Owner sues vet in western France after misgendered cat dies following sterilisation
The vet ‘did not verify’ the cat’s sex before operation and it died nine days later
Kékette died nine days after the operation. Photo for illustrative purposes only
Ozankursat/Shutterstock
A vet in western France is being sued by a former client whose kitten died following a sterilisation operation.
The animal’s gender was not verified before the operation, with the vet mistakenly believing the male kitten was actually a female, the owner said to media outlet Ouest France.
Kékette, a six-month old kitten, died in 2022 following the operation at the clinic near Nantes (Loire-Aquitaine).
Despite being a male kitten, he was reportedly operated on using the sterilisation procedure for females. He died nine days after the operation.
“We went to court because I swore to my cat that we would find out what happened,” said Kékette’s owner, 40-year old Estelle Faria.
Kékette was in extreme pain due to the error; “I have never heard a cat scream in such agony,” said Ms Faria, before he passed away.
Tubes between kidney and bladder cut
Kékette, a rescued stray, had already been to the vet before for a health check, as had his mother (who was also sterilised in the same clinic after being found).
Both the owners and the clinic originally believed Kékette was a girl, but this should have been verified before the operation, said Mrs Faria to Ouest-France.
Medical records from the operation confirm the vet did not verify the animal’s sex, she said.
The kitten was originally named ‘Croquette’ by Ms Faria but earned his nickname from the way her son mispronounced it.
Following the usually-routine operation, Ms Faria said the clinic informed her that Kékette was actually a boy but had been castrated and ‘everything was fine’.
The clinic did not say that any internal procedures had been done as part of the operation, however the vet had in fact cut tubes connecting Kékette’s kidney and bladder when thinking that he was a female.
Following the procedure, Kékette was dehydrated and unable to urinate, before dying nine days later.
During that time, Kékette was taken several times to the vet for emergency procedures.
The vet has since been fired and sanctioned by the regional veterinary group.
