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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

Update on RSPCA saga

20 replies

thingymibob · 25/10/2013 18:56

Norman has been with us a week. He is settled and happy and greedy! Old lady cat still not impressed but still early days so am still hopeful.

We registered with a new vet and took him tonight. As I understand it, a rehoming fee usually includes jabs, chip, care and castration. We were told he had had the jabs and was castrated

Vet discovered this evening there is no chip and...

He still has one testicle! How?!! Must admit I can't stop laughing as how you can mistake one for two and it just seems to sum up our experience so far.

Norman will be going in next week for x rays to check on leg, chipping and to get his stubborn ball removed :)

I am seriously thinking of asking for a refund

OP posts:

cozietoesie · 25/10/2013 19:11

Oh my.

I'm glad at least that he's doing well. And if your old lady cat is simply 'not impressed' that's a lot better than it could have been and bodes fairly well for the future.

thecatneuterer · 25/10/2013 19:32

I was wondering how he was getting on. They missed a whole ball ... wow.

bubblepop · 25/10/2013 21:41

do you know, they are a wee bit cheeky sometimes the rspca. I got a tom cat from them years ago..he had an unhealed abcess on his side that required numerous visits to the vets very soon after I adopted him. They should never really have rehomed him until he was right....

Putitonthelist · 25/10/2013 21:54

Oh blimey!! How did they miss a ball??

Aww glad he's doing well OP

cozietoesie · 25/10/2013 21:55

I'd be thinking about alerting them to the stubborn ball at least - that's pretty bad because it shouldn't be a difficult op. It's a slightly difficult one, though, because TCN's contacts helped in Norman's case and you don't want to scupper their influence for the future. It's too valuable.

Maybe TCN is the best person to consult the advisability of saying anything.

Original poster

thingymibob · 25/10/2013 22:26

Am not sure whether to say anything either. Their attitude and aftercare has been appalling. I do think that they should have handed him over with some sort of care plan and a better explanation of his stay there and information about his leg.

Incomplete castration is just mind boggling - the vet tonight just had a little feel - surely, someone should have done that before letting him go? Though can't imagine how they missed they didn't have two balls when they counted.

So, I can either write a letter and say how disappointed we are in how it's all gone or I just chalk it up to experience (and never donate another penny to them) and just concentrate on getting N totally well again. luckily, as he needs to be castrated still and will need a GA for that, we can get an xray of his leg to see how it's healed - and the GA and castration is only £30 so only xray to pay extra for. If he didn't need the castration redoing, the GA would have cost £100 or so. One small bonus of the whole saga

Re getting old lady cat used to him... Up to now, he has had his crate in my DD room. OLC will not go in there - 1st time she just looked, 2nd time she hissed and growled. She also hissed and growled when DD picked her up just after handling N but hasn't repeated it. OLC seems a bit insecure as she is spending much more time on laps, where she rarely did before. DD is going away next week. She spends her evenings after work in her room and during the day I have been popping in and out, giving N some time and affection. Come Monday, he will be alone in there all day and night. Should I move him into the lounge? -where OLC spends most of her time. Or is that too soon? We still have at least 2 weeks of cage rest to go but I don't want him to feel lonely but I also don't want to make OLC too unhappy. I'm the only one in most of the time, so can't even get other DC to spend time with him. What would the more experienced do?

OP posts:

cozietoesie · 25/10/2013 22:38

Well if he's not properly castrated, he'll still be producing all those hormones and still smelling like a TOM to her so it's probably too early to make a judgment. I'd be tempted to keep him on cage rest until his 'proper' neutering takes place and takes effect. Two weeks will likely do it I would have thought.

Terrortree · 26/10/2013 00:30

I'm afraid I don't know your back story but is it possible he had an undescended testicle - thus it not being removed?

By they way, my female cat regularly hisses at my male cat and they've been together since they were kittens!

However, if he is having an op (and smelling of the dreaded vets) it's best you keep them separated until he can fend for himself. Crating can be really hard on a cat, but can you divide up the house, but allow them to smell each other through doors?

But thank you for taking on a kitten with a myriad of issues - you're great!

thecatneuterer · 26/10/2013 13:17

Thingy. Re your crate question. I would bring the crate into the living room so that OLC can get used to him without feeling too threatened (as he can't get to her). Make sure he has somewhere in the crate he can hide (igloo bed/cardboard box upended with a hole cut in it etc) and maybe some fabric draped over half the crate where his bed/hidey hole is.

As for the RSPCA - do whatever you feel is right. I don't think complaining will have much impact - either positively or negatively - so it's up to you.

ZebraOwl · 26/10/2013 14:28

Bloody hell. Am staggered by their ongoing direness.

However, am glad that you now have Norman as a forevercat & hope everything's sorted soon.

Don't think it would be unreasonable to point out that rehoming fee is meant to cover xyz & this has not been done... If I were you I'd be a bit worried he mightn't've had the jabs!

Auntidote · 26/10/2013 14:32

Ha! I got a cat 12+ years from the RSPCA. Was supposed to be a spayed female. I was given an entire male - and the chip implantation didn't work either.

Fortunately these minor issues were picked up by the vet when I took him for his jabs and he has been wonderful ever since. The RSPCA were supposed to follow up to check he was OK but never did. He's still OK, though, and sleeping peacefully in his basket in the corner.

CanucksoontobeinLondon · 26/10/2013 21:19

That is an unbelievable level of incompetence. How hard is it for a vet to count to two? You've been extraordinarily patient with these idiots.

Good luck getting Norman and your other kitty acquainted. I recommend a very, very gradual approach. Which it sounds like you're already doing. Norman is so lucky to have you guys.

thesixteenthtry · 26/10/2013 21:46

I know the RSPCA has a bad name here but our last dog came from them and they had spayed, vaccinated, chipped and X rayed her. They also undertook to help with vet fees because she had a health problem and offered free help from a behaviourist.
This was a few years ago but it's hard to believe they now can't castrate a cat.

CanucksoontobeinLondon · 26/10/2013 21:56

It may well be that Thingymibob's local RSPCA is very badly managed, without necessarily reflecting on the organization as a whole. Local branches of charities tend to have a lot of autonomy, so you might easily have had a great experience with an RSPCA in a different town. Of course, it's in the national RSPCA's interest for them to sort out whatever the hell is happening at Thingymibob's branch, because bad news about incompetence spreads quickly.

Hope your dog is doing well.

cozietoesie · 26/10/2013 21:57

I suspect that there are big differences in individual RSPCA centres so I'm not sure that we can talk about them as a monolith. I've had few dealings with them though. (Or rather the SSPCA who may be a different ball game.)

Original poster

thingymibob · 29/10/2013 12:58

He is at the vets now, collecting this afternoon

He had half a testicle!! Which is even more confusing as I thought they just popped them out. But am assured he is 100% castrated now.

His leg has healed beautifully - RSPCA did one thing well. 1-2 more weeks of cage rest and we can set him free :)

OLC is now steadfastly ignoring him, so we are moving on. She is still clingy to us so have ordered some feliway to see if it calms her before he comes out of cage rest.

He really is a lovely boy. Last week, to get him in the carrier, we put a little treat in and he walked straight in. Couldn't do that this morning as he was no food allowed - put the carrier up against the crate and he just walked in. Then at the vets, he just laid on the counter purring while they did his temp, heart rate and resps, no fuss whatsoever. He didn't seem stressed at all. After all he has been through, he really seems to trust us humans, surprising really

So he is now castrated and chipped, he will have a flea treatment again while there as I think it's never a bad thing (will do other creatures this afternoon) his leg is looking great - he has cost me over £250 but for such a sweetie, he totally deserves it. Really hope he allows us to keep him and doesn't run away as soon as he can lol

OP posts:

cozietoesie · 29/10/2013 13:02

Well that all sounds really positive, thingy.

thecatneuterer · 29/10/2013 13:48

Yes it does sound positive. And I would bet my house that he won't be going anywhere once he's allowed out. He knows that this is his home now and that you are his staff humans.

cozietoesie · 29/10/2013 14:06

I suspect that his feelings about cages and vets are better than many cats - he was alone, hungry and in pain, was put in a cage and taken to a place where he was fed, the pain was removed and people talked to him and chucked his chin. (The bad stuff being done while he was out for the count.) That would likely lead him to be calmer than most.

Although he does look like a fairly confident chap anyway from his pictures.

CanucksoontobeinLondon · 30/10/2013 04:30

He sounds adorable! And yay for incremental progress with your other cat.

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