Complaint Review: Helderberg Exotic Cats Reviews - East Berne New York

HELDERBERG EXOTIC CATS REVIEWS BUY CONSUMERS

07/17/10 - Cat born without eyes used as breeding mother by niguiann at Citysearch PAY ATTENTION TO THE REVIEWS REGARDING SICK CATS FROM THIS AWFUL PLACE!!! THEY ALSO RUN A RUSSIAN BRIDE SERVICE-- THESE PEOPLE ARE SCARY!!! I first encountered this place after seeing a listing asking someone to adopt a "blind" siamese cat on craigslist. I got to the cattery (sorry, they are not 'breeders'), the male owner showed me this poor siamese female in a small cage yelling for attention, who when she turned around, TURNED OUT TO NOT HAVE ANY EYEBALLS. Seriously. I'm not kidding. She is a doll, and I couldn't leave her there, so I took her home even though the man, who said "no adoption fee" wanted $125 for her and to buy stuff at their tacky shop. Seriously, mercenary to the very end. He said she had been given 'all her shots', but anyone knows that only vets can give rabies shots, so that was bull. I took her to a great vet that ended up spaying her and doing surgery to close her empty eye sockets, which were infected and painful. The vet said she had been born that way, due to a genetic defect. She clearly had never seen a vet before in her LIFE, as it is normal to close the eyes to prevent suffering when still a baby. She also had the telltale poochie belly of a cat who has had a couple of litters, and we still have no idea how old she is (the man said he had no idea--!?!?!). She get very excited when she hears kittens to this day, and OBVIOUSLY had kittens of her own and knows how to care for them. THIS MEANS THEIR BREEDING LINE IS GENETICALLY COMPROMISED. Also, who the heck would breed a poor cat like that!? Insanity!! She is a fabulous girl, despite all her ill treatment (i had to *teach* her to play with toys because the concept was so alien to her, having sat in a cage and been bred her whole life). I'm glad I got her out of this place, despite the TRULY SCARY guy running it. They also run a Russian bride service, and from the looks of it, that's where his wife came from. So trafficking in animals and humans, terrible. IN SUMMARY: --Huge number of cats that never see a vet = DISEASE --Lying owner who can't keep track of cats = NOT A BREEDER --USING GENETICALLY DEFECTIVE CAT WITH NO EYES AS A BREEDING PARENT = your cat could have genetic serious problems --Scary people who also run a russian brides business = JUST STAY AWAY!! Pros: Zero--this is a horrible business Cons: Sick kittens, genetic defects, psycho owner
 
PART 1 - 07/22/10 OMG! What more can be said. by pleasehelphelphelp at Citysearch These are the same people that peddle animals at the Altamont Fairgrounds. It appears that people are not finding your comments until after they have brought home kittens and realize they have problems. You have absolutely no idea how much it pains me to read these horrific stories. I noticed that someone found the information helpful so thought Id jot down some ideas, too. Hope you all can give these poor owners some input, too. If it doesnt appear your kitten has improved after Giardia treatment, consider asking your vet about running a test for Tritrichomonas. Its a special testing so they might need to send a sampling out which could run about 100 bucks. This parasite looks very similar to the Giardia and Ive read it commonly gets confused. Its also possible the cat is infected with both. The current medication used to treat it is called Ronidazole if your vet is not familiar with it. I found it is easier to administer than the Giardia meds. (One positive thing about the Tritrichomonas is that its said to clear up on its own after a couple of years. However, not many can deal with diarrhea on your carpeting for that long)! If youve had problems with an older cat that seemed to have resolved themselves this may have been your issue all along. Another popular parasite which can cause blood in stool and vomiting is Coccidia. Please do some research on these as I am not a vet. There are multiple things that could be causing your animal to suffer, this is just a starting point. They have some good information published for animal shelters since they house untold numbers of animals in small quarters. As long as you are seeing a competent vet and have a credit card, you should be able to get to the bottom of all the infestations within your cat. Hang in there, I know how frustrating it is.

PART 2 - OMG continued... by Pleasehelp at Citysearch You may find that your kitten is unable to digest the food that came with her. Hmmm. Do some reading about IBS but dont settle with diarrhea until you experiment with different brands. Unfortunately, there is not one brand that works for all cats. There are many allergens including but not limited to grains, additives and chicken. If you are broke by now, try contacting a pet supply store (like Bensons) and inquire what their policy is about food your pet cannot tolerate. This tip saved me hundreds of dollars because they allowed me to return every unused bag of food my cat could not tolerate. (Youll learn to read the actual ingredients in pet food. Like, sometimes they are sold as beef flavored yet there is a high percentage of chicken meal). They also make a frozen, raw food if all else fails. Its all processed into little meat patties so you wont see mouse heads or anything gross, I promise. It also has the proper supplements added and states its a fully balanced meal. Does your kitten care package hold any answers for you as far as behavior or dietary problems with Bengals? Setting aside that TICA is the recognized registering body for Bengals, you may find a different registration form such as NAPCR or something similar. Read the directions because you usually have to pay an additional amount for the pedigree and this is what you want. Dont just register the cat; that means nothing. Last check it cost $15 total for both registration and pedigree through NAPCR . (The owner of this registration company died so prices may have increased when it changed hands). Regardless, whatever registration form a breeder has issued, its advisable to find out what generation you have when dealing with a Bengal.

PART 3 - OMG continued again (part 3 of 3) by Pleasehelpagain at Citysearch If you have an early generation cat (before an F4) this possibly could cause problems you are dealing with. The generation is important because this tells you how much wild (Asian leopard) has been breed out of your cat. If you have an F2 (meaning its got an extremely high percentage of wild animal in it) you may find you will be experiencing what you thought was peculiar behavior. Understanding why your cat is acting the way it is will relieve much frustration and youll get along better! Each cat is unique but there are noted problems with early generation Bengals which could understandably not make a good house pet should you have one unknowingly. These arent really problems with the cat, the problem is you dont know its not normal for your cat to behave the way it is. You might end up spending extra money running tests at the vets for what is only an inherited trait. One of the traits you may experience is feeding difficulties as they may reject cat food and want a meat based food. And believe me, its hard not to be upset when your cat keeps pooping and peeing in your bathtub when you dont know whats going on! (The Asian Leopard will naturally relieve itself in water so this is an instinct with your cat that was not bred out). You may also find they urinate in their water dishes and this is why. (I have found rabbit water bottles help). Google up behavior issues you are puzzled by and you may find tips for the unexpected challenges. Youll find information on aggression, excessive shyness and other behavior that on the face of things appear to be personality disorders that the cat is unnecessarily prescribed prozac for. (For instance, my cat runs and hides every time the doorbell rings). Please be advised that Bengal cats carry a widely known genetic (hereditary) form of heart disease. (Breeders should be aggressively screening their breeding cats and remove potential carriers from their programs). Bengals have been known to drop dead out of the clear blue at any age (even kittens). If you have concerns please consult a cardiologist who has the equipment to run the testing. There are medications that can be prescribed to help prolong your animals life should the need arise. I hope you find solutions that work for you and share your stories with others in distress. You just never know what might help someone God Bless You All.

beautiful c a t s
lillybugandbinx, Saturday, July 25, 2009
This review is for: Helderberg Exotic Cats
my husband and i bought a bengal in 07. she was a year old at that time. brought her home got along with with my other long hair cat. took her to the vet, nothing was wrong with her except there is a bald spot on her neck. not sure what its from vet took sample and its not ring worm. she also had this weird cough but doesnt have it anymore (thank god) she sounded like she was sneezing and coughing at the same time. also had diarrhe a from the fact that she had worms. (fleas) she was treated by my vet. not worried about it, she is a very energetic and amusing cat to be around. she is my leopard and loves her mommy. she is a healthy kitty and loves to be tickled. meows LOUD and very active. we also bought a siamese in dec of 07. he was a 7month old kitten. got him neutered, shots, tested in for feline leukemia, everything came back negative except for on thing. the vet said he had gardia a type of parasite that lives in the bl**d and eats the nutrients of the cat.. gave me meds for him didnt think anything of it, i never owned a siamese cat before and i thought his weight was normal. he didnt act right wasnt active, didnt play but he ate a drank a lot...had diahh*ea as well. in jan. 09 we moved and found bl**d on the floor and thats when we flipped out. took him to a different vet, of course he had gardia still. the vet put him on a special food diet, and instead of the powdered sh*t that the other vet gave me to put on the food, this vet gave me a liquid and ACTUALlY TOLD ME WHAT TO DO WITH THIS STUFF. he weight 5 lbs at that time it is now july and he has a lovely amount of muscle mass, very active, and very healthy. he is my husbands favorite cat...since he feels better, we have no complaints. thought that we were going to lose him after seeing all of that bl ** d but NOW we are very happy to have him in our lives!! when people buy cats from catteries, YOU MUST TAKE THEM TO THE VET!!! if not, you WILL PAY THE PRICE. Pros: lots of variety Cons: make sure you take your cat to the vet

Selling sick Kittens... Posted by anonymous577 on 06/08/2009 My fiance' and I bought two kittens from this man and they both pasted away within one month from... Not only can it be passed through food and feces but it's also genetic. It only attacks geriatric cats and young kittens with weak immune systems. He claimed to not know anything about the illness but how can you run a business like this and no... And now he doesn't want to reimburse us the money that is due us. Why 1 Star Sickkittens Posted by MarkyMoreau on 01/30/2009 Just wondering because iust got a Bengal a month ago. Email me at X@X Please contact me if there was any problems so that way i can take care of things... x x x x .......