Rehomed a cat but wasn't told his medical history advice please

[nothingcomestonothing]

Hi MN cat people, I'm looking for advice/ info if any one can help. In December I rehomed a lovely 7 year old cat from my local (insert name of national cat charity, not trying to name and shame here). They told me he had been placed there from another of their branches, then rehomed with his sibling, but the new owner had had to return him as the sib was bullying him and both were so stressed they had crystals in their urine.
Fast forwards to last week, lovely cat is not eating, sick and clearly not well. Vets investigated and after shaving him for a scan found a huge surgical scar the length of his belly. The vet wanted to know what it was from in case it could shed light on his current illness, so I phoned the charity to ask if the knew anything. While on the phone the receptionist found previous medical records and emailed them over.
The records show he has had multiple gut issues since a kitten, several surgeries finding his insides are very abnormal, 'guarded' prognosis is mentioned several times, v bad. Not to mention his having been hit by a car and attacked by a dog besides!
My lovely boy had surgery and after a very poorly week was allowed home today. However, the vet has no way of preventing this happening again, it could happen at any time and easily prove fatal next time.
So my question is this - were the charity obliged to give me his medical history, since they clearly had it or very easily could find it (took about a minute to find when they looked). If they had, I would have insured him (I know, I know) but because I didn't know he had any issues I didn't and now have over £2000 to pay the vet. And could have any time again cos it could happen again any time. And to be frank, after my kids losing a parent and two beloved cats in the last 5 years, I wouldn't have taken this cat with his history, cos I know that now it is extremely likely that we will lose him sooner rather than later and my children will be grieving again. Did the charity have a duty to give me his medical history? It's not going to change anything now, the kids adore him and I'd never give him back, but I am massively pissed off with the charity and want to talk to them about this, and I'd like to know where I stand legally before I do.
Sorry that was long and thanks in advance!

Yes I think they should have told you, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it were a case of cock up rather than conspiracy. When there are lots of people involved in different processes (people on the homing side are not likely to have been involved with vet care) then probably something just got missed. Many people are volunteers, everyone is overstretched and shit happens.

Why do you want to know where you stand legally? For god's sake don't think about taking legal action against a charity - as if they don't have enough to cope with and few enough resources. Fighting legal cases are very onerous and expensive. It would be better to give the cat back rather than go down that route.

If you had known about the illness beforehand you wouldn't have been able to get insurance anyway. And anything can happen to a cat that requires expensive vet care. That's a risk you always take if you don't insure.

Does the charity have it's own vets that you might be able to use in future? I would imagine they would think that would be fair. By all means talk to them and see how they may be able to help, but please don't go around threatening legal action against them.

No not planning on legal action, just basically want to know if they should have said, or it was up to me to ask. I'd like to know that if they were either chaotic or a bit slack, they'd put something in place so this wouldn't happen again. People should know about the cat they rehome, and the cats deserve to be placed with people who are able and willing to meet their needs, that can't happen if they're not disclosed. If the vet hadn't operated when she did my boy would certainly have died - if I'd known what to look out for and had the medical records the vet would have known sooner what was needed instead of spending a day and a bit doing tests while my boy got more ill. I'd like to prevent this happening to anyone else.

Yes I completely agree with that. They should have told you and you need to speak to them

One of my colleagues had a similar thing happen to her. Turned out one of her cats, had massive issues with constipation that the rescue must have known about. Her insurance wouldn't cover it so she had to return both cats as she couldn't afford repeated trips to the vet for manual unblocking. It was really sad.

Crikey yes they should have told you and it should have been on the medical form you got when you rehomed. It does sound like an error (albeit a big one) rather than intentional. Was it an adoption centre? If so they generally have a centre manager who you can raise this with to ensure they are more careful in future and change procedures. If you're not happy, raise the issue with head office.

If it’s a big national charity and you have evidence they knew about it I’d at least go back to them and ask them to pay costs, or at least contribute.

Most animals with vet issues if they are rehomed the charity will bear costs, because they can’t be insured- so don’t worry about not insuring.

If they weren’t prepared to bear costs because of the seriousness they should have done the kind thing and had him pts.

They should have told you.When I got my cat I was told everything about him and his medical history. He was poorly after a few weeks with something monor and the charity offerred to pay for the vets. It was only £25.00 so I didnt mind paying myself.
OP I would ask them to help with the cost of that bill and any future vet bills to do with his issues.

I had similar with a large national cat charity. I wouldn't return my cat as luckily I'm able to afford the ongoing vets bills but my next cat wasn't adopted from them and I won't support them going forwards. I told them I was extremely annoyed about the situation when they called me 6 weeks after adoption to check on the cat.

I have a friend who adopted a cat from a charity, she was told it’s full medical history and as it has an ongoing health issue the charity pays for all vets bills.
I do think they should have told you so it was clear what you were letting yourself in for.
I hope your cat is on the mend now.

Yes you should have been told. Even being told wouldn't have made a difference for insurance however as no insurance will cover pre-existing conditions. I suspect the options they will give you is return the cat or accept responsibility for all future costs.

Aw, poor little thing.

I'm surprised the charity didn't automatically forward his records, yes I would speak to them.

We got a lovely cat years ago, told me she had an ear infection, gave me a course for meds for her. No improvement so took her to my own vet. She was brain damaged - likely starved of oxygen during birth. She could never be left unsupervised as she could jump up but fell down - def no landing on feet ever went on. Disappointed with their lack of concern for her future. She did very well until became very incontinent and had to be pts.

Thanks for replies - not sure if I feel better or worse to know similar has happened to others. It does feel like cock up rather than deliberate I think, but for an organisation that big I don't think it should have happened.

As I said in my OP, as lovely as he is, I wouldn't have taken this cat if I had known his history, my children have had too much loss already to choose to expose them to more, that's what I'm most angry about. I'm also angry about the cost and about him having to be in pain longer while the vet worked out what was wrong, its just was all so avoidable. Like Loki I won't return him but I also won't adopt another cat from there. I've adopted every cat I've had in adult life from there, but I don't trust them any more.

Lovely cat seems to be happy to be home, he's currently curled up on my sons pillow purring into his face! But he's also still not out of the woods, and the same thing could happen any time, leading to at best distressing and expensive surgery and at worst him dying during surgery or having to have him pts to save him more pain . The vet was fantastic, he's so sweet and has been so unwell that she'd clearly got attached to him through all this - she had to have a moment to give him a kiss and cuddle before we put him in his carrier to come home!