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Do not purchase from yewcats. Marie sent a picture of a kitten to me via email that I was looking for. The picture was amazing, healthy and beautiful. I sent the deposit and we made travel arrangements. I was to drive 6 hours there to meet at her designated location. She sent me scanned vet check the day before departure. Got to location and she called 90 minutes before our appointment to tell me "you didn't leave yet did you? I have another kitty for you." I said what about the 1 I wanted? She informed me that suddenly the kitten did not eat for the past 24 hours (she was at the vet 48 hrs ago) and could not/would not place her with me. She arrived to offer me a HALF STARVED male kitten, missing hair, (I have pictures and vet record). To beat all, it was not the same style of Siamese I wanted! He was so sickly my husband and I couldn't leave him, we felt HORRIBLE. So I have filed complaints and working to be heard. This lady is not nice to her kittens! He wouldn't touch the food she said she fed him. I offered new food and he ate like no tomorrow. Regardless, DO NOT purchase kittens from her. Look at pictures. 1st is the kitty she offered I paid the deposit for. The 2nd is of the kitty i paid 600 to rescue basically. The third picture is him 4 days later after food and vet visit.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Heart breaking. We had them on our list of possible Siamese adoption breeders. We have encountered this before and it is disgraceful to the extreme. The entire West is just filled with scummy breeders. I have always adopted beautiful, healthy Siamese kittens while living in Boston/Cambridge area. Since moving out here in Colorado (we renamed it Stubbville) we have seen one trashy breeder after another. They are not fit to be breeding even cockroaches. Thank you for confirming our suspicions.
I just found this site, and read this complaint...and I feel I would like to describe my experience buying a kitten from Marie of Yewcats. My husband and I purchased a Lilac Pt Siamese kitten from Marie a little over 6 mos. ago, and she kept us updated on the kitten until she was ready to come home with us. We met Marie and our kitten, and she was healthy, affectionate, and even more beautiful than the photos. Marie gave us the food, paperwork, health information, and her vet's name. The first visit at her vet is free. Marie has always been fairly easy to reach if we have any questions. Our experience was very good, and if we decide we want another Siamese kitten, we plan to return to Marie. Lilac Points that are show quality are not easy to find, and especially ones that are fairly priced. We couldn't be happier! I hope the lady that had the unhappy experience has worked out her difficulties with Marie. I felt that she was fair and easy to deal with. I guess it just depends on how people work together...some can and some won't. I have included photos of my kitten soon after we got her, a couple months ago, and a few days ago. I think she is gorgeous!
Hello Zea. I have exchanged emails with Marie regarding a flame point Himalayan. I am very concerned with some of the complaints I have read and am now nervous about purchasing a kitten from her. My question to you is... did you pick up the kitten from her home or from a parking lot? I am curious as to the conditions of her home and the rest of the cats she owns. Marie said she would meet me half way as her home was difficult to locate. I would prefer to pick up the kitten from her home so that I may meet the momma cat.
Patricia in Los Angeles
Hi Patricia,
I was wondering how your transaction with Marie went. I am also inquiring about some himalayan kittens from her. Did you end up buying from her? If so, how was your experience? I would appreciate any information or tips you might have.
Best,
A worried client
Hi, I did meet her about half way to my home, I live about 20 miles from Temecula. She was with her son, who drove her. She did say her home was difficult to find, on a long private road and gated. She said when she and her husband built it over 30 years ago, it was surrounded by avocado groves and citrus groves in north San Diego county. She is elderly, and since her husband passed, she said only her son and the hired person who helps her keep everything clean, are there to help her. The kitties are her life. I am guessing she doesn't want to feel vulnerable when strangers come to her home. I can understand that. I used to breed puppies, and you do get some strange people in your home, not to mention sometimes children that break things or trample your flower beds! Anyway, all I can say is that I am very happy with my kitty, and I appreciated her coming half way to meet me. I bet if I had asked to see the mom kitty, she probably would have brought her with the kitten for me to see. You might ask her! Best of luck to you.
We adopted a kitten from Marie probably 6 years ago. Our kitten was a bit older, I think 4 months, when we got her. She told me that she had kept her because she liked this little girl a lot, and I suspect that she had gotten lots of attention. We met her in a parking lot in San Juan Capistrano, which I thought was very weird. She told me that she was in an area that was hard to find her house. I have bought many puppies from breeders, and have always gone to their homes (some of which have been a bit challenging to find), seen their other dogs and any other puppies they had and parents that were on site; this was the first cat I was buying from a breeder. We had emailed quite a bit before meeting in SJC. Her husband drove her, our kitten was in a cardboard carrier (I thought it was very weird that she wasn't in a better, safer type of carrier) in the back seat of their car; she had me get in the backseat and then open the carrier. This little girl was and is personality plus and super confident, and was purring in the carrier/box and kept purring when I picked her up. I fell in love with her, but in handling her she felt very dirty, definitely hadn't been bathed before bringing her to me. When I mentioned that I would give her a bath after I had gotten her home she asked me why I would bathe her, and looked surprised. She has turned out to be an amazing cat, but I suspect that this might not be the norm for this breeder. If I bought from her again I would not agree to meet her in a parking lot!
Ummm...the first picture of "your" cat is another lie from her because that is the EXACT picture of MY little girl I bought from her 5 years ago!
Hi I am confused with the thread of this neglect...if the picture above is your cat, the person complaining is saying that is his cat after he revived the cat? So he is not being truthful? Sorry I am having a hard time understanding...
What happened is the lady who sold us kittens sent us BOTH the same picture of the same kitten before selling them to us. She lied to us about the kitten we were getting since she sent us both the same pic of "our" cat before we received our actual kitten...
I thought I'd chime in here. My wife and I have two Himalayans we purchased from Marie. The first one is a flame point who is now almost 6 years old, and the second is a lilac point, who is almost 4 years old. They are both healthy, and when we got them there was no signs of neglect or trauma. Two comments on their overall health, which I believe is just traits of pure-bread cats generally, as well as the breed generally: The older one has food allergies, and is on a prescription hypoallergenic food for life. He gets dry patches on his skin and scratches at them, sometimes severely. We keep his claws trimmed, and put soft paws (silicone claw caps) on his back claws, to minimize the damage when he's itching bad. During the spring and fall it is generally worse, and he gets a daily allergy pill which is very effective. He's been treated by an animal dermatologist and has regular check-ups, this is not just us 'trial and error' treating him. The second kitty is healthy as a horse (I don't have a horse.. are they actually healthy?!), we just clean her eyes regularly as she gets some drainage. Both of them are VERY vocal. Wow. I guess the Siamese part of the breed comes through strong in these two!
The older one is very social, and makes the rounds anytime we have guests over, and loves the extra attention especially from kids. He tends to play a bit more aggressively (occasional biting) with my wife and I, but never with strangers. The younger one is very skiddish, sometimes even with us. She always hides when guests come over, but will usually come out after guests have been in the house for 30 min or so. She wont go near them, but she "likes to be around" as my wife says. She's also strangely vocal at night, which seems to come and go; definitely more after we've been away for a few days. They both like to be brushed, which we do a few times a week. It's almost comical watching them try to groom themselves with that massive coat; like trying to mow the lawn with scissors I always say!
Marie is elderly and gets assistance from her son, who drives her to meet and drop off the kitties; he drove for her both times when we got our two cats. As others have said, she says she lives in an area that is very remote and hard to find, and prefers to just meet somewhere public. That's fine. I don't like people coming to my house to buy things either, but I also understand how people feel differently when they are getting a pet, and would want to 'meet the parents', and maybe more importantly, see the conditions that your new pet has been raised in. I see both sides.
No idea if you will see this, Happy Kitties, but I came across your review as I was looking up this cattery when trying to find the breeder of a Himalayan I had received a long time ago. She may very well have come from Marie. She developed food allergies and scratched herself severely, too. I believe this has more to do with being a purebred than anything else.
I see you're working with a dermatologist who undoubtedly knows more than I do, but for the sake of trying to help I'll tell you what solved my kitty's issues. I learned that avoiding the protein in the food she had eaten for years (this was 20 years ago, so it was cheap Iams chicken flavor). One has to be careful because plenty of foods, including many, if not most, prescription diets, have one or more types of protein "meal" which may be contaminated with parts of different animals, may be of a lower quality than whole meat, and often these foods have corn additives, all of which can lead to allergy. It is best to have food that has a whole meat listed first on the ingredients, e.g. chicken instead of chicken meal. I tried my kitty on a Natural Balance dry food which had whole meat from a different protein source and limited ingredients, and within 3 weeks her skin was completely clear and her coat softer than ever. As a bonus, this was cheaper than the prescription food (that did little to help). I eventually moved her onto wet foods to support her kidneys, but I know wet food isn't for everyone.
There are tons of great cat food options nowadays and the increased knowledge of consumers has pushed many companies to provide better food in recent years.
You can ask for samples from your local pet store to see what kitty likes best; I have always found smaller chains like Pets Plus or independent shops to be more willing to help with this as opposed to the big chain stores.
My kitty lived 17 years despite 8 years of kidney failure (which I again think was caused by diet) and was the absolute best cat I could have ever asked for, and many signs point to her coming from Marie. Marie now feeds her kitties Blue, which is a good quality food. I really do think she cares deeply about her cats. Anyhow, thanks for listening and I wish you and your kitties all the best!
i purchased a siamese from marie November 1915. She was very pleasant and friendly. Our kitten was perfect and grew up to be a beautiful male. Would not hesitate to buy from her again.
I have bought two Himalayan kittens from Marie thats are outstanding cute lovable cats.
yes, she always meets you; says home is hard to get too.
up in the hills.
and yes, u think the photos are copies of other kittens; but my kittens are fabulous
again, Marie is an elderly lady, her. son drives her down from her home now thatcher husband has passed away.
I got amazing beautiful cats from her
himalayan, cream and light flame points, papers, etc.
food to start them.
yes; I would rather go to the breeders home etc.
I agree her pictures are not accurate; she almost always sends the same photo thats posted on her website.
this could be improved. I dont think shes tech savvy.
here's is blaze, he is in the middle. my other boys came from two other breeders, one in oceanside (lavender points) she no longer breeds and bleu 1st in photo who came from some crazy woman in texas.
We bought two Himalayan kittens from Marie. She was extremely caring and thoughtful. Since she lives far from the San Diego airport, we agreed to meet at the airport. We spent over an hour at the airport discussing the two kittens, going over their food, their care and what the kittens loved to do. Marie could not have been more gracious and helpful. We have now 2 beautiful cats and I have stayed in touch with Marie to share pictures as well.
I bought a kitten from Marie three years ago. I have had no issues with my cat, he is actually the best cat I have ever owned, health wise and personality. It was alittle hard to communicate with Marie, but it was all worth it! I purchased a male, blue point modern siamese