A CHESTER woman has been banned for keeping animals for five years after her failure to get treatment for her cat’s broken leg led to the limb being amputated.

Male tabby cat Auburn was found to have a fracture of the tibia bone which his owner, Sophia Flynn, said had been caused by him becoming trapped under a pile of boxes and other items at her flat in City Road, Chester.

Rather than taking the kitten to a vet, she bandaged his leg, but this had acted as a tourniquet and cut off the blood supply, resulting in necrosis.

At a sentencing hearing at Chester Magistrates Court on Wednesday, July 17, Flynn, 25, disqualified from keeping animals for five years after she was prosecuted by the RSPCA for causing unnecessary suffering to Auburn by failing to take him for urgent veterinary treatment.

Magistrates were told that the animal welfare charity became involved in the case after Flynn had taken the kitten to a vet on Monday, October 9 last year. The vet who saw him was shown a photograph of a pile of boxes and items she said had fallen on Auburn two days before, leaving him trapped underneath for approximately 45 to 60 minutes.

(L-R) The room in which Auburn was trapped and his broken leg.(L-R) The room in which Auburn was trapped and his broken leg. (Image: RSPCA)

Despite the leg feeling ‘wobbly’, she decided to strap it and gave Auburn an anti-inflammatory drug called Meloxicam that had been prescribed to her for another cat. This medication is dosed according to the patient’s weight and should only be given once a day. Therefore, it would have been very easy to overdose the kitten - particularly as he only weighed 1.7kg (3.74 pounds) at the time - which could have caused a number of serious problems including vomiting, diarrhoea and blood and renal failure.

By the time Flynn sought treatment Auburn had a high temperature and the vet had to extract a large volume of puss from his leg. Such was the severity of his injury that the limb could not be saved and it was later amputated. 

There were numerous concerns over how Auburn came to be injured, the length of time it had taken Flynn to get him to a vet, her treatment of his leg and the giving of pain relief that had not been prescribed to him, magistrates were told.

In his written evidence to the court, another vet who reviewed the kitten’s x-rays and clinical notes, said the findings pointed to a fracture of between four to five days old, which would be consistent with the injury having occurred on either the 5 or 6 October.

The vet said: “Although the administration of pain relief would have reduced some of the pain experienced by Auburn, the treatment was inadequate to treat a hind limb fracture.

“In addition, either due to the administration of the bandage or the inadequate level of pain relief, Auburn began chewing at his leg leading to extensive skin damage and a well-established bacterial infection which was unlikely to have occurred if appropriate veterinary advice and treatment had been sought promptly.

“In my opinion Auburn was caused to suffer as a consequence of Sophia Flynn failing to seek prompt veterinary advice at the time of the injury. Suffering will have been experienced by this animal via a mechanism of pain for a period of at least 48 hours, possibly longer.”

Flynn, now of Sherbourne Avenue in Chester, said she couldn’t afford Auburn’s operation, which was paid for by the RSPCA. In mitigation the court was told she had mental health issues as well as autism, ADHD and a borderline personality disorder.

Auburn, who she refused to sign over, has been cared for by the RSPCA’s Wirral & Chester Branch. He’s recovered well and will be rehomed after a confiscation order was also imposed by the court. Another cat owned by Flynn, who gave birth to four kittens in the New Year, is  also being looked after by the charity and new homes will be found for them too.