Hello everyone.

A few weeks ago I got two British Shorthair kittens from a breeder who lives nearby, after I saw an advert online. Originally I was only going to get one but thought it would be nice to have a brother and sister who could spend time together, since I am out at work during the day usually.

The blue female kitten is absolutely lovely and is doing well. The spotted male, however, had to be put down on Monday. I am not sure what happened but I suspect that he was damaged from birth. The queen had a litter of five, which I think is a lot for the breed, two of which died at birth.

My male kitten put on very little weight and was not as active as his sister. He also seemed quite stupid, but it was quite adorable. He wasn't very good at jumping and instead would just "claw" his way up onto things with his front legs.

I took him to the vet to be checked and he recommended some bile tests. I had these done on Monday, after not feeding him for 12 hours. In the morning he was shaking and after he got back from the vets (where they fed him), I gave him some more wet food which he ate quickly.

For the rest of the afternoon he was very loud and crying - I figured he was just distressed from the vet trip so I put both cats into their room for an early night and checked on them a few hours later. As I entered the room, he started squealing and mewing a lot and walking in a straight line. He walked till his head hit the wall then he just kept walking till he got to the corner and just kept scrabbling. It was the most upsetting thing I have seen.

I think he went blind or something and he was twitching a lot so I took him to the emergency vet straight away. Basically, they said there was nothing to be done and he should be put to sleep, so I allowed them to do that. I'd only had him for about three weeks and he was almost 4 months old.

I've emailed the the breeder and she has offered another kitten from her new litter, which will be ready around the 21st of December. I will be honest and say that I had hoped she would offer a refund as I don't know how a new kitten and my current BSH will get on. She's very friendly so I hope they would be fine.

The spotted male was insured and I think I can claim the price back from that, but do you think it would be ethical to claim the insurance AND take a replacement kitten?

What experiences have you had of getting a new cat so soon after one died?

Sorry this is such a long post. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

So sorry to hear of the loss of your kitty, do you know why it happened?

I would claim on the insurance and take the new kitty if thats what you want to do however I may be inclined to look at a different breeder.

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"Life may not be the party we hoped for,
but while we're here we might as well dance."

No idea what happened. I only found out about necropsies later so it is probably too late now as he will have been cremated.

ahh thats a shame, it must of been so awful to watch him struggling. I dont know much about breeding I'm afraid but I would be tempted to look at another breeder as I said before but I would definately claim on the insurance in any account.

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"Life may not be the party we hoped for,
but while we're here we might as well dance."

I would like to look at another breeder, to be honest. The problem is I am too embarrassed to mention anything like money with her! Plus my other kitten is just so perfect that I am willing to put this down to a sad mistake and accept her offer of a replacement.

Watching him was so awful and I can't help wondering if it is something I did but you should see his sister - she is doing so well!

I'm very sorry to hear about your kitten. From the fact that the vet did bile acid tests and from the symptoms, it sounds like he may have had a liver shunt - this is a congenital defect and nothing to do with infection or the way the kitten was reared. However I do think the breeder should have noticed something wasn't right, and not allowed a kitten to go to a new home like that.

I wouldn't rule out having another kitten from the same breeder, but make sure it is healthy and a normal size and weight for its age.

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