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CB Cat Breeders Review of Forest Wind Siberians
Forest Wind Siberians

Forest Wind Siberians review: Bad company, don't buy from them 14

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Author of the review
6:24 am EST
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I bought Siberian cat from the company Forest Wind Siberians. The seller provided all documents, but after several weeks the kitten died. It turned out that the seller sold me defective cat. The cat had problems with the heart. I contacted the seller and explained the situation, and they promised to return money. But they sent me another kitten, but I didn’t need cat any more. I wonder if there are other people, who had the same experience. Let’s share views about this company.

14 comments
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Elizabeth Rakowitz
, US
Mar 14, 2024 2:52 am EDT
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I purchased a breeder male from Forest Wind many years ago. Before I bred him, I took him for various tests. The vet determined that he had HCM. I definitely could not breed him. I asked for a refund and was told no. The breeder said he was sold with good intentions. Well good intentions could not produce any offspring for me to offset the price of a breeder male, or the cost of all the tests I paid for. Buyer beware. It is possible that they still have HCM in their lines. Ask for proven test results

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Susan Bigouette
, US
Mar 03, 2021 8:35 am EST
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I have two wonderful cats from ForrestWind and I couldn’t be happier with the experience! Both of my boys are beautiful and healthy with wonderful temperaments. Kate is amazing and cares for her cats long after they leave her home, she is super supportive and provided so much information and advice and has literally answered all of my questions right away with thoughtfulness and the kind of knowledge that only come from someone with her many years of experience in caring for cats. Kate truly cares about this breed, their heath and their happiness. After I adopted my first kitten from her we knew we had to have another one - it was so hard to wait in both instances because we were so ready to have our new family member but it was worth the wait to have two such amazing kitties join our family. I highly recommend ForrestWind to anyone looking for a well breed and well mannered kitten.

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Michele Peters
, US
Sep 17, 2019 4:28 pm EDT

Please be aware that as of September 17, 2019, ForestWind Siberians is not a licensed breeder with the State of New York. Kate Stryker of course can have that corrected and I sincerely hope she does. I was not aware the cattery was not licensed but I made the assumption based upon the website representations and social media. I have enjoyed my Forestwind Siberian kitty for the past nine years. I can also state that it took 9 years to receive the promised registration paperwork from TICA. But I did receive it last week. I believe that ForestWind has had the best intentions but perhaps not the best business practices and preparation of documents. I recommend reading whatever contract you enter into carefully. It is also a fact that many if not all of the kittens are raised by foster families outside of ForestWind. There is no reason to believe the kittens are not raised lovingly but the fact of being raised by a foster family should be clearly disclosed. It is my sincere hope that ForestWind will trim down its operations so each kitten and prospective new owner is given the attention each deserves and ForestWind and all its cats and kitty owners will prosper.

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Alexis Trout
, US
Oct 25, 2018 3:13 pm EDT

We got 2 kittens from Forest Wind in August. They are thriving perfect little kittens! Kate is extremely knowledgeable and thorough, and her careful attention gave us two healthy kittens. Gaucho isn’t our first Siberian, these little guys are our third and fourth. We had no allergy issues with the first two, and no allergy issues with these guys. And my son and I are very allergic to cats! I like all the careful preparation that Kate did with the paperwork, she truly matches her kittens to prospective buyers. There will come a day when I will be looking for another Siberian kitten. We have an older Siberian along with our new little guy. I recommend Forest Wind to everyone, and I would not hesitate to purchase from Kate again. We are so happy with Gaucho!

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Elizabeth Rakowitz
, US
Mar 14, 2024 2:53 am EDT
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This was 2018

Are your kittens from Forest Wind still healthy?

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Ivansmom
, US
Sep 19, 2018 4:40 pm EDT

Very happy with my cat from them. He's ten now and in perfect health. And an absolute love. I'm getting a second cat from them this spring very excited.

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Jemsplay
, US
Jan 03, 2017 7:59 pm EST

For the original post about receiving a 'defective cat', I am very suspicious of the statement "but I didn’t need cat any more". It sounds like this person just wanted their money back. What type of human being, after losing a precious animal, makes a statement that they wanted their money and did not need a cat anymore? I would be curious if they did something to to that poor kitty to get their money back. Very sketchy.

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ForestWind Cattery
, US
Dec 13, 2016 4:49 pm EST

[Repost: edited for typos, we thought we'd have an approval page for editing, instead comment direct posted.]

ForestWind Siberians has been working with Siberian cats since 2005. In all these years we've had three online complaints. This family is one of them. This family has made it their "job" to find every complaint site and post their spurious complaint. We have all the documentation of this family interactions with ForestWind, our work to make them satisfied, and are happy to provide it to persons who are involved in exploring working with ForestWind Siberians.

The actual situation: This buyer wanted a confirmed go home date prior to the kitten being one month old, despite being informed that the Vet makes that decision when the kittens are desexed at 10 or 11 weeks old. Despite numerous phone calls, emails, and texts, it was impossible to communicate the timing to the family. This family had a 24 hour window to receive the kitten. And it was 1 1/2 to 2 weeks past the expected kitten go home date. After making multiple re arrangements of our family's holiday schedule to accommodate this family, the informed us that they had changed their pick up date.

At this point we realized we would be unable to make this family happy and that we were not the breeder for them. We returned 100% of their deposit together with supportive and detailed information about how to find a breeder who would have kittens available "immediately" and already ready to go home (so the family would have a definite go-home date). We did not have to return the deposit. We could have simply said "tough luck you get your kitten when you get your kitten." But we did not. We put our kitten's well being and the family's needs first, and encouraged them to choose a breeder who would meet their needs.

ForestWind has and shares with its Kitten Reservation Families multiple FAQs, Forms, and information sheets sharing everything one can imagine about buying a kitten - from how the process works, to selecting one's kitten, to preparing the home, to litter boxes and litter, to training Siberians to both do tricks and redirecting any unwanted behaviors, to bathing and grooming, to what toys and supplies to purchase, to what exact foods to feed and how and when to feed and what dishes to use to feed and water their kitten, reams of allergy support information, and many more besides.

We have *all* the documentation concerning this family and their spurious claims, and are happy to share it.

Warmly,

Kate Stryker

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ForestWind Cattery
, US
Dec 13, 2016 4:43 pm EST

ForestWInd Siebrians has been working with Siberian cats since 2005. In all these years we've had three online complaints. This family is one of them. This family has made it their "job" to find every complaint site and post their spurious complaint. We have all the documentation of this family interactions with ForestWind, our work to make them satisfied, and are happy to provide it to persons who are involved in exploring working with ForestWind Siberians.

The actual situation: This buyer wanted a confirmed go home date prior to the kitten being one month old, depsite eing informed that the Vet makes that decision when the kittens are desexed at 10 or 11 weeks old. Despite numerous phone calls, emails, and texts, it was impossible to communicate the timing to the family. This family had a 24 hour window to recieve the kitten. And it was 1 1/2 to 2 weeks past the expected kitten go home date. After making multiple re arrangements of our family's holiday schedule to accommodate this family, the informed us that they had changed their pick up date.

At this point we realized we woul be unable to make this family ahppy and that we were not the breeder for them. We returned 100% of their deposit together with supportive and deatiled information about how to find a breeder who would have ktitens available "Immediately" and already ready to go home (so the family would have a definite date). We di not have to return the deposit. We could have simply said "tough luck you get your kitten when you get your kitten." But we did not. We put our kitten's well being and the familiy's needs first and encouraged them to choose a breeder who would meet their needs.

ForestWind has and shares with its Kitten Reservation Families multiple FAQs, Forms, and information sheets sharing everything one can imagine about buying a kitten - from how the process works, to selecting one's kitten, to preparing the home, to litter boxes and litter, to training Siberians to both do tricks and redirecting any unwanted behaviors, to bathing and grooming, to what toys and supplies to purchase, to what eact foods to feed and how and when to feed and what dishes to use to feed and water their kitten, reams of allergy support information, and many more besides.

We have *all* the documentation concerning this family and their spurious claims, and are happy to share it.

Warmly,

Kate Stryker

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Elizabeth Rakowitz
, US
Mar 14, 2024 2:57 am EDT
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It sounds like this is more than just one family!

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forestwind_buyer_beware
, US
Sep 12, 2015 1:20 pm EDT
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If you are considering adopting a kitten from Kate Stryker and Forest Wind Siberians, you should know what you are getting into. My application was approved in end of March of 2015, and my $500 deposit made in early April of 2015. At this time I was guaranteed the first choice of Summer kittens which were supposed to be ready to go home at the end of September (I have an email to confirm this.)

After I paid my deposit, Forest Wind volunteered no information whatsoever about the summer litters and I was relegated to a FaceBook group "pergatory" where information was scant - and often incorrect. It wasn't until I started inquiring on a regular basis in August that I got any information about my kitten.

Finally, in mid to late August I found out that my kitten was born on July 18 (but the breeder later changed this date - for some unexplained reason - to July 22). She promised to post pictures, but those pictures never came. Multiple requests for pictures were either ignored or an excuse was given and promises made to post pictures "tomorrow." It wasn't until September that she sent pictures of 3 kittens, HOWEVER, it was an empty email message, with no information - only 3 unlabeled pictures. She didn't confirm which litter they were from nor did she say what sexes the kittens were. When I inquired about the sex of the kittens, she wrote back a terse and rude email: "males and females." ? Of course they are males and females but which kittens are which. To this day I still don't know.

I warn you that this woman has absolutely the worst communication skills you will ever see in your life. She doesn't respond in full sentences, uses no punctuation, often words are spelled so incredibly incorrectly that you have to have several people read the emails in order to decipher them.

As I got closer and closer to the "going home" date, communications from Forest Wind became even more convoluted and the "going home" date began to change radically. The date was no longer the end of September, but now the weekend of Oct 16. And it HAD to be the weekend of Oct 16 - when I inquired about the possibility of picking up the kitten the following weekend, there was no flexibility with this - even though I was coming from 6 hours away. I was told they do NOT hold kittens. So I rearranged my teaching schedule in order to suit this requirement. A week later she changed her mind and wrote back saying she could in fact hold the kitten. But I had already made out of town arrangements. She then confirmed that I would pick up my kitten on Oct 16 (I have email to prove this). And suddenly only 2 days later she wrote that the pick-up dates are not set in stone and accused me of being "fixated" on dates.

I was absolutely flummoxed. Any reasonable person who has a job - especially one who is from out of town - is going to need to make plans/reservations in order to come and get a new kitten. But she was consistently unhelpful and reluctant to share information. It was very strange indeed.

It was about this time that my husband and I started to suspect that something was wrong with the Summer kittens because her strange behavior and the constantly changing information didn't make any sense.

Inquiries were made about the health of the kittens. She responded "kittens are very dear" - and that was the extent of her message.

In a subsequent email she let slip that the Summer kittens were, in fact, not growing properly and the "going home" dates would be later in October, but could not say when - and would not give us any sense of when she might know.

In an email written on September 11, I asked for a time frame in which she and the vet would have a sense of when the "going-home" date might be, because I wanted some clarity around the issues. In the middle of an email conversation about when the kitten would actually be available and when I might come into town to retrieve her, I suddenly got a PayPal refund of my deposit. A note accompanied the refund - it said: "kittens are not toasters."

And just like that, after 6 months of planning and researching, and with no real explanation, my heart was broken by the mad behavior of Kate Stryker.

I spent six months dealing with her indecipherable emails. Why? Because she seemed to have a lot of happy "customers." But in the end, it just wasn't worth it. We have our kitten's welcoming room prepared, we have a cat sitter booked for New Year's eve. We have our first vet appointment. But we have no kitten. Because on an utter whim, she decided that I was asking too many questions. And there is no recourse for us. Do you know why? Because she refuses to send you a signed contract until AFTER you pick up your kitten. This is VERY shady indeed. I should have seen these red flags and listened to my gut which had been saying all along that "something with Forest Wind just isn't quite right."

I'm sure that many of Forest Wind cats are great. But you are taking a risk with your wallet and your heart. Kate Stryker displays erratic and extreme behavior. She is severely challenged when it comes to communication - on top of this, she is rude. The adoption process at Forest Wind is quite shady and is not transparent at all. If you ask too many questions about the kitten, how its health is, when you'll be able to take it home, you will be shut out completely, your contract will suddenly be voided and your deposit refunded. How do I know this? Because this is what happened to me. I have documented everything I've written here. No doubt she will respond to this by calling me a liar – this is how she responds to online complaints about her (do some research and you’ll see that). It's your choice who to believe.

It is my suggestion that you go elsewhere to find a kitten. I recently learned there are alternatives for people with cat allergies - did you know that shelters are overflowing with kittens and many of them are low-allergen? Reputable shelters will work with you to find a low allergen breed to meet your needs. Save a life. Choose adoption from a shelter. Save your sanity. Avoid Forest Wind like the plague. I wish we had.

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ForestWind Siberians
Buffalo, US
May 20, 2015 6:24 am EDT
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ForestWind Siberians provides a 10 year health guarantee for genetic disease for all of the kittens it sells. This covers FIP, HCM, PKD, PK - Deficiency, and PRA. It does not cover things like cancer. We have never heard of the above complainant, nor have we during our ten years of breeding ever had a kitten die of an illness or genetic disease the first year it was at home . The only two things a buyer can do to void their health contract are 1) not register their kitten's microchip 2) declaw their kitten. The only requirement for free kitten replacement under the contract is to have the appropriate Veterinary specialist diagnose the disease and send that documentation to our veterinarian. It is as simple as that. We are the only Siberian cat breeder internationally with as thorough and extensive a health guarantee for our kittens and we are proud of our health Siberians kittens and cats. We have submitted this explanation several times, and mysteriously it has never been posted. We are now going to post it on our Facebook Fan Page. Sincerely, Kate Stryker, owner.

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Elizabeth Rakowitz
, US
Mar 14, 2024 2:59 am EDT
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I purchased a kitten with HCM and never received a refund, so Kate is a liar.

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K. Love
warners, US
Sep 21, 2014 2:50 pm EDT
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If the contract said that a health defective in one kitten would result in a replacement, you can't then demand money. I bought a kitten from Forestwind and have found them nothing but helpful, understanding, informative and patient. They listened to our family dynamics and hand picked the perfect kitten for us. I can't imagine a better breeder. We will buy from them again. I'm sorry you feel you were slighted.