Domestic cat bit veterinary technician at clinic and was immediately “euthanized”

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This cat should not have been killed by this veterinarian. It was shoddy, lazy veterinary work at best. The story unfolds slowly and in a sinister way. In America rabies is a rare but active and very dangerous disease and therefore strict precautions must take place to prevent people contracting it.

“I can’t stop crying…..I feel like I let Oliver down..”

A veterinary technician, Kaitlin Neal, took a cat, Oliver (who I believe was owned by someone else), to what I believe was the Odenton Veterinary Hospital. This is in Maryland, USA. I don’t know why Oliver was taken to the vets but Kaitlin agreed to bloodwork and to the de-matting of his coat. In the consultation room Oliver purred. In fact he purred so much that they had to stop him by putting a cotton ball with alcohol on it in front of him. They did this because they wanted to check his heart beat and his purring masked the sound. Clearly, Oliver was friendly but no doubt anxious. He was a socialised, domesticated indoor/outdoor cat. He was elderly and perhaps a little neglected by his owner(s) judging by the photo (this fact may have encouraged the vet to adopt a less caring attitude). The video below shows him in a cat carrier.

Update: 4th August 2017 — A couple of visitors to this page have commented and provided the hospital’s response for which I am grateful (see below). Soon, I will write another article and publish the hospital’s statement. I will also comment on their statement. I am keen to present balanced, fair reporting (Admin).

Here it is:

Odenton Veterinary Hospital justifies the “euthanasia” of Oliver the cat

August 6th: there is a further update to complete the story. It’s a prequel, the time when Oliver was trapped. It tells us for sure that Oliver was completely domesticated but neglected. Click this to read it.

Dr Corcoran
Dr Corcoran

Oliver was examined by Dr Kellie Corcoran. Oliver was taken out of the consultation room. It appears he was carried out because his carrier was left behind. Kaitlin waited patiently. The veterinarian returned after a few minutes and told her that Oliver had jumped off the table after they had drawn blood. Because of this they said they wouldn’t be able to groom him. I’m not sure why they made this rather bizarre decision but read on.

The veterinarian took the cat carrier out of the room where Kaitlin was waiting. The veterinarian then comes back into the room and told Kaitlin that as they were putting Oliver back into the cat carrier he had bitten the veterinary technician. Comment: this is predictable for a cat under these circumstances. It does not mean anything other than that the cat is anxious and has become defensively aggressive. Anybody with experience of cat behaviour would realise this.

The fact that Oliver had bitten the veterinary technician created a problem. The problem was the question whether he had rabies or not, bizarre as that might sound to international visitors from countries other than America to this website.

The veterinarian made it quite plain to Kaitlin that she had no option but to euthanize Oliver. Kaitlin asked whether they could contact animal control to see whether Oliver could be placed into quarantine to check whether he had rabies or not.

CDC write: If you were bitten by a cat, dog, or ferret that appeared healthy at the time you were bitten, it can be confined by its owner for 10 days and observed. No anti-rabies prophylaxis is needed. No person in the United States has ever contracted rabies from a dog, cat or ferret held in quarantine for 10 days.

The veterinarian responded by saying “that would mean we would have to get postexposure shots”. This means that the veterinary staff would have to be treated as if they been bitten by a cat who had rabies (as I understand it).

Kaitlin requested that the veterinarian call animal control – she was desperately trying to save Oliver. She made it clear that the cat had had no issues in the past and was a house cat. Oliver deserved a chance she said. Veterinarians should know that cats in veterinary clinics can behave like this.

The veterinarian then walked out of the room and returns five minutes later claiming that she had talked to animal control. She did not provide the name of the officer with whom she had spoken. She said that she had to euthanise Oliver and that there was no quarantine option.

Kaitlin did not have the opportunity to speak to animal control. Oliver was immediately euthanized (killed is the better description). Kaitlin was not given the opportunity to say her goodbyes. Kaitlin says that when a veterinary technician or veterinarian handles an outdoor/indoor cat then they know they have to handle them properly to prevent being scratched or bitten. It could be argued that the veterinary staff mishandled the situation and are the authors of this catastrophe.

Kaitlin had to pay her bill even though her cat was taken from her and euthanised without her permission. She is very upset. She is angry. Kaitlin writes:

“This cat was let down. Let down by his owners, by the community, and quite honestly by this vet. This has to stop.”

Kaitlin did not want to leave the matter without resolving some outstanding issues. She called the veterinary clinic again requesting the name of the animal control officer that the veterinarian had telephoned. She was told that they spoke to Officer Herbert. Kaitlin spoke to Officer Herbert who told her that Dr Corcoran had never spoken to her. Officer Herbert said that she had received a call that the veterinary clinic and a “pick up”. The protocol would have been a ten-day quarantine in Kaitlin’s home and then to vaccinate for rabies afterwards. The animal control officer said that the veterinarian was in the wrong.

It is quite clear that animal control did not tell Dr Corcoran to euthanize the cat. Animal control also said that they were told by the veterinarian that Oliver was feral and had no family and was fractious. Because of this misleading information from the veterinarian animal control informed the veterinarian that a ten-day quarantine could be done but if he was fractious and could not be touched then it would be impossible to quarantine him.

It would appear that the veterinarian misled animal control and received back information which supported what she wanted to do in the first place which was to kill Oliver to avoid the inconvenience of being given postexposure shots.

As mentioned, Kaitlin never signed a release form allowing euthanasia and was never given the option of putting Oliver into quarantine for 10 days even though animal control had said that they were the options. Kaitlin made it clear that she wanted the quarantine option for Oliver.

To me it is clear that Oliver was unnecessarily killed by the veterinarian because it was more convenient to do so than to put him into a ten-day quarantine. A bad veterinarian and extremely upsetting. May Oliver rest in peace bless him.

Update: A subsequent test on Oliver (I believe this is obligatory) showed that he did not have rabies. This does not surprise me as there were no signs of it. Oliver’s behavior was normal.

Source: Facebook post by Kaitlin Neal.




81 thoughts on “Domestic cat bit veterinary technician at clinic and was immediately “euthanized””

  1. You are being fed a pack of lies. This sick, elderly, neglected and STRAY cat was euthanized for multiple reasons that were explained to and agreed on by the person who brought it in. You are listening to one side told by a person who is lying to you. It’s obvious from the pictures even this is not a cat who has any care in a long time. Please stop bullying someone when you really don’t know what is going on. Put down the pitchforks. This idiotic social media behavior of listening to one side of a story and launching a hate campaign against someone is causing SO much harm to our society. Cyber bullying has gotten out of control. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. So many wonderful ppl are taking their lives because of these hate and smear campaigns mounted on innocent people. It has to stop! I am starting to think we need to be able to prosecute people like so many who have posted on here spouting hatred, threats and abuse.

  3. You wrote an article based off a Facebook post…that was full of false statements… you are a terrible journalist sir. It’s laughable how you are defending your terrible article with reiterating that you read the facts on her Facebook post. I thought everyone learns in journalism that investigation is the key, moron. I hope this Doctor and practice sue this woman for extortion.

  4. Perhaps before putting all belief in one side of the story people should hear both sides. Also note that the first thing on the OP on Facebook was asking for donations. Below is the response from the vet.

    To our clients, community, and those concerned:

    We do this job because we love animals, and we understand the concerns surrounding a story that’s gone viral which claims we mishandled a cat that was brought to our clinic for evaluation. Although we respect everyone’s right to free speech, in this case it has crossed the line to a cyberbullying attack- including serious threats against our clinic and staff. We would like to share our side of the story to those who are willing to listen.
    On July 31st, a new client brought in a feral cat they were considering rescuing that had been abandoned outdoors several years ago. This cat no owner, no veterinary history, and we were told by the client that it hadn’t had any vaccinations for years. The client asked us to examine the cat and let her know whether he could be saved, or if it would be more humane to euthanize him.

    We were able to perform an examination. The poor cat was so matted, we were unable to perform a proper skin examination. His right eye was bulging outward, had lesions all over the cornea, and likely would need to be removed. He also had severe dental disease, a possible tooth abscess, and a heart murmur.

    We discussed with the client that this cat’s prognosis was very guarded to poor, and this cat was in very bad shape. We discussed options with the client, and she eventually decided to do bloodwork, stating that if the bloodwork looked too abnormal, she would likely elect to euthanize.

    At this point, out of concern for the client’s toddler whom she had in the exam room with her, we took what we knew to be a feral, unvaccinated cat, to a more secure room in the back of our clinic in order to draw the blood.
    Though we were able to get his blood drawn, the cat quickly became aggressive, scratching and biting a few staff members. We informed the client of this fact, and explained to her that often the protocol in the case of a feral, unvaccinated cat is likely euthanasia and rabies testing.

    Before moving any further, we contacted our animal control office. We explained the situation in detail and asked whether this cat had to be euthanized and tested, or whether the client could quarantine him for 10 days and then vaccinate. The animal control officer told us that because this cat was feral, unvaccinated, had bitten someone, and was not healthy, their recommended protocol was euthanasia and rabies testing. After speaking with animal control, we spoke again with the client, explaining their recommendation to her. Rabies is fatal in humans, so we have to weight that fact against what we know about this cat and the protocol that was recommended by animal control. The client said, “This sucks”, and we agreed, sharing words about what a tough situation this was to be in. We asked the client if all of this made sense to her and if she understood why animal control had recommended euthanasia. She told us that it did, and then went to the front desk to check out.

    Hours later, we began to receive angry messages and threats from people who have never even been to our clinic. We discovered that this client had posted a story online stating that we had euthanized this cat without her consent and we needed to be brought to justice. The story went viral and our clinic and staff began to be bombarded with emails, Facebook messages, and calls. Comments ranged from accusing us of being animal murderers to outright death threats.
    The fact is this was a difficult decision for everyone involved, especially our staff, who are in this business because we love animals. This was not a decision that was reached lightly. We care deeply about every animal that comes through our doors, and euthanasia is never an easy choice. No one at this hospital would ever euthanize an animal without full permission from the owner, period. It has never happened and will never happen at our hospital. And while we share the grief that comes with losing any life, this client was made fully aware of what was happening at all times. Thus, we don’t understand why she has chosen to spark an attack on our hospital and staff for doing what was recommended by animal control and what she agreed to in the exam room.

    Thank you for your time. We appreciate those of you who understand that there are two sides to every story. Thank you for keeping an open mind.

    Sincerely,

    The Odenton Veterinary Hospital staff

  5. There are a lot of passionate comments on here regarding Oliver and its wonderful to see people care so much about the life of an animal, however, shouldn’t both sides of the story be considered? I see the source is from the “owner” of the cats Facebook post. Whose to say she is being honest herself? Don’t get me wrong, if this is what really happened then its an awful thing, but I feel like the story is quick to take sides in what is a “he said/she said” scenario at best. All the information is from one person who could easily being manipulating the facts or perspective, I mean let’s face it there are some crazy people in this world. It would be a shame for what could be an actual caring doctors career to be damaged because of it. Jumping on the bandwagon is all too easy to do. As we werent there, who knows what actually went on within the clinic? There is too much missing information to accurately tell. Maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to judge.

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