We adopted our cat, Winston, from FAR at the end of December 2014. We chose him as we specifically wanted a declawed inside cat. The adoption staff was very nice and helpful but they certainly miissed the mark as far as him being healthy and available for adoption. We noticed that he was a bit skinny but attributed that to the fact that he did not like the food. Shortly after we adopted him we took him to our vet in Gilbert to have him checked out and give us a starting point for his records, The tech at our vet's office immediately noticed his bad breath. Yet in fact his breath was bad enough to kill a brontasaurus. Our vet told us that he had LONG TIME severe dental disease and had a number of teeth that needed to be pulled in addition to having them cleaned.
We were assured if FAR noticed any problems with their animals they are checked out by their vet and treated prior to being made available for adoption - what a crock!! If anyone had been paying the least bit of attention to him they would have detected his bad breath and done the responsible thing and had "their vet" check him out. During the short time we handled him and were deciding to adopt him he did not meow or open his mouth.
Within less than 2 weeks we have had several hundred dollars on vet bills for blood work which shoed he was slightly anemic,. An MRI for his heart mumur, also to check he was healthy enough for anaesthesia and to check for anyother issues we may not know about. As of today he has has his teeth cleaned, been given another round of antibiotics for his breath and pain meds to keep him comfortable so he can eat soft food as much and as often as he wants to try to put some weight on him. As of today has been referred to a Veterinary Dental Specialist to be evaluated for extraction of several (4-6) severely decayed teeth cost to be determined when he is seen on February 11th.
Within a week or so after finding out all his health issues we emailed the Executive Director and several board member with our findings and requested someone please contact us and assume financial responsibility for his health issues Well that never happened. What a surprise! We considered returning him to FAR but decided against it as we felt they would continue feeding him the same dry food that he can't eat and not rectify his dental issues to restore him back to health thus issuing him a death sentence.
If you do adopt a pet from FAR be sure to "look under the hood" as our vet in Gilbert told us. Check for bad breath and tooth decay issues as their free insurance that comes with each pet does not cover pre existing conditions thus making it totally worthless in our case.
Ralph & Carol A.
1/29/15