Erin Albrecht adopted a Siberian kitten from Ellenville cat breeder Lori Lay. They often sell for $1,200-1,300.

But when Albrecht visited Lay's home to pick out the kitten she'd take home, she says something was wrong.

"She said 'if anything happens to your cat, if your kitten gets sick bring it back to me; I have a guy who puts them to sleep for $25,' " said Albrecht. "All the kittens except for Huey didn't really move very much; they just kind of sat there and Huey was very playful. I just fell in love with him."

But after a year and a half, Huey got sick.

"We noticed in December that he stopped eating with the voracity that he always had, stopped playing as much; he didn't want to be picked up," said Albrecht.

Huey was later diagnosed with FIP, a viral disease in cats that is fatal in more than 95 percent of cases. Huey died at the end of January,

"We did euthanize him, and it was the worst day that I think I've probably had, maybe ever," said Albrecht.

Albrecht is not alone. There's a Facebook support group with people who have bought cats from Lay that ended up getting sick.

Sophia Lee is a member of that group. She adopted a Siberian cat from Lay in 2013.

"It was a actually a trailer. She had many cats in that trailer; I can't say for certain. There were probably were 40 or 50 cats in there," Lee said.

Her family adopted a kitten they named Leo, but after a few months, he also got sick with FIP.

"He began with fevers, weight loss, he stopped eating," said Lee. "We did end of life care at about the age of 1."

The loss of Leo devastated her family.

"I would like to see an end to the sick kittens being sold to people who don't know they are potentially going to die in a year," said Lee. 

"I would like to see Lori end her breeding practices and find another way to support herself. I think what she does is extremely irresponsible. I would say that it borders on criminal behavior," said Albrecht.

The Ulster County SPCA is investigating Lay's breeding business and tells us they "understand the issues brought to our attention and take them seriously," but they "refrain from publicly discussing any reports of abuse or neglect so we may preserve the integrity of all investigations that may evolve from such reports.”

Spectrum News reached out to Lay several times, but did not recieve a response. 

"Every time I read one of these stories, it just breaks my heart again, because in part for them, but it also reminds me of what my family went through," said Lee.