I agree. This is the fourth cat we will be adopting from this particular
shelter (over the course of a number of years). Each one comes with a
different story.

1. One animal they represented as being approximately 3 years old.
Subsequently, they admitted she had been in fostered in another woman's home
for three years and had arrived at that home as an adult. I ultimately
figured out that the cat was probably at least 5 years old. The cat was in
good health, however.

2. We fostered two adult cats who had been found together. The shelter
represented that the animals were approximately 5 years old. I subsequently
discovered they were closer to 10. We were unable to keep one of them
because he terrorized our dog for two months. Ultimately, he was adopted
into a different home. We kept the one who was not terrorizing our dog. He
had a broken tooth, two infected claws, and major gingivitis, but at least
we knew what we were getting into.

3.  We fostered a pregnant cat from the same shelter (who had been dropped
off at a kill shelter, and the no-kill shelter was notified and rescued
her). She too arrived with fleas. Fortunately, we were keeping her in a
completely separate part of the house, so the fleas didn't spread, but we
had to live with that situation for several months until the kittens were
weaned and old enough to tolerate the anti-flea medication. The shelter paid
for the anti-flea medication, but we subsequently footed the bill for an
exterminator and a professional carpet cleaning service. I had never
fostered a pregnant cat before that and when I told the woman from the
shelter that I had some concerns because the cats would be staying in a room
with carpeting, she assured me there wouldn't be any mess. Of course, there
was. When a cat is nursing, her underside is always wet with milk and she
rolls on the carpet and the milk gets on the carpet and dries and smells
bad. Imagine the odor after two months of this! When I subsequently asked
how the other foster moms avoided this problem, the woman matter-of-factly
informed me that the other fosters didn't keep nursing cats in rooms with
carpeting!!

The current cat did have a complete medical examination by a veterinarian
three months ago when he entered the system.  When I confronted the woman
from the shelter (who had been fostering him) about the gingivitis, she
admitted they knew about it. With respect to the fleas, the cat was treated
for fleas at the time of his medical exam. Apparently, several months later,
there were some kittens in the same foster home who had fleas, and he got
reinfested. When confronted, the woman said something like "Oh dear...I
thought that by keeping those kittens in the bathroom, the fleas hadn't
spread to the other cats in the house. I guess I was mistaken. Sorry about
that."

Why am I not surprised?

Yup.

I once looked into getting pet insurance but decided it wasn't worth it.
For my older animals (approximately 10 years old at the time), the insurance
company wanted $100 worth of blood work and $300 a year premium. After I did
both, they rejected my animals due to age (and returned my deposit). They
couldn't have mentioned that upfront? For young healthy animals, the cost of
an annual exam and vaccinations is about $100. The insurance company
excludes preexisting conditions, so the insurance would not cover the cost
of the teeth cleaning or the flea treatment for this new cat. You're paying
$240 a year in insurance. Assuming your cat is healthy, are you sure it's
worth it?
Best regards,
---Cindy S.

I volunteer for Cats Protection (www.cats.org.uk) here in the UK. At our
shelters, all cats are checked by our vet as soon as possible after they
arrive, they're wormed and de-flead while they're with us and the
prospective adopters receive a full medical history when they take the cat
home. We have a deal with one of the major insurance companies who give 6
weeks free insurance when the cat leaves us, just in case anything is
missed, from what I gather most people continue with it, I pay about £110
a year for my Missy, which I consider excellent value.

Ivor

snip

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I think because the treatment is good for only 30 days but the flea eggs can
be in the carpeting much longer than that and still hatch. If the cats are
treated for 90 days, the possibility of reinfestation is greatly reduced.
Best regards,
---Cindy S.