What rights do I have after selling a pet?

Questioner

In March 2021, a litter of pedigree cats was born to me. I am not a professional seller, but I just had a litter for fun. So I do not sell with a purchase contract and pedigree. Two years earlier, a cat had escaped from me. This cat had been mated at the time and had kittens. Because I had no idea who the father was, I gave these kittens away for free. On May 14th I sold an 8 week old pedigree kitten. I had told them to keep an eye on the kitten with regard to eating because he was quite active and then quickly fell asleep again, which meant that he didn't eat. I separated him from his brothers myself, so that he would eat. The family decided to take him with them. The family was very happy with the kitten and I received nice videos and photos. On May 17th I received a message that they had taken the kitten to the vet and that he had been fully approved. Three days later - on May 20th - I received a whatsapp message that the kitten was not doing well and that he was under the x-ray machine at that moment. She didn't want to tell me anything else. An hour or two later I found out that they had put the kitten to sleep because he had 'FIP'. A few hours later I received the medical file. It stated that the vet 'suspected' that he had FIP but this was not proven. The medical file did indeed state that the kitten was 'fine' on May 17 but had been given a whole list of medications. Why? For a kitten that was fine! I have looked into the disease FIP and discovered that cats develop FIP during periods of stress (moving, different food, etc.) and that it is a matter of days or weeks before the cat dies. Now they want the purchase price back. Are they entitled to that?

Lawyer

I read that FIP ​​(Feline Infectious Peritonitis) and FCOV (Feline Coronavirus) can be fatal and that it is a common virus. From what I have read, it cannot be concluded that it is, for example, a genetic defect or virus that the cat would have had at your home. Based on your story (even if a vet could not find anything wrong a few days before), I can't see any reason to reclaim the purchase price. When it comes to a normal virus that any cat can get, it is basically a case of 'bad luck'. Something that can happen to any cat and anyone. Perhaps the cat was infected by circumstances in or outside the buyer's home. If you had known that the cat had FIP at the time you sold it, things might have been different. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or require legal assistance.