Finding Forever Animal Rescue & Thrift Store — Local services in Marion

I want to start this review with positives. The thrift store/rescue do a great service for our community. They run with minimal funding from shoppers and donations to do the work they do and it is admirable. My review here is for the spay/neuter clinic specifically for possible future clients.

I haven't had a cat spayed in close to twenty years, so when I called around for quotes it was definitely a sticker shock at the cost. But I wanted to be responsible and ensure the best future health for my new cat. I found out about the low cost clinic through a local vet.

First impressions, the contract/rules on their website almost made me not use the service. Feeling like you are being talked down to or scolded before you have even become a client is very disheartening. I understand that many situations have come up in the past that you feel you must address and be proactive about, but the wording and way it is presented to potential clients is off putting.

On the day of the surgery, the staff member who was taking our animals was very short and didn't instill feelings of trust with myself during the handoff. Almost backed out, but decided to roll with it since it was kind of hectic at that moment. They didn't allow us in the building to see the setup, which was also very odd. We stood in a line outside the door then passed our animals off to an attendant inside. We did not get to meet the vet or team that did the procedure.

After pickup- no physical paperwork was given. I called in and they said it is emailed which is great, but I did not receive the information until 6 days after the procedure. If an emergency vet visit takes place after the surgery and before you get the paperwork, you are left blowing in the wind with what kind of medication the animal was given because they don't tell you. The pain medication shot used is an NSAID, not an opioid. My cat was in a very large amount of pain after the surgery due to the medication used and was not able to rest as she was crying and writhing around. The shot was not worth the extra cost as it did nothing for her, I was thinking it was going to be something stronger than the equivalent of Tylenol. It took her hours to calm down and even then, she was miserable.

I noticed while checking her incision that they nicked my cat with the clippers when they shaved her stomach in multiple spots and it looks very raw and painful. To me this is a sign of a very rushed procedure and does not make me feel good about how she was handled.

The microchip information provided was not registered. I went online to verify the information and had to register it myself, so I am glad I checked.

All in all- you will get what you pay for. I understand that most people cannot afford the exorbitant prices that a standalone vet charges for this service. That is where I found myself at this particular time as well. In the future, if I get another cat, I will set aside money for a regular vet, because peace of mind during and after a procedure on a beloved animal is worth...

Main takeaway: Their low cost spay is a gamble, it could work totally fine or it could have lots of issues. Also, unless your cat is full grown, buy a cone elsewhere. They gave me a size small cone that was massive on my kittens and I had to modify by cutting extra holes in it two inches past the smallest hole it had in order to make it fit. I’m not sure if they just don’t have size extra small (which seems weird, since most people get cats fixed as kittens so you’d think they would have cones that fit them) or if they just didn’t bother to size correctly. Either way, don’t waste your $5 on one of their cones, spend the extra $10 at petsmart and get one that will fit.

Also, one microchip is properly placed between the shoulder blades but the other is at least an inch down the scapula and impossible to miss on top of the bone when petting. I’ve injected microchips before, and if you take a second to make sure you’re in the right place, it’s not hard. To me, the misplacement says it was done in a rush. I’m hoping that as she grows it might move to the more discreet and proper location between her shoulder blades.

Details: I got two 8 month old sisters spayed here on the same day. Dr. Kucera performed both procedures. When I got them back, one had a totally normal incision site that looked well-closed, but the other was more cinched in the middle with the ends loose and bunched (photos included here are from the day of the procedure). The normal incision has healed beautifully, and that cat is the crazy one you can’t keep still— she was tearing around the room and literally climbing walls two days post-op. If that was my only experience I’d be singing their praises. Unfortunately, the other one (who is much calmer and I would have thought would recover better) showed signs of infection three days post-op: she had bad-smelling discharge and was incredibly swollen. If you have any complications, they are very clear ahead of time that they won’t do anything about it and you need to take them to a different vet, so be prepared for that. I took her to Spear’s and got her antibiotics and anti-inflammatory. Two days later and her stitches popped, which considering her activity and her sisters’ activity, the problem was clearly with her stitching. Back to the vet again, and more anti-inflammatory since she was still very swollen.

We’re two weeks post-op and one cat is basically fully healed, barely a line there to see, while the other is on two medications and has a ~1cm x 2cm scab and is still very swollen. We’ll probably need at least one more vet visit to ensure she heals properly.

I know anything can cause infections or complications, but to me, when I look at the differences in their incision sites I’m not surprised that one got infected and had the stitches pop while the other healed perfectly. Like I said originally, it’s a gamble. It can be no problem but be prepared in case it doesn’t work out and if the incision doesn’t look right be extra vigilant...

I want to start this with some positives, I’ve adopted two cats from finding forever and they’re doing great. I have zero complaints about my first experience with them, there were no hiccups therefore everything went well. Now for the rest… I decided to add another cat to our home and they were my first choice! I went and found the sweetest kitty(on April 9th)to bring home. Let’s disregard the fact that they tried to charge me the “kitten” rate even though they told me that the cat was 2yrs old… (he was small and in the kitten room but still an adult) they corrected that and everything went on as normal. Unfortunately after I brought the cat home and started acclimating him it was very clear my two cats were much more territorial than I previously thought and this placement just wasn’t a safe environment for this new cat. I reached out on Friday April 22nd about bringing the cat back to them, we spoke over messenger and agreed on Wednesday May 11th. I made the mistake of thinking that was this coming Wednesday(April 27th) and brought the cat back around 945/10am. I did let them know I was running a couple minutes late but was on my way, I received no response. As soon as I walked in the lady at the front desk(red hair but I don’t remember her name) told me “we can’t do that intake today” I was confused as I thought we had agreed on this date, I looked up the conversation and let her know I’d obviously made a mistake she cut me off and told me she couldn’t take the cat before that date. At that point I let her know that I also couldn’t keep him any longer and if there was any way to bring him back by the end of the week… she refused to work with me to come up with a solution, instead she raised her voice and spoke down to me calling me “hun” the whole time. With no options left(and after I tried to return the cat for his safety) I posted the kitty on fb in hopes to find him a safe home or a shelter to help.. about 20 minutes later(they saw the post) called me and left a voicemail passive aggressively reminding me that I agreed to return the cat to them as if I hadn’t tried to do that less than two hours ago. I have never ever dealt with such unprofessionalism in the animal rescue world. I highly suggest some customer service training because this place more than lacks in that department. I would not suggest anyone choose finding forever if they expect support when things...