Would you rehome a cat who had health problems?

[LottieandMia]

I saw a lovely cat who needs rehoming but the owner says she has cystitis and she can't afford to take her to the vet. I found it so sad because the cat looks adorable. I messaged the owner and asked if she had considered PDSA care as some people can get free treatment. She said she's not in the catchment area.

I guess I'm wary of taking on an animal who is uninsured, not knowing what kind of care they need. All my animals have had insurance since the day I brought them home and it's so worth it.

I worry about where this cat will end up...

I came on here to reply my husband wouldn't let me, we've just lost one to CKD and my other's hyperthyroidism is out of control and she has early signs of CKD, so I think he's had enough of six months of me worrying. II only worry because I want what's best for them, my boy was pts at 17, hopefully we'll get Lottie(!) to 18.

On the other hand, my lovely Lottie had cystitis 5/6 years ago, she's totally over it and I'd hate to think someone wouldn't have given her a chance because of it. She's had nothing wrong with her until hyperthyroidism a year ago. I won't lie her cystitis was hard to get under control, she had a few vets visits for treatment and in the end they asked to scan her and to a urine analysis (scan & urine was around £175 at the time) to confirm/rule out cystitis. It was confirmed as cystitis. During times when she had cystitis the vet gave me two weeks of something called Cystease which lines the bladder and reduces irritation. In the end I bought some online (another brand is Cystaid and you can buy
a cheaper brand on Amazon called Cystassist - maybe wrong spelling) and kept her on it for a year and it solved itself. I did this because she was getting nervous of me getting near her in case of a vets visit. You would need to get her diagnosed and have treatment offered (she might only have a UTI which they might just need to give ABs for) and take treatment offered, but alongside that I'd certainly put another cat of mine on 2 a day (easy to mix in food and has no smell), it has no side affects either.

Obviously insurance has been well worth it for you, but neither of my cats have been insured - we just put the money we'd have spent on insurance into an account for them - despite the cystitis and problems with both in old age, that account still has a good sum in it, so you could take on the new cat and find she has very little else wrong with her for a good amount of time.

I know you've met the lady concerned, but I'd say it's cruel to leave a cat with cystitis/UTI untreated as she'll be in pain and it'll only get worse. I know she cares, but I'd say she needs help from somewhere like the RSPCA if she can't care for her cat.

One of my cats ingested a foreign body when she was only 1 year old and it cost £2k to investigate and diagnose the problem. I couldn't have just come up with thousands of pounds at a moments notice. I think insurance is important for these kinds of situations really.

I haven't met the owner of this pet. I'm just wondering whether anyone else would adopt an animal in these circumstances?

Insurance is essential. Both of my healthy cats have run up vets bills of £4000 and £5000 respectively within two months of each other. Having said that I would take the cat in this situation as I would want to make sure it had proper treatment. Also if it is stress cystitis this may resolve with a change if environment.

What if the cat has a more severe problem and the advertiser is saying it's cystitis?

Hmm I don't know. Depends how much spare cash I had!

If this person is genuine, they will want a good home for their cat. I know it won't give you the full picture and you'd have to pay for one check up, but would they be willing to let you take the cat to the vet for a general check up (obviously they'd go as well as she's still their cat). Like I say it won't give you the full picture, but vet would be able to give you a idea of whether the cat appears generally well other than cystitis.

I already have two girls and a boy and I'm going to get one more (honest!) I was going to get a boy because my two girls have worked out who top cat is. My cats are all young and this lovely girl is 7.

In your situation I wouldn't. Cystitis is usually fairly easy to treat but as you mentioned, without the check up of a good vet who's to say that's all it is?

I foster cats through several charities and always get given the old and ill ones (no kittens for me sadly). The nursing, medication, dietary changes, and overall holistic approach that works very well for the cats in my care would not be possible without the overall picture the charity gives me when delivering the cat to my house.

I did suggest to her that she should try giving her wet food as well as dry food.

Cystitis is easy enough to treat with antibiotics. I hope the cat doesn't have it now without being treated, as it'll be in a lot of pain.

Some cats seem to get bouts of it, then nothing for a long time. We all know that our pets cost a lot to take care of, so it's just part and parcel of having them in our lives. My 20 year old has hyperthyroidism, mega colon, renal probs and arthritis. He has meds everyday. The other 2 have the odd illnesses, including cystitis. It's just ongoing.

Particularly when they get older. But if the cat has something else more serious then I also have to think of my existing cats who could catch it

As I said before if this person is genuine they'll want t a a good home for their cat. Unless it's really a case of the RSPCA getting involved because they can't look after their cat, they are likely to have used a vet at sometime. If you're willing to pay for one check up, suggest to them you take the cat goes to their own vet and you pay £30 (and they can come with you) for a general check up. If it was me and I had nothing to hide, I'd be more concerned my cat had a good home and was being checked out somewhere she knew. My cat had a particularly bad case of cystitis, others are a lot more simple to treat.