Passing The Buck

After this last email from Siobhan and a few calls she made to me that resulted in me asking for her supervisor whom she would NOT let me speak to and I never received a return call from her supervisor whom she told me was Jane, although I have no way to know if this is correct, I was passed off to Cathie from Kitty Kind.

Suddenly a phone call comes in from a number I do not recognize and Cathie is telling me to bring Leo back to her. She tries to convince me that it is in the best interest of Leo that I bring him to her so he can live in her home for two weeks, which is a one bedroom apartment with 4 cats of her own so she can observe Leo's behavior without medication in him.

So again a non-medical lay person is going to take the word of another non-medical person about me, the care my licensed Vet prescribed and try to make this about me rather than just doing the right thing.

I spent about 45 minutes on that call letting Cathie know the things that transpired between Siobhan and myself. According to Cathie she didn't even know I had Leo past the first night. She made claims that she didn't know Siobhan had called me and begged me to keep Leo and told me to speak with her from now on. But she was going to take the word about my character and demeanor from this woman without speaking with me first and get me to bring Leo to her.

And folks, I almost did this. Because Leo is very hard adjust to and help. And I never expected such a situation when adopting a baby cat. And after just losing Olivia whom I had for 17 years and greiving her I was not happy about being in this situation.

Cathie and I disgusted the diagnosis of FHS and separation anxiety. And Cathie told me that Siobhan never had Leo in her care. On this call I learned that Siobhan works for Murray Hill Veterinary as well as the Mayors Animal Alliance of NYC. On this call I learned that Leo lived at Murray Hill, NOT Siobhan's home for three weeks prior to being sent to Kitty Kind for adoption and that he lived in a cage for those three weeks, where he received his botched neutering and then was sent to another cage at Kitty Kind where I learned of him and adopted him. He lived in my home one night and was so sick, vomitting all night with food coming up 2.5 hours after each time he ate, and then blood coming out of his scrotum and what appeared his rectum as well the next morning, he had to go to a hospital as an in-patient and stay in another cage for three days.

Did any of these people really care about Leo's best interest then or now? NOPE! NO NO NO NO NO they did NOT! The only thing they cared about was covering their asses. The only thing they were concerned about was taking him out of my care because "I am on the ball", I ask a lot of questions, do a lot of research and I am a certified holistic healthcare practitioner who has the credentials to make assessments on the lack of proper care Leo received before coming into my care, thereby causing his condition to be exacerbated. I was deemed the problem because to these people I was THEIR problem, because they were scared I would OUT THEM!

And the ironic thing is that had these people just honored their word and helped with the medications as promised after begging me to keep a special needs kitty that they knew was a special needs kitty but purposely failed to disclose, and instead did everything to CYA, I would not have started this blog, nor written a letter to the Mayor of NYC regarding this organization's negligence. And that is exactly what this is: negligence of an animal.

If a civilian treated Leo as they did during his stay in their care, the ASPCA's police would have been called and that person would have been issued a summonds. And I suspect they are aware of this.

Here is what I emailed Cathie:

Hi Cathie,

There were MANY phone conversations where Siobhan verbally said things to me which were not written in emails. Before speaking with her on Thursday night I didn’t even know that there was something called a Sanctuary. It was Siobhan who mentioned that this was probably his only option upon hearing the situation as it was presenting. I called her as I was in my Vet’s office.

This is and has been Siobhan of Animal Alliance’s M.O. She will state certain things and offer certain options and then when I take her up on the offer for help, such as the sanctuary and then in this exchange the financial help for the medications so that I would keep him, she changes her story. I never asked for financial help. It was offered to me. I never heard of an animal sanctuary – she told me on the phone that was his only option and therefore I began writing directed in that way.

At first you will see what I highlighted is her admitting it is no one’s fault. As the days transpire I am slowly but surely verbally and in writing receiving attacks on my character and being accused of having a home environment that is the cause for Leo’s behavior. Rather than simply seeing the facts which are that he has a medical condition which my Vet has diagnosed as such and in the best interest of Leo, not myself who is not a proponent of medications as I am a holistic healthcare practitioner, I put him on the medications so that he can feel better. There is no way this little boy can feel well with the medical condition he has without medications. He was suffering and it was evident in his behavior. His behavior has everything to do with the neurological problems he was born with and nothing to do with the adoptive parent or the home of the adoptive parent.

To follow-up to our phone conversation, when you and I last spoke before today, I was bringing Leo to NYC Vet on West 55th Street and arrangements would be made for someone in your organization to pick him up. On my way to that Vet I received a call from Siobhan begging me to not give up on this cat, to see what the Vets have to say after running more test. She begged me and worked on every emotion of mine and I relented and agreed. It was implied that I was to contact her from that point forward and so I thought that Kitty Kind was no longer part of this equation.

I went EVERY DAY to visit Leo. The first day I went to see him I saw him in his cage. When Dr. Levitan came to speak to me he and I both observed an odd facial behavior from Leo, where he suddenly went from happy and friendly to almost dropping, but slightly conscious, and his mouth opened slightly. I mentioned to the doctor that I had seen him do that before and felt it was odd and that I was concerned. His response was that what we were seeing was the exact reason why he was asking Mayors Alliance to pay for a CAT scan and that he was concerned as well. He was not on medications at that time other than 2mgs of Pepcid.

After a few days Siobhan called me to say they wanted me to take him home. Since he was cleared of Cancer and any viral diseases to establish a cause for what was observed by their medical staff I agreed to continue with the adoption.

The following few days he had to live with a cone on to help him not bite the now fixed neutering job, that Murray Hill botched and NYC Vet fixed. At no time was I informed that Siobhan worked for Murray Hill which is a conflict of interest in my opinion. You are the first to tell me this. And so it only now makes sense that she started to defend her Vet’s opinions of Leo’s care while in my home, even though they have not seen him- she made claims to their assessment which to my knowledge from my Vet is illegal to do without seeing the animal.

Over the last two days I have been accused of being a liar about his condition “simply to medicate him to be the cat I want him to be”. I was told this verbally.
I have been told that it is due to my environment that he is acting out.
I have been told that I am over medicating him based on a person without a medical degree’s opinion and supposedly a Vet that has not seen him for this problem. And therefore my own licensed Vet is also being called a liar and incompetent and someone who would over medicate an animal.
I was told that my student who was petting him was at fault for being bit.
I was told verbally today that it was her fault for not seeing that he was moving his tail and upset and did not want to be pet. I was also told that what he did was completely normal because Siobhan has seen so many animals and she knows best.
I was told that he didn’t need medicine at all and that I could either do things as she has decided is best or that if this is too much of a stress to give him back.
When I stated that we would have to agree to disagree about the medications, she said, “There is no disagreement. I am right!”

This has been her way of dealing with things from the start…begging me to keep him and then demanding it be handled her way in my home and accusing me of lying and purposely over medicating him and killing his liver with the pheno and then making a medical dx about my mental state.

So if this is the case I would like to see her credentials to make this mental assessment not only for Leo but for me. Her opinions otherwise are not welcome.

Otherwise at this time I believe that an offer was made to pay for his medications so that he could get better and so that I would keep him. These medications were prescribed by a reputable Vet, who happens to be educated from Cornell University and who I have used for many years. If he believes along with me that this is necessary than it is and I do not need anyone else’s opinion, because that is exactly what it would be, an uneducated non-medically licensed nor certified opinion.

I have not only sought out the best medical care for this little boy, I have sought out the best holistic care. He is under the care of a well-respected Medical Intuitive and Animal Communicator as well.

My Vet feels he has separation anxiety as well as FHS.

I fail to see how bringing him to you now, after we both admittedly realize he has been tossed around from first a cage to another and then right to another at the Vet for tests and then finally to my home which has been the ONLY STABLE ENVIRONMENT he has known in his life thus far is going to make this better. In fact I feel it will make things worse and cause him more anxiety.

I would appreciate the financial help I was promised with the medications. If it will not be honored I will have to figure out a way to incorporate this into my budget at this time. Had I returned him from the start I would not feel this way. However since he started the PROPER MEDS, he is slowly starting to do better. And because of that he and I have begun to bond. So while I appreciate your offer to take him from me for two weeks etc…I will not be doing this with you.

I am asking for the financial assistance for his medications as offered. I know it wasn’t your organization that offered it however I am asking all the same.

He was suffering without the medications and is finally starting to feel better. I will not take that opportunity away from him. It is not in his best interest.

This has been a hard decision for me, one which I do not take lightly simply because it is a HUGE commitment I am making. Nonetheless it is made.