Georgetown — Georgetown resident Megan Ackerman was upset after she picked up her pet cat, Sugar, from the St. Frances Animal Center Tuesday morning.

She said she had the cat that she has had for about a year taken to the facility last Monday to have her spayed. But she said that when she  visited the center the next morning she discovered the cat was missing most of her left ear.

Shelter workers say Sugar’s ear had a medical condition before she was taken to them, something Ackerman denies.

It is common practice for animal rescue shelters to place a notch in the ear of a cat to show they have been spayed but, Ackerman said, what happened to her pet was much more than a notch.

Ackerman said her boyfriend took her cat to the center at about 8:30 a.m. Monday for the procedure. She said he was told to return to pick up their cat at about 2:30 p.m.

Ackerman drove to the shelter at about 3 p.m. and was told the cat was not ready to be released. She said she was then told to return at about 4:45 p.m., which she did.

She also said she had been told when she made the appointment the cost for the procedure would be $55.

When she returned late Monday, Ackerman was told she was only being charged $10. She was also told it would not be good to take her cat home that evening.

“They said she was still drowsy and it wouldn’t be good to send her home like that,” Ackerman said.

Kim Owens, the St. Francis worker who performed the spaying procedure, said the operation was performed much later in the day than anticipated, which is why she said the cat should stay overnight.

When Ackerman returned Tuesday morning, she got her cat and didn’t notice the ear was missing until she was in her car.

She said she went back inside and asked what happened, which is when she was told about the notch placed in the ears of spayed cats.

“Her whole ear was gone. That was not supposed to happen,” Ackerman said.

St. Francis Executive Director Nancy Campos told the Times that Ackerman’s cat had a prior ear problem.

“This is not a normal ear,” Campos said while looking at a picture of the cat taken after Ackerman returned home with her pet.

Campos also said they performed the procedure on the cat under the “Trap, Neuter, Return” (TNR) program, because they were told the cat was a stray when the appointment was made.

Owens said the cat was suffering from hematoma of the ear before she was taken to the shelter. Hematoma is a collection of blood or a blood clot that thickens.

“The cat had a traumatized ear” before she came to us, Campos said, once again pointing to the picture.

Ackerman produced a picture of her cat taken before she was spayed and both ears appear to be healthy.

When asked if the removal of the cat’s ear could have been an accident, Owens said “there isn’t any mistake. There is no given rule how much of the ear is removed” (when the tipping takes place).

Campos said she understands Ackerman’s concerns.

“I didn’t realize she was upset when she left here,” Campos said.

By Scott Harper

sharper@gtowntimes.com