Pet Cat Found Living In Months’ Worth Of Waste

A cat found when its owner died of natural causes appears to have been forced to live in a pet crate full of its own feces for many months, the Riverside County Department of Animal Services reported today.

The 3-year-old female cat was found Monday when Desert Hot Springs police responded to an apartment in the 68000 block of Club Circle Drive, where the cat’s elderly owner died of natural causes, said John Welsh, an animal services spokesman.

The officers called animal services when they heard a cat meowing from inside a carrier box, Welsh said.

Animal Services Officer Gerald Duchene went to the apartment, and said the cat had been forced to live in the feces-laden box.

“This was not a week’s worth of animal waste. She had been in there awhile. This was clearly six-to-seven months worth of feces,” Duchene said.

The officer said there were half a dozen empty cans of wet cat food in the crate.

“She was tucked in one of the back corners with her head down,” Duchene said. “She meowed and looked at me with a look that seemed to say, `Please get me out of here.”‘

The officer took the cat to the Coachella Valley Animal Campus in Thousand Palms, where she was bathed and given vaccinations.

The kitty still smells like feces, but technicians say she will eventually recover, said Veterinary Technician Lori Stamp-Brown.

“The stench on her is real bad. The odor is embedded in her,” Stamp- Brown said. Employees at the shelter plan to provide the cat with another bath soon.

Animal Services Commander Rita Gutierrez encouraged senior citizens who can no longer care for their pets to call the shelter for help.