ST. PAUL
Letting cats and other pets live in long-term care facilities has been touted as a way to make nursing homes feel more like homes.
But the practice created a stink last year in one St. Paul facility.
The Minnesota Department of Health said Tuesday that it has substantiated a complaint that a cat at Cerenity Care Center on Dellwood Place, on St. Paul's East Side, repeatedly urinated in a resident's room.
State investigators wrote in a report made public Tuesday that a resident's "recliner has a strong odor of cat urine."
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The facility made several attempts to clean the recliner but ultimately had to replace it, said Ted Schmidt, the home's administrator. Carpeting in the resident's room was torn up and replaced with vinyl flooring, Schmidt added.
The problem stemmed from one cat that had started to spray, Schmidt said. A veterinarian prescribed medications, but the problem persisted through two weeks of treatment.
"We no longer have that cat," Schmidt said. "You can't keep a cat that's going to spray."
Cerenity Care Center on Dellwood has had cats and other pets living among residents for about 12 years and has never before had such a problem, Schmidt said. A brochure for the facility says it embraces "the Eden Alternative, which encourages interaction between residents and pets. ... This philosophy of care contributes to a more social and fulfilling lifestyle for our residents."
Currently, nine cats and two dogs live at the facility.
Reports of problems with cat urine at long-term care facilities in Minnesota are rare, said Stella French, a Health Department official.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
