Complaint Review: Nightmagic Cattery Karen Vance

Avoid Karen Vance at all costs. She is manipulative and dishonest. If you're looking for one of the breeds she sells, be patient and find a cat from a more trustworthy breeder.

In early 2014, Karen Vance sold me an 8 month old Devon Rex kitten that she had spoken glowingly about over the phone. Living several states away, I was unable to visit the cat in advance, but was reassured by the detail with which she spoke about the cat's personality and health. I was actually about to buy a kitten from a local breeder, and called Karen for advice after finding her listings online, since she seemed more experienced than the local breeder. But she convinced me that she had the perfect kitten for me and offered a good price and delivery, so I took it.

Upon delivery, all seemed more or less well. However, the cat came without papers or medical records (Karen's husband delivered the kitten). I asked her about this, and she claimed that she had forgotten and would mail them to me immediately. When I received the records, I was surprised to find that they were essentially blank, but for basic information such as date of birth, breed, color, etc. There was no indication that a vet had seen the cat.

When I took the cat to the vet within the first couple weeks, I was alerted that she had a strong heart murmur. I asked Karen about this, and she nonchalantly told me something to the effect of "It's no big deal, she's healthy". I visited another vet, who confirmed the first vet's findings: the kitten had a pronounced grade 2 murmur which could be either benign or an indication of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (terminal heart disease). The only way to find out would be a ~$400 ultrasound.

After managing to get her contact info, I contacted Karen Vance's personal vet, who turns out to be in Quebec (it appears the Vances actually live in Canada). The vet was very helpful and assured me that she had seen my kitten and detected the grade 2 murmur at 8 weeks. As a result, she did not give the kitten a certificate of health. Karen had simply failed to tell me this crucial information.

I brought this information to Karen Vance and demanded that she help pay for the ultrasound. After much back and forth over the severity of the heart condition (Karen told me in an email, "I don't know what you want the kitten is not sick and the murmur is not causing any symptoms so enjoy her"), Karen finally demanded that I "give her back the cat". (One minute of Googling will tell you that a persistent heart murmur in Devon Rex can be a sign of serious heart problems, even in the absence of symptoms.)

Karen was entirely irrational, irresponsible, and immature in our interactions. She failed to take a single bit of responsibility for knowingly sending me an unhealthy cat and left me to either return the animal -- with whom I'd already bonded, and who may well turn out to be healthy -- or bear the full cost of her diagnosis myself.

What appears to have happened is this: Karen found that she could not sell this kitten with the others due to the heart murmur. After several months and the heart murmur not going away, she determined that I would be a convenient way to unload an inconvenient cat, and shipped the animal hundreds of miles to my house, knowing that when I discovered the issue my means of achieving any kind of remedy would be severely limited.

To reiterate: Avoid Karen Vance at all costs. She is manipulative and dishonest. If you're looking for one of the breeds she sells, be patient and find a cat from a more trustworthy breeder.