Protect Your Pet - sales contract, viruses, cancer
Cat Admirers, Clients, Owners, Potential Buyers, and Breeders,
We wanted to write this article to make emphasis on how important it is to read and follow your contract when purchasing a kitten.
Contracts are made to help protect You and your kitten.
These Kitten Agreements & Contracts are legally binding agreements that outline the terms and conditions of the sale or adoption, as well as the responsibilities of both parties. Here are several reasons why adhering to a kitten sales contract is important:
Legal Obligation: A kitten sales contract is a legally binding document that outlines the rights and responsibilities of both the buyer and the seller.
Clarity and Expectations: Contracts provide clarity on various aspects of the transaction, such as the kitten's health status, vaccinations, spaying/neutering, and any warranties or guarantees. This ensures that both parties have a clear understanding of what to expect.
Health and Well-being of the Kitten: The contract often includes clauses related to the kitten's health and well-being. By adhering to these clauses, the seller ensures that the kitten is in good health and has received appropriate veterinary care before the sale.
Quality Assurance: The contract may specify the breed, pedigree, or specific characteristics of the kitten. Adhering to these terms ensures that the buyer receives the kitten they expected and paid for.
Responsible Ownership: Contracts may include provisions related to responsible ownership, such as spaying/neutering requirements and restrictions on breeding. These clauses promote ethical and responsible pet ownership.
Warranty and Guarantees: Many contracts include warranties or guarantees regarding the kitten's health or genetic conditions. Adhering to these terms provides recourse for the buyer in case the kitten develops health issues covered by the contract.
Consumer Protection: Kitten sales contracts can offer protection to both buyers and sellers. Buyers can have confidence that they will receive a healthy kitten, while sellers can ensure that their kittens go to responsible and caring homes.
It is important for us to reiterate that every Breeding Queen or Sire in our home and cattery are genetically tested free and clear of any harmful genetic or hereditary diseases. These genetic tests are always performed prior to first breeding our Queens to ensure that the litters are free from genetic or hereditary diseases.
Every breeding Queen, every breeding Sire, and every single kitten that is born and raised in our home are SNAP or Elisa tested to prove that our kittens are free of the contagious viruses FIV and FeLV. These test results are given to every single kitten’s new owner alongside their vaccine records.
It is crucial that the new owner of the kitten abides by the contract, by taking their new kitten to their vet within 24-72 hours of receiving them. Please, also ask your vet to have your kitten SNAP tested at that time once again to confirm the Breeder’s test and to continue to take care of the veterinary maintenance of the kitten within proper or required timing.
It is imperative to quarantine your kitten from the outdoors as they are susceptible to being exposed to deadly and highly contagious viruses that may be contacted from feral cats.
It is paramount not to let your cat wander outside, be outside unsupervised, or let your cat be exposed to any outdoor area or enclosure that infected feral cats can urinate/defecate on or near or your cat or kitten to be scratched or bit by. It is important to make sure all of your other pets are quarantined away from your new kitten for at least 14 days and make sure that no-one is exposed to other animals that can be accidentally given to the new kitten.
***We are now recommending that all of our kitten owners highly consider to have their vet administer the FeLV vaccine under their own descretion. Of course, speak to your vet about any risks involved with this vaccine before you make the decision. FeLV vaccine is not a core vaccine and must be elected by the owner. There are risks that a Felv vaccinated cat may still be at risk to contacting the infection but the studies say the risk is much lower than unvaccinated.
The leading cause of death in domestic cats is the FeLV virus. The next leading causes are Cancer and Heart Disease.
It has been clear that there are some owners of cats and kittens that have let their feline companion roam around outside or be brought outside to be exposed to these viruses and their cat/kitten developed FeLV or FIV and lymphoma as a result.
Lymphoma is not a genetic disease. Lymphoma is a cancer that is connected to FeLV, FIV and other environmental factors. Even some cleaning agents, or medications have been linked to feline lymphoma.
Unlike lymphoma in dogs, viral causes of feline lymphoma are well defined, and the feline leukemia virus (FeLV) has been shown to cause a significant (~60 fold) increase in risk for development of lymphoma in cats.
The main type of Lymphoma that is linked to FeLV or FIV virus is called “Mediastinal Lymphoma”. The mediastinum is a term used for a special aggregation of lymphoid tissue in the chest. Cats with this type of lymphoma are usually young and often seen because of a sudden onset of difficulty breathing, decreased energy level and decrease in appetite.
Mediastinal/thymic lymphoma comprises 10-20% of feline lymphomas.
Cause: historically most (>80-85%) cases were associated with feline leukemia virus which can cause malignant transformation of lymphocytes but this is no longer the case following widespread FeLV vaccination. Living in areas with smoke can also be a cause.
Signs: associated with respiratory system (dyspnea, coughing, tachypnea) and/or esophagus (anorexia, regurgitation, dysphagia, drooling).
Diagnosis: radiography, ultrasonography, computed tomography, cytology, histopathology, flow cytometry, PCR for antigen rearrangement.
Treatment: thoracocentesis, chemotherapy, radiation therapy.
Prognosis: overall median survival time approximately 12 months (32 months for cats achieving a complete response to chemotherapy).
Age predisposition: Mediastinal lymphoma is typically seen in young (1-3 year) cats.
Etiology: most (>80-85%) cases were associated with feline leukemia virus Feline leukemia virus disease, which can cause malignant transformation of lymphocytes. FIV+ cats are at increased risk for development of lymphoma.
More information with references:
Lymphomas and leukemias account for approximately 30% of all feline neoplasms (reviewed in Stützer et al. 2014). Although no clear genetic predisposition to lymphoma development in general has been identified in cats (Court et al. 1997; Vail 2000)
By PCR, 15 of the 20 (75%) lymphoma samples studied were positive for a FIV-specific PCR product of the expected size and sequence (Table 1). Of the five samples that were PCR negative for FIV genome, two were also negative for more than five of the eight antibodies tested, suggestive of a very low frequency of FIV-infected or proviral-containing cells in those lymphomas.
The majority of studies suggest an indirect mechanism of oncogenesis that involves chronic lymphocyte activation and/or defective cell-mediated immunosurveillance, which may then aid the transformation of lymphoid cell clones and interfere with their elimination (Beatty, Lawrence, et al. 1998; Endo et al. 1997; Hartmann et al. 2012; Magden et al. 2013; Terry et al. 1995).
FIV-infected cats are approximately five times more likely to develop lymphoma or leukemia than non-infected cats (Shelton et al. 1990; reviewed in Hartmann 2012).
Please make sure that you keep your beautiful cats (and dogs) safe from deadly viruses. Have your vet do regular check ups and testing.
As an admirer of all breeds of cats and kittens, we want to be as informational as possible, and we want to share any preventative measures with our current and future kitten owners as well as every cat or kitten owner out there so that more families of any breed of cat can avoid going through the pain of losing a cat to these deadly viruses and cancers.
We wish you the happiest of long healthy years with your new loving pet <3
