Should I pay for their vet treatments

[Crazycats1991]

I sold a ragdoll kitten last Monday at 14 weeks old from my litter of kittens 3 days later her eye has swollen and become infected the new owner has taken the kitten to the vet and it turns out she has herpes virus or Chlamydia virus from contact with another cat, she said he hasn't been near another cat but none of the other kittens in the litter are unwell and neither is mum and the other cat in my household. I have however offered to pay for half the vet fees.
AIBU to only offer half the vet fees and should pay the full amount
Or
AINBU and i don't need to pay any of the vet fees
No receipt or contract was given and the kitten was in good spirits and seemed healthy and she even sent me videos of her playing and jumping about in her new home
What should I do?

I’d definitely check with the vet that what she said is 100% true. That the kitten is sick, and it has caught a contagious disease/infection before it was sold. If the vet does agree with the new owner however, I think it would be completely disgusting of you to try to get out of paying anything less than 100% of the bill. This poor woman’s joy at her new kitten has turned to horror and stress at how quickly it’s become sick, and is now needing vets treatment within a matter of 3 days of her buying it from you. I don’t understand why you’d think it would be acceptable to pay nothing, or even just half.

If you were an experienced and responsible breeder you would be prepared for this along with the necessary insurance instead of doing a vote on MN asking if you should pay the bill.

I can't believe someone paid £500 for a kitten with no paperwork or 4 week insurance! I think for your own reputation and piece of mind as a 'responsible breeder' you should definitely pay the bills or offer to take the kitten to your own vet and pay.

Spayed and microchipped at 14 weeks old have a word with yourself and its not the breeders responsibility to spay and microchip lol

How do you forget to give a receipt?
In the buyer's shoes I would have asked for one.
What type of animal insurance only covers injury not illness?

@braveasfook, you can't get a kitten spayed at 14 weeks so how on earth could she have it done and paperwork to show it? Most vets will spey at between 20 and 24 weeks.

"just because I forgot to hand over the receipt does not make me a back yard breeder".

No reputable breeder would ever forget the receipt. It is proof of lineage, ownership and breeding. You have no proof of transaction here. Cowboy at it's best. I do hope you vetted the new owners and did a home check before you handed this cat over. Making sure that new owners could afford , house and responsibly care for this animal, before you took the £500.

You should pay as she should have been covered by your insurance, given that buyer's insurance prevents them from being covered for the first 14 days. A reputable breeder wouldn't even have to ask!

@caringcarer there should be purchase paperwork.

I think you should have the kitten back and give them a healthy one either from this litter or from the next litter that you have.

I would ask for the kitten back and let them choose a different one.

Not entirely true. Our local rescue has spayed kittens at 9-10 weeks immediately before rehoming - DSiL picked up their DKitten the day after she was 'done'. Not all the vets do this and it would be unusual for a breeder to do it, but it's not impossible.

No idea how it works with kittens as I'm a dog person. When I got my pup the breeder registered my name and details with the kennel club and gave me the chip details for me to update. He also gave me the vaccination certificate and I got I think 6 weeks free insurance
He was a reputable breeder though. I didn't just hand over the cash and walk away with the pup.
You need to pay up

If you are a breeder, surely you know that many cats who are carriers of FHV or chlamydia are asymptomatic? If she developed symptoms after 3 days, it is far more likely that she was infected at your home than after she left.

All cats should be vaccinated agains FHV and, if you are breeding, you should have had them vaccinated against against chlamydia too.

This. Backyard breeder. Ragdolls go for more than 500 quid from a proper breeder anyway.

You absolutely can spay a cat before 14 weeks - my rescue cat was spayed by the RSPCA before we collected her at 12 weeks

A you did not have appropriate transition insurance in place, I agree with the poster who suggested you offer to take the kitten back and allow them take a healthy one. Otherwise I think.you should pay the vets bill in full.

Does this new owner have any other cats in her household that the kitten could have caught something from? Is the vet sure it's herpes or chlamydia rather than a bacterial conjunctivitis? I think offering to pay half sounds fair here as the symptoms developed so soon after she got her.

There is no way that kitten got herpes in three days with its new owner. It’s came from the mother. I can’t stand breeders, they’re all about the money. One litter fine but queens are used for litter after litter.

This whole set up sounds dodgy. You should definitely pay and think long and hard about exploiting animals for profit in the future.

You do not sound like a reputable breeder at all and I don’t think highly of anyone using an animals womb to make money. These poor cats, exposed to disease, cancers from numerous litters and then seen as mere commodities to make money for their owners.

You sound like a back street breeder. 😡

Mwhahh... I do neuter my kittens before they go to new homes but finding a vet that does it this young is mission impossible.

Has the queen had a bear scan for HCM? If not you are very irresponsible.

Heart.