The Real Stories of Buying from Breeders

This story begins when I decided I wanted to add a special needs cat to my family of two cats, unborn child and myself.

It was posted on Facebook that there was a blind pure bred Siamese kitten that needed a home and I knew she would be the perfect fit. When I got her, she was about 10 weeks old, blind, and about a month behind in her growth. This is when my work started. I knew the extra work that was going to be involved in a blind cat and was ready to get her as healthy as possible. We were unsure of her sight prognosis at the time and just knew we needed to do what we could to help her.

After she came home with me, I started to notice other issues with her. Her balance was completely off, she constantly fell, and it was only getting worse. Along with this, I realized her eyes were getting worse. They were infected and sinking into her head. The one vet we were seeing did not see issues with what was going on, so I found a new one.

The new vet took one look at her and knew more was going on. They decided she had a condition called Microphthalmia. Microphthalmia is a condition where the eye balls are too small for the sockets. It leads to blindness, infection, and a range of other issues. It was then decided removal of the eyes would be best.

When surgery day came, the vets saw the extent of her neurological problems... This was last week. Her surgery was not done, due to the fear that she could not handle anesthetic. I was told she may only have a couple months to live and I need to prepare myself for the probability that I will need to put her down.

I write this to let people in on the realities of breeders. Hope is the sweetest, most loving cat I have ever met. She has known nothing but pain, discomfort, and anguish from her inabilities to do the things she wants.

She cannot see, her eyes are constantly bothering her, and always running and goopy. I have to keep her claws long in order for her to jump onto the couch or bed, so she does not fall. Even then she often ends up losing her balance and falling off. She does complete flips when getting off the couch, because she does not have the balance to catch herself. The way that everyone who sees her describes her, and in reality is the best way to describe it to someone, is that she looks drunk. Even easy things like drinking water are more difficult for her. Hope's life is like this because of a greedy breeder who cared more about making money then the health and safety of the animals they were breeding.

Hope is not the only cat like this, genetic issues are becoming more and more popular with the rise in breeding and the rise in "cute" videos on social media platforms. Animals are now being bred to have genetic issues, because people think it is cute. I promise, it is not cute to have an animal who constantly suffers.

There is a condition that is being seen more and more often amongst cat rescuers called CH or Cerebellar Hypoplasia. It is a condition of the brain that causes unsteadiness and balance issues. There are mild, medium, and severe cases of it stemming from minor balance issues to the inability to even walk. Hope was originally diagnosed with CH. However, CH is not a condition that worsens over time. It never gets better, but it never gets worse. Also, any cat living with CH can live a long and healthy life. There is no increased chances of death because of the disease. Hope's condition will more than likely cause her to have a very early death.

There are many breeders, both for dogs and cats, that are great and know what they are doing. They have all their animals checked for genetic dispositions. I do not want to suggest that all breeders are irresponsible. However, it is my opinion that even though this is true, there are so many animals in need of a home. Shelters are overrun with cats and dogs that need a family. Yet there is a stigma about rescue animals and that people should have "pure breed" animals.

No animal should be subject to the life my cat is now subject to. It's very possible she will not make it to six months old. We are giving her the best life possible until the day comes that we need to make the hard decision. I write this in hopes that people will think twice before supporting breeders.