Why It’s Okay To Complain About Your Registered Breeder
I am an experienced cat owner and a volunteer for a local animal shelter, so when I decided that I wanted a pedigree cat, and specifically a Ragdoll, I set out to do a lot of research before jumping in. Although I work from home, I knew I wanted 2 kittens together, knowing they like company. When I began my search, first and foremost, the kitten’s health and wellbeing was the most important thing to me.
I knew that the only route to getting healthy and happy kittens was via a breeder who registers them. This means they are governed by one of the bodies and are bound by the rules of the governing body to ensure welfare is at the top of their priority when it comes to breeding.
Having found The British Ragdall Cat Club, I made contact with a few breeders local to me. One breeder got back to me very quickly with available kittens, but I did not want to commit to the first option I had, knowing what I knew about Ragdolls. I was keen to ensure I not only found the right kittens but the right breeder for me, so I took my time to do extensive research, using every corner of the web and social media to find every bit of information I could about the breeder before I proceeded at all. I was delighted that I found nothing negative! I had found my kittens, and the countdown to my dream of owning two ragdolls began.
Fast forward several weeks to picking up the kittens. At this point, I was beyond excited! The breeder confirmed a date that I could collect the two kittens. I had reserved two kittens from separate litters, who were approximately 3 weeks apart in age. Knowing kittens usually leave at 13 - 14 weeks, the breeder agreed to keep the older kitten with them until the younger kitten was ready to fly nest, so to speak. I’d asked for this so it was less of an upheaval for them. The kittens wellbeing was at the heart of all my decisions, so as much as I was desperate to bring home my first kitten, I knew it was better to wait a few more weeks until both were old enough to leave.
The day of collection finally arrived, and I was brimming with excitement! When I arrived to meet with the breeder, I suppose you could say my excitement was diminished somewhat by their approach to the situation. It felt very much like I was part of a business transaction. The breeder didn’t seem very interested in her two stunning kittens that were leaving that day. But, despite my reservations on her approach, I put that down to being part of the detachment process that I am sure breeders need to go through, to make it easier to let them go. The breeder provided me with GCCF registration cards, microchip details and vaccination cards and all the information you’d expect. All in all, I was pleased that I had chosen an approved and registered breeder, and so happy to be bringing my beautiful kittens home with me.
The kittens were perfect! After just a few days they had completely settled and were friendly, loving and affectionate. We’d even got into a routine where they slept at night; so no 3am zoomies! After a few weeks, it was time for my boy to be booked in for his neuter, so we took him off to the vets for his pre operational check. You can only imagine my worry, when the vet then informed us that our boy had a low-grade heart murmur, as well as ear mites. I felt terrible as I had absolutely no idea. Because of this, I decided to take my girl for a check too to ensure everything was okay with her, only to find she also had a low-grade heart murmur and ear mites. I couldn’t quite believe both kittens had the same issues, how did this happen? Following this, I got in contact with the vet who had seen the kittens for their vaccinations before I had brought them home with me. It shocked me to find out that my little boy, the younger of the two kittens, had only had his second vaccination the day before I picked him up. This set alarm bells off to me, after all my research I knew that this was a red flag, I was sure that breeders were supposed to wait at least a week after a vaccine before rehoming in case of reactions. I found out that this is a GCCF rule break.
All registered kittens must not leave the breeder until 7 days after the second vaccine.
Thankfully, there is a good network of amazing breeders who I came to know, and decided to get some advice. It didn’t feel right that the breeder of my kittens was breaking rules like this and getting away with it; I had gone out of my way to try and find healthy kittens and I felt conned. I decided to contact a well-known breeder who I knew I could trust, to let them know I had been unfortunate that one of my kittens came to me too soon after the vaccination.
We spoke at length and I decided that the right thing to do was to make a complaint to GCCF and TBRCC. I started by contacting someone at GCCF, who was very helpful and the process was very easy, just completing a form and provided some supporting evidence. I just had to pay a £15 admin fee to process the complaint. I also sent the exact same information to TBRCC. Both GCCF and TBRCC were VERY supportive answered all my questions and quickly.
I also spoke with a few other breeders at this time to ensure I was fully educated on the Ragdoll breed, what to look out for and what to expect. I naturally had questions to ask, as most do as new cat owners, but I couldn’t address these with the original breeder. After many conversations, I soon found out that I was not the first person to have problems with this breeder, but surprisingly, no one else had wanted to report them.
Following from my complaints to both GCCF and TBRCC, both contacted the breeder to review the case. This involved asking the breeder for further information and their own evidence or arguments against the case, to ensure it is looked at fairly, from the perspective of the welfare of the cats alone, and not from opinion. Ultimately, as a result of my complaint for a mere £15, GCCF fined and temporally suspended the breeder from breeding, and TBRCC took further action too.
I was really shocked to find out that no one else had previously complained, as it came to light that there had been many other issues with this breeder and her kittens, some much, much worse than mine. But not one owner had taken it to GCCF to complain.
I’m lucky that my issue didn’t give my kittens any long-term problems, they both grew out of the heart murmurs, and their ear mites cleaned up eventually. They are both happy and healthy kittens now, no thanks to the breeder.
I didn’t choose to complain and go through the long process of a complaint for myself, or my kittens. I did this for future owners. I did this for you. I did this so this doesn’t need to happen to anyone else.
All future owners should feel comfortable that they are buying healthy kittens, and I want this for each and every one of you.
If you have any doubt please reach out to GCCF, they couldn’t have been nicer. If you know your breeder has broken any rule save someone else’s heartbreak and please speak up.
Best of luck finding the purrfect kitty
True Account by Ragdoll Owner Catherine