems like a very basic lack of responsibility from them regarding pre-op checks.

Agree with Tingface
They don’t just plonk them on the table and get started ,they’d do a pretty-op check .
Absolutely laughable that they can’t tell the difference between a kitten and a 5 year old cat as if that’s the case they really shouldn’t be a vet

Oh op he is bloody gorgeous 💙

Hope be is back to his usual self today and eating again.
Ds (16) is all stressed out this morning going to school, he has a GCSE exam at 9am and he loves cats as much as I do so I hope you don't mind that i screenshotted your pic and sent it to him to cheer him up

What is his name?

I've also had more black cats than any other colour - sometimes up to 4 of them at one time - and of course you can tell them apart! Size, shape, tail length, stocky/slim, ear size and shape, eye colour, any tiny patches of white … the list goes on.

To be fair, I can only tell mine apart when they are together. Well, one does have a few white hairs on his chest but he could so easily have been pretty much totally black like his brother. One is slightly fatter than his brother but only when you see them together. I've had them less than a year so if the other owner has only had hers for a short time it's not completely unlikely. Also' when I picked them up from the cattery, I almost accidentally took their mother as she was so small - they were about 8-10 weeks old by then too. I vaguely thought the cat I posted up had grown since I last saw "him" but it was only when the brothers peeled out that I realised I'd got the wrong one 😂

There is no excuse for a vet not noticing the cat was castrated though. That surely isn't at all subjective.

@NannyPear I understand it's not practical to look up every cat's chip details every time. However you don't have to call the company to do so - vets, rescues, and anyone who can implant microchips also has an online account with the microchip companies. Logging in to check the details is quick and easy if you know which company it's likely to be (i.e. some always start from the same two digits etc.).

I agree that it’s very weird that a vet didn’t notice that (a) it wasn’t a kitten (as they’d have been expecting) and that (b) it was already castrated.

Even if they’d seen the cat before, you’d still do proper checks that everything was still ok for the operation before anaesthetising. That’s just good practice as standard. You wouldn’t just say: ‘oh we checked stuff ages ago, let’s just get on with it’.

And, even if they were just relying on their previous notes without doing pre-op checks, surely they’d notice that it was an adult cat not a kitten (as outlined in the notes).

My little cat has a skin problem, she was undergoing treatment for it. Woman across the road decided she was neglected and took her into her house. Cat then got worse cause she was having the treatment anymore. My dh managed to speak to her but she insisted that my cat didn't want to go to our house.... our cat came back to us the next day after escaping her house. Some people are crazy.

Hello, thank you for all your support and well wishes. He’s called fluffster, I know really daft name! As harsh as it sounds, I’ve had this tag made for him if he gets out, it says I’m diabetic on the other side. He went for his check today, sugar levels etc fine, he’s eating and moaning at me. The vet at the practice this happened said ‘will you be wanting to continue his care with us’ I said no thank you! He will be going to our normal vets in the morning

What a cheek will uyou be continuing with us? Im surprised u didnt tell them to fuck off

Fluffster!

Great name for a non-fluffy cat, OP.

Glad he's okay now.

Somebodies telling lies here, probably the woman,

I don't mean you OP, I mean I think the woman isnt being entirely truthful about events.

V relieved to hear Fluffster has perked up; hope appointment at your own vet goes ok.

Absolutely shocking this was allowed to happen - it’d be considered a Never Event in human healthcare, so please PLEASE make a formal complaint: to the practise itself, to the company (it’s a chain isn’t it?), & to the RCVS as someone linked upthread. Ensuring you have the correct patient & are going to perform the correct surgery on them are key steps in the WHO safe surgery checklist. Obviously it can’t be transposed directly to veterinary medicine, but as “humans are stupid & do stupid things” is a constant of life, essentially, & animals can’t advocate for themselves, vets need to try REALLY hard to Exclude The Stupid for their patients. People making complaints about things like this gets procedures looked at & safety reforms made.

I've also had more black cats than any other colour - sometimes up to 4 of them at one time - and of course you can tell them apart! Size, shape, tail length, stocky/slim, ear size and shape, eye colour, any tiny patches of white … the list goes on. Not to mention any decent owner would recognise their personality, behavioural traits and the sound of their voice (purr, chirrup, miaow). From a distance, yeah, you might think the cat at the bottom of the garden is yours but as soon as you can see it properly you'd almost certainly realise it wasn't for some or all of the reasons listed above.

^ I came on to say exactly that.

We currently have five black cats in the neighbourhood (one is mine) and I can tell them all apart. A couple of them look very similar from a distance (build, facial features), but as soon as they're closer it's easy. I know the other black cat owners can tell them apart, too (we're a close knit bunch of 'crazy cat neighbours').

People list their animals ages wrong all the time. If the lady dropped off a black cat to be castrated and said it was hers/signed the consent forms then that is not the vets fault at all.

No vets routinely check microchip details when the apparent legal owner has brought them in.

The lady must have a huge black kitten.... or your cat is tiny for her to mix them up though. The lady is responsible for your vet bills from what I can see.

it’d be considered a Never Event in human healthcare

It's not comparable though as a cat can't say "I'm not Blacky McBlackCat I'm Fluffster and I have no bollocks already".

I still don't think it should ever have happened but it's not the same as human healthcare.

Glad Fluffster is better :)