When a cat gets fat and owner goes on trial
Did obese, filthy Napoleon have to die?
They did not dally with Napoleon, the fat cat.
About an hour after arriving at the Ottawa Humane Society on May 7, a veterinary technician was euthanizing the 25-pound feline. Badly overweight, matted with feces, lethargic, smelly, his nine lives were up.
Much of Thursday’s trial was taken with the society’s handling of the animal, and delving into the thorny question of how far a pet owner is expected to go in caring for an aggressive, weight-prone cat.
Guylene Roy of Barrhaven was charged in June with permitting distress to an animal and failing to maintain a standard of care.
Justice of the peace Linda Pearson heard graphic descriptions of how morbidly obese Napoleon became in his 12 years, especially the last two or three when he gained almost six extra pounds.
Humane society staff testified he was so big he could not be pulled out of his crate through its front door but had to yanked out through the roof.
Once on the floor, Napoleon did not show any interest is standing up or moving, but hissed and buried his head.
Tim Brown, an agent with the Ontario SPCA, was called because of a suspicion of neglect.
“The smell was atrocious, putrid. The fecal and urine odour was overwhelming.”
Indeed, Napoleon — a domestic longhair — had considerable matted feces on his back end and legs, urinestained fur and irritated or scalded skin.
Dr. Alison Green, a Humane Society vet, testified the fecal matter extended 15 centimetres from his anus and extended about a third of the way down his tail and back legs. Napoleon’s back fur was also heavily matted from his neck to his tail.
Her internal examination revealed a “stunningly high degree of body fat,” so much that he weighed about twice his desired weight. She agreed with the decision to put him down.
Shelter manager Marlene Bradley said she spent 15 to 30 minutes with the cat before deciding he was not adoptable. He was hissing and clearly in discomfort, though she could not swear he was “suffering.”
Because the owner had voluntary relinquished the cat and he was in such a bad state, she decided to have him put down, she testified. Napoleon did not see a veterinarian beforehand.
“I didn’t feel it was humane to keep him.”
A necropsy the next day showed an unhealthy amount of fatty deposits in the cat’s heart and lesions on his spleen and pancreas.
The defence produced a witness in the afternoon that put the cat’s condition in a different light.
Dr. Colleen Wilson is a veterinarian who specializes in animal behaviour. She saw photos of Napoleon, looked at his medical records and the Humane Society report.
She said some of the feces were obviously wet and fresh, meaning the cat could have voided itself because of the distress of travelling to the animal shelter. His lethargy could be a fear response, she added.
Obesity is common in older cats, she said, as is matted fur because the animal, as it ages, has more trouble grooming itself.
It is not uncommon, she said, to see older, aggressive cats with feces in their fur.
“I don’t think it’s reasonable to say the cat was neglected because it gained weight,” she testified. “She was trying to do the best she could with the tools she had.”
It is possible, she said, that Napoleon could have lost weight with the right supports. She told the story of a colleague at a vet clinic who took in a 20-pound cat and had it weighing 13 pounds within six months.
The problem, though, is how an average pet owner achieves the same result, given today’s cat food, genetics and bylaws that often keep animals indoors and inactive.
Obesity is an epidemic among older cats, she said. “It’s very, very difficult to have a cat lose weight by managing food alone.”
She also took issue with the Humane Society’s necropsy. Lesions on the spleen and pancreas are common in cats, she said, and the fluid around the heart looked to be in the normal range.
The skin of cats flares up readily, she added, and clears up as quickly. When cats get aggressive, she explained, they can be very difficult to bathe, compounding the problem, even requiring sedation.
Court heard that Roy had taken the cat to the vet in 2007 and 2010 but had difficulty being accepted in a clinic because of the cat’s condition.
Dr. Wilson said she felt it was a courageous act for Roy to give up her “beloved” pet. “When she ran out of tools, she relinquished the cat for some help.”
The trial continues Dec. 20.