I truly want this organization to improve and do better, because I believe they have a lot of good intentions, but unfortunately I have to recommend being very cautious about adopting from them.
I was put through a vigorous screening process in order to be an adopter, including a call to my regular vet to confirm the truth of what I told them about my history as a cat owner, and I had no problem with going through that process. Unfortunately however, the organization seems to treat openness and transparency as a one-way street.
I adopted an extremely sweet kitten whose profile on their website described him as having "a mild seizure disorder that is easily controlled with an inexpensive medication" (a direct quote). In the two and a half months he was with me, he had seizures severe enough to be a medical emergency almost every week. I closely followed the advice of multiple veterinarians at different clinics, including a neurologist, who worked together to try to manage the seizures by adjusting his two medications. The cost of his care in the time he was with me was over $6000 (because no pet insurance plan can cover a pre-existing condition, everything was out-of-pocket).
Sadly, everything that I could do wasn't enough. His seizures continued to be severe enough to require emergency care, and the vets advised me that continuing the regimen of medications he was on would eventually cause his liver to fail. After being told there was nothing more his vets could offer, and after weeks of seeing how miserable the seizures and medications were making him, I had to reluctantly accept the advice of his vets to put him to sleep.
To be clear, it was not in any way the fault of Abbey Cats that my kitten had such an unusually severe case of epilepsy, or that he had to be put to sleep. But it doesn't sit well with me that they described his condition as "mild" on their website when they knew he had a history of severe seizures requiring emergency care from the time he was two months old, and had been given an uncertain prognosis by his previous vets (I learned this when my vets obtained his previous medical records).
When I brought this up with them, they claimed they did nothing wrong because his seizures appeared to be well under control in the weeks leading up to his adoption; however, I don't find that compelling. Yes, epilepsy is an unpredictable condition, and they had no way of knowing exactly how things would play out. But I don't believe that justifies their choice to downplay his condition by describing it as "mild." To be blunt, I can't imagine thinking it was okay not to volunteer to an adopter that a cat had a history of needing frequent emergency attention.
I would have felt much better about my adoption experience if I had been told "You should be aware this kitten has had seizures in the past that were severe enough to be a medical emergency, and his vets have warned us his prognosis is uncertain. His seizures seem to to be well under control right now; however, we encourage you to speak with his previous vets, because they can tell you more about his condition."
I should mention that after an e-mail, they apologized that I wasn't given the opportunity to speak with my kitten's previous vet before the adoption. They assured me that is typically their practice and that they will take steps to ensure it is followed in future. I hope that happens; however, I'm not encouraged by reading fosters share that they were assured an unhealthy cat would never be placed in a home where there were cats already, only to learn that kittens placed in their home had never been seen by a vet. Not having the resources to send cats to the vet until they show signs of being ill is understandable for a rescue organization; not being transparent about this fact with people who volunteer to foster for them is not. This saddens me because the volunteer who fostered my kitten is a wonderful human being who was incredibly supportive to me, and she and other fosters deserve better. read more