I adopted from this breeder and very much regret it. In the event that the owner attempts to comment on my review and dispute it, I am posting this review under a fictional name. The few pros to this breeder:
* I received the cat
* They also flew the cat to me by plane at a reasonable price.
THE CONS:
Spay/Neuter & FeLV Testing Is Not Included, and Vaccines Are Not Up to Standard:
This breeder's website and owner Alla Andreyeva, claim that the felines "come vaccinated." After I paid the deposit, Alla told me to tell me the kitten would need TWO more vaccines. Alla only completed one vaccine, which was done only 1 week before we adopted the kitten. I told Alla I felt misled by the claim the kittens "come vaccinated" and asked if she could complete the vaccines as promised. Her response: "I said the kitten came vaccinated. It didn't mean the cat came fully vaccinated." Also, if the kitten was 15 weeks, who in their right mind would allow a kitten to go nearly 4 months without their vaccine while living with over a dozen other cats?
Alla also does not test her animals for FELV and FIV prior to adoption. Almost every reputable breeder (as well as animal rescues and shelters) will test their animals to ensure they are FELV and FIV-free before adoption. Considering that spay and neutering weren't included, having to pay for FeLV testing and vaccines out of pocket is expensive (this cost us nearly an extra $500 we weren't expecting) and, frankly, gross and unsanitary.
False Date of Birth to Bypass Breeding DOB Requirements:
I am almost certain Alla falsifies the date of birth of the feline litters to get them adopted sooner. The DOB of the feline Alla gave me would set the cat at 15 weeks at the time we adopted it. The kitten looked much younger than 15 weeks in the photos Alla sent us. I have three years of experience raising kittens myself, so I am knowledgeable about the growth progress of kittens but gave it a hesitant benefit of the doubt.
When I picked the cat up from the airport, the kitten looked barely 2 months old. When I took my kitten to the vet, the vet laughed when I told him the DOB Alla gave me. The vet completed a dental exam and blood work (since they can tell a kitten's age by their teeth,) and he informed me the kitten was no more than 9 weeks old! To be sure, I then went to a SECOND vet who confirmed the same findings.
Alla's response was very telling of her actions & she got incredibly angry with me for "not believing her."
Considering that breeders are recommended not to adopt their cats out until 14 weeks of age, it makes sense why she chose the date of birth that would put this cat at exactly 15 weeks.
* Failed Complete TICA Registration:
A few months after I adopted the kitten, I contacted Alla to submit proof of the spay/neuter certification. Her only response was to pick a fight that the vet listed the kitten's DOB to be the one they deemed to be appropriate for the cat based on their assessment. Instead of processing the neuter certification and moving, Alla prolonged this by sending me a photo of the TICA registration to serve as "proof" of the DOB she wanted to claim. Alla was too clumsy to notice the TICA registration included the date they are registered. Per the TICA records, the date she registered them was the date of this conversation. She literally registered it while speaking to me over the phone lol. I contacted TICA directly, and they confirmed the registration date. This aligns with her previous clumsy attempts at manipulation. She assumed that simply having an external record would validate her claim--but a record created in real-time does not retroactively establish a paper trail.
Another glaring red flag is that, months after these kittens were no longer in her possession, she still had not bothered to register them.
In 2022 Alla posted to the Cattery's Instagram that Neelix, the sire of the kittens, was retiring. This is also a lie, as 2 years later, Neelix is still breeding and is listed as the Sire on the medical records of the kittens Alla is selling. Myself and many other owners who discussed our poor experiences with Alla on Reddit, have experienced health problems with their cats since adopting from her, none of which she has taken accountability for. Link to the Reddit convo: https://www.reddit.com/r/britishshorthair/comments/10wiic1/does_anyone_have_experience_with_maks_british/
While I consider myself lucky compared to the several adopters whose felines from this breeder died very quickly, our kitten was also sick with respiratory-related symptoms upon arrival & had an ear infection that took months to go away. I contacted Alla the day we adopted the cat to let her know, and she blamed it on the cat being stressed and then blamed it on me. What could I have done that would have contracted an illness upon this cat within 15 minutes of the feline being in my possession?
DO NOT ADOPT FROM HERE!! read more