SINGAPORE – Getting community cat Betty to move? Fur-get about it.
Betty is staying put at her old stomping ground – the former premises of Dover Park Hospice (DPH) in Jalan Tan Tock Seng. After all, she has made the place her home for the last four years.
DPH moved on Oct 30 to its bigger, more structured and more technologically advanced location at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital-Integrated Care Hub (TTSH-ICH).
Betty was left behind because cats are not allowed in the new sterile setting.
Some readers expressed concern over Betty’s plight after this was reported by The Straits Times, asking why the feline was not moved to the new premises when community cats are allowed in hospitals overseas.
An example is Kolo, a tabby cat that became famous over the years for walking into the emergency department of Bristol’s Southmead Hospital in Britain to befriend staff and patients. The much-loved feline died in April and will be getting a statue in his memory.
Another cat in Britain, a ginger named Leo, is often to be found cheering up patients while “doing the rounds” at St Mary’s Hospital on the Isle of Wight.
In Australia, a stray cat named Elwood made headlines after he was “hired” by a local hospital and given his own ID badge after he stayed around the premises every day for almost a year.
Veterinarian Kenneth Tong told The Straits Times that the bottom line in Betty’s case is the word “fear”.
“It depends on the organisational threshold to this ‘fear’, and the willingness to be accountable and take the risks to either put a blanket ban on community animals residing or roaming around the property, or allowing selected pets onto the premises,” he said.
Echoing his sentiments, infectious diseases expert Leong Hoe Nam said: “This fear is on whether there will be drug-resistant organisms or infections spreading from cats to humans. One classic example is cat-scratch disease. Then there is also the fear of contamination from cat faeces in food when patients do not wash their hands thoroughly after handling the cat.”
If that is the case, then why allow pets in hospitals, hospices and nursing homes as therapy?
“In most instances, it is unlikely for a healthy animal that has been vaccinated, checked by a veterinarian, placed on preventatives against gastrointestinal worms and parasites, to pose any risk to the patients,” Dr Tong said. “These pets are also kept at home and not allowed to roam, unless on a leash or in a pet carrier. This minimises inconvenience to those who are not comfortable in their presence.”
Dr Tong said Betty is likely to roam, and unless someone is accountable for her upkeep and welfare, her health status is unknown, and it is perhaps better not to let her roam the halls.
A DPH spokesperson said with Betty being a community cat, it was difficult to rehome or relocate her. “We tried. A staff member brought Betty back to her house for two days while trying to relocate her. She saw how scared Betty was in the confined space and was jumping around in the room. It was risky, as she could jump out of the windows. Betty also refused to use the litter box,” she said.
When she was relocated to a new environment, Betty was frightened and ran to a corner to hide.
“So we brought her back to the old premises for her own safety. Some of our colleagues, who are cat lovers, are rostered to continue to feed her a few times a day and clean up the place after,” the spokesperson added.
Dr Tong said the current compromise and arrangement by the team and neighbourhood feeders to keep an eye and feed her at the old hospice location is what is best for Betty.
“It is likely Betty’s welfare might be better (as she) will be more at ease in her familiar surroundings, given the freedom to roam and have access to food and water from the team, than at the new location (which might be restricted), leading to transient increased stress for her,” he said.
Dr Leong begged to differ.
“We should all learn to live with animals. It is not a human-only world, but a world shared by humans and animals,” he added.
