Le Chateau Bleu Ragdolls Susan Leuci Will not honor contract!!! Paris Tennessee

I purchased a kitten from this Breeder on 12/16/14. I was provided with a four page contract that stated that the kitten was in good health and that I would be required to spay her by the time she was 9 months old or else be sued for $1000 fee plus filing and attorney fees and would be required to surrender the kitten at that time. If the kitten could not be returned, the fee would go up to $2000 plus attorney and filing fees. I originally paid $650 for this kitten because she was slightly older than usual - 19 weeks old. Her birthdate was 8/1/14. The contract stated that the kitten tested negative for FELV (Feline Leukemia) and FIV (Feline AIDS). It states, "The buyer understands the FELV (Feline Leukemia) and FIP immunizations are not recommended as the Feline Leukemia may give a FALSE positive."

After bringing the kitten home, she seemed withdrawn and didn't eat for the first four days except for a couple of bites of kitten treats. I had assumed her behavior was because of her stressful transition going from one home to another, being away from all of her family and familiar territory. She was the only cat in the house... I stress this important factor because it is relevant to illness. On Saturday night 12/20/14, she finally ate an entire bowl of food. I was very relieved thinking she was finally coming around to a comfort zone. But after that, she didn't appear to eat anything.

On early morning of Christmas Day at approximately 3:00am, my husband woke me and brought me to the kitten in our bathroom. She had been trying to eat, but had vomitted twice. She had labored breathing and was in a lot of pain and discomfort. Of course on Christmas morning, all animal hospitals were closed, although I tried to contact the nearest one because she was obviously on death's doorstep. Within about ten minutes of my waking, she had vomitted twice and died.

I contact the breeder that same day via email asking for advice. I put her in a cooler to keep her body cool although the breeder told me to put her on ice (I assume that meant to put her in the freezer). The contract stated that I needed to get and "autopsy" performed (necropsy is the proper term). Freezing her body would have damaged the soft tissue making lab results difficult to perform. I contacted multiple vets and pet hospitals around my area and nobody would take the kittens remains to perform a necropsy. All of them said that they send out their pets for necropsies at Bridgeton University. Of course, it was Christmas break!!! I contacted the breeder asking for help and she didn't have much advice to offer. I felt like I was out on my own. Time was ticking by way too fast and I needed the procedure done asap.

I finally found one vet to refer me to Dr. Banerjee. He has performed these procedures for 35 years and usually gets a lot of business from the local vets. He had just come back home from vacation on the morning of 12/29/14. I promptly rushed the remains to his office and paid him $100 for the procedure. Very quickly I received a prognosis - the kitten died of FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis). Later, lab results confirmed the same.

According to the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University... "Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a viral disease of cats caused by certain strains of a virus called the feline coronavirus. Most strains of feline coronavirus are avirulent, which means that they do not cause disease, and are referred to as feline enteric coronavirus. Cats infected with a feline coronavirus generally do not show any symptoms during the initial viral infection, and an immune response occurs with the development of antiviral antibodies. In a small percent of infected cats (5 to 10 percent), either by a mutation of the virus or by an aberration of the immune response, the infection progresses into clinical FIP. The virus is then referred to as feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV). With the assistance of the antibodies that are supposed to protect the cat, white blood cells are infected with virus, and these cells then transport the virus throughout the cat's body. An intense inflammatory reaction occurs around vessels in the tissues where these infected cells locate, often in the abdomen, kidney, or brain. It is this interaction between the body's own immune system and the virus that is responsible for the disease. Once a cat develops clinical FIP , involving one or many systems of the cat's body, the disease is progressive and is almost always fatal. The way clinical FIP develops as an immune-mediated disease is unique, unlike any other viral disease of animals or humans."

Also, "FIP is not a highly contagious disease, since by the time the cat develops clinical disease only a small amount of virus is being shed. Feline coronavirus can be found in large quantities in the saliva and feces of cats during the acute infection, and to a lesser extent in recovered or carrier cats, so it can be transmitted through cat-to-cat contact and exposure to feces. The virus can also live in the environment for several weeks. The most common transmission of feline coronavirus occurs when infected female cats pass along the virus to their kittens, usually when the kittens are between five and eight weeks of age."

Basically, everything I've read about this disease and with confirmation from vets and Dr. Banerjee, Kittens are often infected when they are 4 to 6 weeks old, when the antibody protection they received from their mothers through the milk is declining. Kittens usually start showing signs of FIP when they are between 3 months and 2 years of age. Most of the kittens with FIP die between 8 and 18 months of age. FIP is a mutation of the FVoP virus. FVoP is basically just a cold amongst cats, but 1 in 5000 felines with decreased antibodies will have the FVoP virus mutate into FIP. Also, symptoms of the disease may not show up for years in some cases because the virus flares up when the feline suffers from stress or trauma. And finally, the virus FVoP is transmitted from cat to cat, usually in litter boxes. The breeder openly admitted to my mother and I that they allow stays to enter their home so they can take them to be fixed. It is very likely that if they never had FVoP enter into there home from their own breeding cats that they contaminated their home with the strays.

After telling the breeder the results of the autopsy, she stated that she would have no further communication with me. According to Dr. Banerjee, if the kitten was isolated from any other cats since I received her, she definitely contracted FVoP at the breeder's home. Also, that the mutation of the virus had to have occurred prior to my picking her up. Since she began showing signs of depression and loss of appetite so soon after coming home, she was already dying when I got her. This breeder, according to our contract, owes me a new kitten. I have provided the autopsy report in addition to autopsy pictures in order to make my claim. She has refused to respond to any of my messages since I told her about the results. I will have to file suit against her in order to receive damages.

I never would have resorted to such extremes as this if she had honored the contract that she signed. Also, if she hadn't been so rude to refuse to communicate I wouldn't have become so upset over the entire matter. Dr. Banerjee said that I have an extremely strong case to get a replacement kitten or my money back. He has seen a lot of cases like these and has been extremely helpful.

I would strongly caution anyone from purchasing from this breeder for two reasons... 1) her cats have a contagious lethal desease... 2) she will not honor her end of the contract.