(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
SPOKANE, Wash. - A Spokane woman says her kitten died a few days after she adopted it from SCRAPS, now she wants the shelter to be held accountable.
Whitney Chamberlin adopted the nine-week-old cat on Oct. 17. Three days later on Oct. 21, Chamberlin picked the kitten up from Pet Savers after it was spayed.
“The day we brought her home it was immediately obvious she was sick,” said Chamberlin. “I thought it was from surgery but it got worse and worse.”
Chamberlin took the kitten to the Garland Animal Clinic. Veterinarians there prescribed the kitten medicine and sent her home.
But the next day, things got worse.
“I found her almost dead on the floor the next morning,” said Chamberlin. “It was devastating. When I woke up and grabbed her I threw a coat on, grabbed my one-year-old daughter, and rushed to the vet.”
The kitten had an untreatable contagious virus and died two hours after Chamberlin took it to the vet.
“I want not only no more cats to get sick and suffer and die but no more people to have to experience that,” said Chamberlin. “It didn't seem like they were doing anything to prevent it from continuing to happen.”
But SCRAPS is disputing Chamberlin’s claims. According to the shelter, they vaccinate and perform health evaluations on every animal during intake.
SCRAPS staff says it’s possible that the kitten had the virus before it came into the shelter. They say two kittens that came into the shelter with the sick cat have been adopted and so far, and they’ve received no reports that they are sick.
SCRAPS staff also says they used disposable cleaning supplies to sanitize the area where the kitten was staying after they heard about the virus.
Chamberlin was refunded her $70 adoption fee, but the bill from the animal clinic is $370.
Chamberlin says she doesn’t expect SCRAPS to pay the veterinarian bill but wants people to be aware of her situation.
SCRAPS brings in 6,000 cats each year. They say there is no outbreak at the shelter, but that things like this happen from time-to-time and adopting animals can be a risk.