Carrousel Cattery Vicki Carter

I rescued a sick precious kitten from Mrs. Carter approximately two weeks ago. We received the kitten in the evening on Sept 18th, 2012. It’s ears were red & chapped on the outside, black on the inside, nose stuffed & crusty, it’s eye red & swollen & barely able to open, it’s white coat was dis-colored yellow & smelled of urine, and it wouldn’t move or walk around at all. She just slept & ate & used the bath-room from an upset stomach all night long. She was starving & extremely underweight. I took her to the vet the next morning, Sept 19th, 2012, at 9am.

At the vet, they discovered she was covered in fleas, had an upper respiratory infection, diarrhea due to an over-growth of bacteria, ringworm on her ears & eye brows. The vet told me that any one of these issues stand-alone were enough to kill her at her age with her immune system being so weak. I contacted animal control immediately and reported the neglect.

They nebulized her twice, gave her some fluids underneath her skin, medicine to kill the fleas, Panacer (a de-wormer), Erythromycin eye ointment, and Enisyl (anti-viral Lysine paste). She had to be administered Amoxicillin twice a day for 10 days for her upper respiratory infection & diarrhea, Panacer once a day for four days for a de-wormer, Enysil twice a day for seven days, Erythromycin eye ointment twice a day for seven days, and Lamisil twice day everyday still to today for ringworm treatment. We took her back into the vet the following Monday, Sept 24th, 2012, for a sulfur-lime dip to further treat her ringworm. This process dips the cat into a potent mixture consisting of lime&sulfur and must be done at least four times in one-week increments. She goes back for her second dip tomorrow. We’ve also had to treat the kitten plus our other three animals for fleas numerous times.

On September 28th, 2012, I noticed a couple red spots appear on my chest. I went to the local Urgent Care center and was diagnosed with ringworm and given a Diflucan pill and a Clotrimazole Cream to treat it. Over the course of the day on the 28th and the 29th, the ringworm spread from a few spots on my chest to covering my scalp, face, neck, shoulders, arms, chest, groin, legs, etc. I used the entire bottle of 1.59 cream in one day and had to go back to the Urgent Care on Sunday, September 30th, 2012 and was prescribed an anti-fungal tablet, cream, and shampoo.

This experience has not only proved very taxing monetarily, it’s also been a huge weight emotionally to have to watch our little kitten be fighting for her life. We’ve had to isolate her in a back room of the home all by herself since her arrival. I can only imagine the emotional weight and effect this experience is having on her current and overall well being- having been taken away from her mother then isolated alone for almost two weeks now. At first she was so sick that she never moved from the spot we left her. Now, after a swift and courageous recovery from most of her ailments minus the ringworm, she scratches at the door and meows to be let out. It breaks my heart to hear her and know there’s nothing I can do. I too have had to isolate away from everyone and everything and will probably still be treating my own even when she’s recovered.

To date, the money invested to recover from the sick kitten that Mrs. Carter sold me totals $778.45. This does not include the $450.00 we paid for the kitten or the $101.10 that her lime-sulfur dip will cost tomorrow. With those included, the grand total equals $1,329.55. I do not regret purchasing this sweet adorable kitten. I am in love with her and dedicated to her recovery and excited about her eventual introduction to our family. I found Mrs. Carter and her family to be pleasant and polite. I am sorry that for whatever reason she was unable to, as a professionally acclaimed CFA breeder, identify, treat, or disclose the obvious woe malaise & ailments of the kitten she bore me.