Woman takes her cat to the vet - then finds it selling on Facebook marketplace for £50

A woman was shocked to find her cat being sold on Facebook marketplace for £50 after taking him to the vets.

Kelly Samuels, from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, said she took her cat, Casper, to Vetsavers last Tuesday because she thought he had an abscess, and he was treated with antibiotics and painkillers.

His condition worsened on Thursday, so she rushed him back, and he stayed overnight. On Friday morning, they still hadn't removed the abscess which left the worried woman thinking he had a serious condition.

She said she was convinced he had a kidney problem which would cause him to have a painful life and require expensive long-term treatment, which she couldn't afford, so she gave him to her father, and said that if it was serious and causing him a lot of pain to put  him to sleep.

Ms Samuels claims the vet then told her father her pet "would need long term treatment for his kidney which would be a hefty cost and no guarantees it would work," but offered for the animal to be signed over to the vet's care so they could arrange for him to be looked after.

 She telephoned the vet on  Monday morning to find out how he was — and found that instead of a severe kidney problem, her animal had just had an abscess and was perfectly healthy.

Overjoyed, she asked to pay for her cat's stay at the vets and asked if she could have him back, but they "wouldn't budge."

A family friend then saw Casper being sold on Facebook marketplace for £50 and alterted Ms Samuels, who said: "I have 3 broken hearted children here that loved that cat to the moon and back one of them special needs that is having trouble understanding. He should be at home with his family in the surroundings he knows and loves."

She began a local Facebook campaign to get her cat returned, which received hundreds of likes and shares, and friends of the family said the cat was doted upon and well-loved.

Ms Samuels told The Telegraph: "The vet said on the Friday that he would need lengthy treatment that would be of high cost , that’s why it was agreed for his care to be signed over because I couldn’t afford the hundreds of pounds, he was put up on a selling page 2 days later as a healthy cat."

The veterinary practice claimed the cat was healthy but that its owner had tried to get him put down instead of paying the bills — which she says is untrue and shared a receipt of her payments.

Vetsavers Wisbech declined to comment, but said they have given the cat back to Ms Samuels.

She confirmed this, and said she would be taking no legal action against the practice, telling The Telegraph: "They made the right decision and let him come home yesterday. I’m just happy to have him back so won’t be pursuing anything."