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report scam| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Phone | 518-514-8542 |
| Website | http://www.nightmagiccattery.com |
My boys came to me in December of 2017. They were just over 5.5 months old. They were both considered the runt of their litters. The agreement states the kittens come to you with all appropriate vaccinations, rabies and neutered. The day before I was to get them I was informed that neither of them were large enough to get neutered so I would have to get that done when they reached a certain weight and she'd take $50 off each cat. I do not know ONE vet who would neuter a cat for $50, in fact I don't know any that would neuter a cat for the combined $100 discount I was getting.
Kelly told me that the vet had given them their rabies the day before so they'll probably have sniffles for a few days but would be fine. When I picked them up I could tell immediately the one had something more than the sniffles. His eyes had cleared just been aggressively washed and his nose had snots starting to come out. By the time I was home, which was a 2 hour drive, my white boy's eyes were crusted over and his nose was leaking. I reached out to Kelly that night and she said it was because of the shot. I had scheduled their vet appointment with a vet I had used for my dogs prior to bringing them home and it was a few days out. Because of Kelly's insistence it was the rabies vaccine and to give it a few days I didn't go any earlier.
When I brought the boys to the vet they both tested positive for Feline Herpes. Feline Herpes is incredibly contagious, and if one cat in a household has it, any cat that comes in contact with that cat will get it. Which means the cattery has herpes unless she has gotten rid of every cat that was in her house two years ago or any cat that came into contact with any of those cats. There was no way they got it after I picked them up because they were only in the car and my home. I gave them bottled water so that also didn't explain why they both also had giardia. It kept getting better. As the vet was doing the exam she informed me the white cat, with the bad upper respiratory (it was not from the shot, but shame on me for not listening to my gut and taking him to the vet the next day) only had one testicle that had dropped. His other testicle was up inside of him and the only way to retrieve it would be to do a "spay" like surgery. So a quick neuter would not be a more complicated surgery. She also told me there is no way any vet would have done an exam on this cat and not felt his testicle had not dropped. Which means either a vet never saw my kittens, which is likely based on their health, or Kelly knew about the fact that his testicle had not dropped, lied to me and didn't want to pay the expense to get him neutered herself. I will let you know that to get both of the boys fixed cost almost $500.
I should also quickly mention, a cat that is 5 months old should have 3 vaccinations and their rabies. My boys had only received one vaccine and then their rabies. My vet could not believe this! She said I'm lucky they didn't have anything more serious considering they hadn't been vaccinated in months.
Both boys had to go on medication for the giardia and the upper respiratory infections. The one boy was fine after a few days and his herpes has only flared a few times. However my sickly boy spent the first 4 months with me going back and forth to the vets, trying different medications and tactics. His eyes and nose were always crusted no matter how often I wiped them. He would have coughing and sneezing fits where monstrous snot wads would come out. When he came to me he was not a normal devon. He was not really affectionate and VERY wary of you going anywhere near his face. My vet attributed that to someone likely giving him meds for a while. And the poor guy had to keep getting them for over four more months, but I worked very hard to do it in a noninvasive way that didn't scare him. Two years later he still does not want you touching his face. I should also mention he has Hip Dysplasia which thus far hasn't bothered him too much so we are keeping his weight down.
So clearly I have a cat that should never have come from a breeder. Not because they should have done anything to him because of his hereditary conditions and things he picked up there, but because a quality breeder would NEVER allow herpes in their breeding program since it's so contagious, they wouldn't breed cats with hereditary issues (hip dysplasia) and wouldn't give you a cat that was so sick. He didn't get sick on the two hour drive home on a heating pad wrapped in blankets.
Now, of course during all of this I tried to keep Kelly in the loop. As other reviews have mentioned, she does not communicate. She didn't respond to my emails and when she did it was to blame the vaccine or say her vet never told her that. I will admittedly say that after I went to the first appointment I just wanted to treat them them for their upper respiratory infections. My sick boy was so timid and terrified of being held by anyone but me the vet didn't get a chance to check his hips or testicles at that visit. And considering they came from a breeder who had just taken them to a vet where the vet said they were too small to get neutered we didn't think checking to see if they both had testicles was too imperative at that visit. We didn't want to stress the boy out anymore than needed. However after the first round of meds did not work and I had to keep going back and then found out about his other issues I was trying to get a hold of Kelly. She took forever to respond and by this time I had vet bills that needed to be taken care of so I was sending them to her to show her all the issues. Her response was that I should have told her right away (which I had) and that she would have taken the cat back or taken him to her vet where the medication and treatment would have been cheaper. She also said I should have had her vet neuter him because it wouldn't have cost that much. She also offered at this point to exchange my cat for another kitten they had.
So here's a couple things to Kelly's response.
- One - You gave me a sick kitten, in what world would I EVER want to return him to you where he wasn't properly cared for in the first place, AND if you're cattery didn't have feline herpes why would you want to bring him back where he would infect them all?
- Two - Do you think I would want to let a vet who wasn't able to determine he didn't have two testicles and gave them both their rabies vaccines when they clearly had upper respiratory infections go anywhere near these cats again? (Assuming she even ever took them to a vet)
- Three - I was attached to those kittens before I even picked them up. After spending 5 minutes with them they were never going to leave me. Not to mention I initially was only getting the one boy, Kelly pushed the sick one on me because she said he was so bonded to the other kitten. Which after two years I can tell you is absolutely true. The sick boy relies very much on his brother.
Ultimately Kelly ended up blaming her mom Karen saying they were her kittens, they lived in different houses and I should have told them immediately. She did not refund a single penny of the $2,000 I paid for these two cats even though I spent an additional $1700 just to care for the health issues, additional vaccines and their neuters. She stopped responding.
Since then I have heard on several Devon Rex facebook groups there are TONS of people that have had horrible experience with Nightmagic and many who have also gotten sickly and poorly socialized kittens that do not have the affectionate personality of a devon.
To end I will just say, the insurance she offers with all of her kittens does not work if you're kitten is sick when you bring them to the vet for the first time. The policy was completely useless and something I found out many breeders claim they offer, but when it comes down to it the policy doesn't cover much. I love my boys more than life itself. I would and have done anything for them. I'm grateful they came into my life because I had the time, patience and ability to care for them the right way. While they both still have feline herpes because that doesn't go away, my sickly boy still has a bad hip and his eyes are still crusty and sneezes out massive snot rockets, I love them and could never let them go. I would imagine some people would not be able to go to the same extent through no fault of their own. No one spends this much money for a sick cat. If he had been returned to her I can only imagine what would have happened. The same time my boys were available she had a neutered male kitten she described on her website as "shy and only cat household" not get a home month after month later be moved to a retired breeder. I imagine she either would have tried to resell him or worse. It's a shame, it's the first time I ever went to a breeder and I thought I had done enough research, clearly I was wrong. Her and her mother are ruining the breed. I only pray no other breeders get a breeding male or female from her.
I would not waste my time with this Cattery. They do not have any morals or ethics. There is a reason they do not allow visits.
Kelly Rose and Karen Vance led me on for months. I initially contacted them by phone and got no answer. I then emailed to ask about the kittens. I got an email back saying they had 4 left. She gave me the descriptions. At the time I did not understand what the official color names meant (like: pointed, seal mink, blue, red etc). I asked her to confirm which kitten was which. She did not reply until a week later when she said she only had one baby left. I said okay, I’ll take him. She told me how to send her the deposit. I gave them a deposit in early January for a kitten that was suppose to be ready to go home early April. After I sent the deposit through PayPal I did not hear back from them. I emailed to make sure they got the payment. No response.
I emailed a week later. No response
Another email 2 weeks later. No response
I called and I called. No answer. Then I messaged on Facebook and it showed that she read the message. She still did not reply. A week later I got an email from her saying the cat was big and chunky and I should get a short tower because the “breed is not the smartest”
I happily thanked her and asked for an updated picture. (Again, I had only seen a newborn kitten picture).
No response. Emailed again about 1.5 weeks later asking again. At this point it was maybe 9 weeks since giving deposit. I finally decided I’d reach out to other people who were buying a kitten. They too told me the communication was bad but that they had better luck than me because they nonstop called all day.. eventually after not hearing back the other buyer asked me if I wanted her to tell Kelly that I was worried and wondering what’s going on and to ask her to contact me. To my surprise, it worked and Kelly Rose messaged me right away. But that time she told me the cat was getting neutered that week and would be ready to go home on Saturday.. I said that’s great and can I see a pic. No response. I was getting super worried and finally said in a message that I’m nervous about the lack of communication and I’d like to see a picture before I make this drive.
She sends me two pictures. I was floored! It was a completely different cat. I shared the pictures with other breeders and in Facebook groups that I’m in becuse I needed others opinions. I know Devon’s can change their look all the way up to one year of age. And some have what is called ghost markings (the markings show up later). That said, everyone thought the cat was a different cat. I was willing to take the cat either way though. I did express my concerns in a gentle way though. And I asked her if I could see some pictures of him as he was growing.
She immediately got defensive and said that since I think she swapped the cats then maybe it’s best to get a kitten elsewhere. I didn’t want to do that though. Before I could respond- she messages me again and says “actually. Since he got neutered he hasn’t really been that opt to being held” ... and that basically he wasn’t a good fit For me since I have a child. She then tells me he is smaller than most cats (even though the email went on and on about how big he is). ... at that point I asked her to return my deposit. She wanted me to wait and see if I want another cat from her new litter. I was not going to do that though.
I wasted so much time. We fell in love with the idea of this cat and even printed the picture for our fridge. We named him. Our son is still asking when we are picking him up to come home.
In the long run, this is probably a blessing in disguise. But no I do not recommend this breeder. I didn’t have high expectations. I did not need a daily update. Who has time for that? But a new picture at least once over the 3-4 month wait? Yes. An update on how he’s growing? Yes.
This was a horrible experience and she has not returned my deposit at the time of writing this review. I hope she returns it or I will have my lawyer handle this matter.
I contacted Kelly Rose of Nightmagic Cattery in Dec, 2018 who told me that she had several available Devon Rex kittens. I spoke with her on the phone again a couple of times to determine which kitten I would like. I sent a deposit mid January for a speciafic cat. We had communicated one or two more times after that.
At the end of January, Kelly no longer communicated with me!! I tried contacting her via MULTIPLE phone calls, texts and emails for a period of three weeks. NOTHING. By mid February I realized I had been scammed and was not getting the kitten at the beginning of March, as we had discussed.
I was able to pay $35 to stop payment on my check, however, I wasted two months of my time along with much heartache. PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR and DO NOT USE THIS BREEDER.
The breeders have zero communication skills. The only time I got a response was if they were asking me which cat I wanted and how to send the deposit. After they received the deposit I never heard back again even though I emailed to ask for an update and an updated picture. My email was not pushing at all- and believe me, I felt an update every 2-3 weeks was appropriate. How hard is it to send a pic and a two sentence update?! I even messaged her on Facebook so that I could make sure it was being read! She just flat out ignores.
I can tell that this Cattery does not care about their cats. They care about the money and when they will get it.
I am writing to share with you my experience in dealing with Karen Vance from Nightmagic Cattery. My husband and I have a cat and we were seeking a female Devon Rex. After extensive research and multiple emails to various breeders I decided to reach out to Karen Vance from Nightmagic Cattery. My initial correspondence was for the kitten availability and some general questions about her breeding company.
Karen Vance was a terrible communicator who never correctly answered the question that I asked in each email. Examples being that I asked about vaccinations and due dates of the next litter and she would reply back with a picture of another cat. I assumed that she was busy and just doing the breeding as a part time profession but later found out that was not the case. After 4 more emails I decided to put down a deposit for a kitten in the next litter due in 3 months. I repeatability would follow up every two weeks checking on the status. I found out after an additional email to Karen Vance that the cat mother gave birth to a litter. I asked for photos and requested a particular kitten in the photo. Another two emails later and Karen still did not confirm and then asked "What kitten did you want again"? During our communication, I felt like she was off but still proceeded as I spent so much time already on it.
We agreed on a delivery date and I provided my address and backup phone numbers. She advised me that her husband would deliver between 12-3pm. At 5pm my husband gets and call staying that he was outside of the apartment. We looked but did not see the car that he described he was driving. He then proceeded to say "Oh no, I went to next week's delivery address" He actually drove my kitten from upstate New York, 5 hours to Boston and not to my address in New York City. We called up Karen and advised her of the situation and she acted nonchalantly and asked when would we like the kitten re-delivered. We advised her sometime in the week and she proceeded to get flaky in her replies. We are not sure to this day as to what happened but we think she had another buyer and was reneging on our purchase. We threaten her with potential legal action via email and requested our deposit back. We received our money back 1 week later. To my surprise, this was the first thing she did without confusion and quickly.
I also found same and worse complaints about her online. Kittens delivered with heart problems and no vet documents. Vet document mailed later and looked faked. Please go to hot complaints dot com and rip off report dot com and search Karen Vance or NightMagic Cattery.
I`ve recently communicated with another reputable breeder and was told that Karen never lets anybody inside her house which leads to suspicions of what conditions her cats live in and how many of them she has. The address of the Cattery is not stated on the website. I suspect this cattery is fishy and would strongly recommend not to buy from them.
I wanted to share this story with you in the hopes that no one else has to experience this unprofessional and unethical business dealing with NightMagic Cattery.
Zero communication
The breeders have zero communication skills. The only time I got a response was if they were asking me which cat I wanted and how to send the deposit. After they received the deposit I never heard back again even though I emailed to ask for an update and an updated picture. My email was not pushing at all- and believe me, I felt an update every 2-3 weeks was appropriate. How hard is it to send a pic and a two sentence update?! I even messaged her on Facebook so that I could make sure it was being read! She just flat out ignores.
I can tell that this Cattery does not care about their cats. They care about the money and when they will get it.