Cocaine Cat?! Exotic Cat Found in Cincinnati with Cocaine in Bloodstream

Ever since they found a pet capuchin monkey high on meth last year, Cincinnati Animal Care has made it a routine procedure to drug-test all exotic animals brought into the shelter. So, when authorities dropped off a serval—a leopard-like African cat—earlier this year, clinic personnel did all the regular tests. And it’s a good thing they did. 

“[The serval] tested positive for exposure to cocaine,” the shelter reported in a recent Facebook post. The announcement came just weeks after the release of Cocaine Bear, a long-awaited horror comedy film that’s generated a lot of social media buzz. Needless to say, when the serval story came out, the hashtag #cocainecat quickly went viral.

The serval, who’s been named Amiry, was in the possession of a Cincinnati resident when it escaped from the resident’s car during a police drug stop. The cat fled up a tree, where it was later spotted and reported to animal control. While it hasn’t been officially determined how the resident came to own an exotic cat, most people suspect it was obtained via the black-market pet trade.

Amiry was quickly captured and brought in for veterinary care. Fortunately, the cat’s owner agreed to transfer ownership so that it could be relocated to a more suitable home. 

“His owner was cooperative and paid for Amiry’s care until all ownership transfers were finalized, which is when this story went public,” Cincinnati Animal Care wrote in their Facebook post. Amiry has since been relocated to the Cincinnati Zoo. 

It’s illegal to own servals in the state of Ohio. It’s also illegal to give animals illicit drugs. (The owner of the aforementioned capuchin monkey was later charged with animal cruelty for giving the monkey access to methamphetamines.) Authorities are still investigating Amiry’s owner to determine how Amiry came to be under the influence of cocaine in the first place. 

In the meantime, we’re just glad the cat got the care it needed—and didn’t go on a Cocaine Bear-style rampage while it had the chance.