to be annoyed with the RSPCA...

[slayerette]

...for letting us pick up our two gorgeous kittens on Saturday only for the vet to tell us today that they probably have cat flu (which news, plus some eye drops, cost us £60 ) And of course, this can't be cured - it's like a human getting a cold sore - they carry it for life and it flares up at times of stress.

We already love them to bits but feel upset that they were given to us with a not even dormant but active case of cat flu. Surely, this should have been picked up earlier and the kittens treated by the RSPCA before being re-homed with us? We could then have been prepared for what might be in store re vets bills, etc, and spared this first big bill.

Have you checked the RSPCA T&C? I'm in Scotland, so SSPCA not RSPCA, but the SSPCA have some policy about remaining responsible for the animals for the first week that you have them.

Thanks - will look into that.

when we got ours they treated any preexisting illnes (not long term one) for free
i.e. one of our cats had kidney stones that they were treating him for and we took him back there for the follow up checks. But any further kidney stones that arose would have been ours to sort out.

Well although cat flu is for life (not just for Christmas) I am hoping that we might be able to have this first bill refunded by them - a bit of a shock to have to pay that on top of the £90 adoption fee. It makes the little darlings very expensive moggies!

we had kittens from a cat shelter that turned out to have cat flu. They were fine most of the time, just sneezed when they were stressed - but we couldn't get pet insurance for them. This was quite a while back, so it could be different now, but be warned that it might turn out to be rather expensive to look after them (though when they are being all cute and cuddly on your lap you don't really think about that. Which is why I ended paying hundreds of pounds in vet bills for them. But they were lovely cats...)

If you take on an animal with an ongoing health problem, sometimes charities will undertake to pay the ongoing costs - but I know I'd feel bad taking the money from a charity! You can't win sometimes. Might be worth exploring the option though.

I'm not sure about cat flu but my understanding is that the RSPCA don't test for FIV (another incurable cat disease) because a cat diagnosed with FIV is very difficult to rehome and would likely end up having to be destroyed. I suspect their policy may be the same for cat flu? At the end of the day they're a charity - albeit a rich one - and I guess they can't hope to do everything?

Good luck to you and the kittens. Hope they do well.