Tokoroa’s mystery cat shavings
Mystery surrounds a spate of cat shavings in the timber town of Tokoroa where local cats have been returning home with patches of fur missing and, in one bizarre case, with the fur surrounding its anus neatly coiffured.
Over the past few weeks, there have been at least three social media reports of cats returning home with unwelcome hair cuts.
There have been suggestions the attacks could be part of a cruel TikTok trend where cats are being ‘‘marked for death’’ and comes after a similar cat attack in the Nelson region where one woman’s cat was ‘‘seriously traumatised’’ after having its legs and belly shaved.
One Tokoroa woman said on a local Facebook group that her cats had been attacked twice in recent weeks with their belly fur trimmed back to the skin.
Another local said his cat had returned home with ‘‘cuts all over his legs’’ and they had even gone so far as ‘‘shaving around this particular cat’s bum hole’’.
A third Tokoroa local said her cat had returned home with a large patch of fur missing from its side after being out for just 20 minutes.
‘‘Since it’s such a short time frame the person is probably on our street,’’ she said. ‘‘ Keep a watch on your cats on Elizabeth Drive.’’
Attempts to contact the victims’ owners had drawn a blank, however one Elizabeth Drive resident, who did not want to be named, said she was keeping her two cats inside for the time being.
‘‘I saw those other cats on Facebook and I don’t want anything like that happening to mine.
If it’s kids playing games then they need to stop, it’s just plain stupid, those poor babies are probably traumatised.’’
SPCA science officer Christine Sumner said while the SPCA had not received any complaints, she found the situation concerning, and would be distressing for both the pet and its owner.
‘‘Any potential welfare issues resulting from such acts would likely be mainly related to the shaving process, rather than the impacts of the missing fur,’’ she said. ‘‘The catching, restraint, clipper noises and sensation could be very distressing experiences for a cat.’’
She said owners who thought their cat had been shaved should take it to a vet for a once over, ‘‘as cats can be very stoic and may hide their pain’’.
A spate of more than 80 cat shaving attacks in the UK recently made international headlines, leaving some pet owners too anxious to let their felines out of doors.