PLEASE HELP....in such a pickle with my new CRX kitten </3 (AND THE BREEDER)
We got our baby, Ziggy, 10 days ago from a cattery in Memphis. We love him SO much, he's absolute perfection.
Sadly, on Sunday he got a little lethargic, which is weird for a 15 week old kitten who should be playful, borderline mischievous, and cuddly. By Monday his attitude was completely OFF. I wasn't home, but I thought my partner was being dramatic...until I got home and barely recognized him. He didn't get up to play the entire day, he didn't acknowledge us throughout the day, tried all different toys, cat TV, treats, etc. and he was also itching his ears a ton. The breeder diagnosed it over text as depression/anxiety and strongly advised us NOT to take him to the vet (especially before he's a year old). Also helpful context that we'd had him a week and still had ZERO adoption papers or medical records, despite asking for them since before we even picked him up.
We took him to the vet anyway. The vet got concerned by a kitten falling asleep in between visits, then honestly a little aggressive with us about our lack of paperwork, like we had any control over whether the breeder sent it. They wanted to run hundreds of dollars in tests (expected), but we asked to prioritize an ear swab and a lower-level blood panel first. The breeder and I were on the phone 2-3 times during the appointment (2.5 hrs of stress), her telling me not to let them touch him, not to leave him alone with anyone, not to set him down on any surface. The vet and techs were pretty judgmental toward us, honestly rightfully so, but my partner and I are 24 and this is our first pet, so we were stuck not knowing who to listen to.
His ears came back with a severe bacterial infection. The techs said it was really concerning we got him in that condition in the first place. Bloodwork came back clean, except his white blood cell count was more than double the threshold they flag (36 vs. 15). He's now on two antibiotics. Since then we've been messaging the breeder nonstop trying to get the adoption papers, medical records, and access to the 3-year health guarantee we were promised. The vet's office even suggested we get reimbursed by the breeder for these vet bills because we barely had him for a week (have yet to mention this to the breeder because I'm fearful it will push her away more).
He was still struggling the next day, low energy, and the vet said if the antibiotics hadn't kicked in within 24 hours we'd need to bring him back. It was hard to tell so we're continuing to wait it out.
It's Wednesday now and he's slowly coming back to himself, but we're still worried sick. I'm frustrated with the breeder, I'm anxious, I feel awful for my little guy having to go through this, and honestly kind of disrespected. We paid thousands of dollars for him and she can't even send us our own records electronically? Part of me wonders if she's rewriting the health guarantee before sending it over so she's not liable for any of this.
Any advice on how to handle the breeder situation would be so appreciated. Or if you've experience a sick kitten? They're so fragile at this age that everything feels so scary and pressing. This has been exhausting. HELP