Kate Beckinsale reckons dyeing her cat pink helped with its ‘depression’-Kitty Chrisp-Entertainment – Metro

Kate Beckinsale thinks her cat’s pink hair transformation helped the feline’s mental health – but cats can’t see the colour pink (Picture: Gregg DeGuire)

Kate Beckinsale has defended dyeing her cat pink, claiming that it helped with the feline’s depression – despite the fact cats can’t see the colour pink.

The Canary Black actress, 51, posted a video on social media of her pink-stained cat Willow looking poorly, and thanked a vet for the ‘wonderful experience’ she had at their practice.

But followers were quick to notice the cat’s unnatural colouring, with tracey.waterhouse asking why she is all pink.

In response, Kate said she used a ‘very gentle non-toxic dye specifically for animals that causes no harm’.

She went on to say that Willow had been ‘quite depressed’ since Kate’s other cat Clive died in June last year, and she claimed the dye helped remedy that.

‘Willow – who had been quite depressed since Clive died – really perked up after we tried it on her – very odd but the same thing happened years and years ago when we gave Clive a lion cut after his best friend our cat went missing and never came back,’ she said.

She dyed Willow’s coat pink in order to help her get out of a depressive slump after Kate’s other cat died (Picture: Kate Beckinsale/Instagram)

Kate explained that Clive was depressed for a year, and it was so bad the vet even thought he could have dementia.

‘He stopped grooming himself and wouldn’t let us groom him and was absolutely covered in dreadlocks and so we gave him this lion
cut,’ she explained, adding that they also bought him some ‘cute Ugg boots’.

‘I was not expecting it to lift his mood at all, but instantly he was a little new man springing about, so sorry for the long-winded explanation, but that is why,’ Kate finished in the Instagram message.

However, just like dogs, cats cannot see the colours red and pink, so it is unlikely dying Willow pink would have helped her mental health.

Dyeing pets is a controversial topic even when using non-toxic dye specifically designed for pets, as some argue it reduces them to human accessories when as living beings they should have autonomy over their bodies.

The actress thanked her vets for looking after Willow when she was ill (Picture: Taylor Hill/WireImage)

Human, toxic hair dyes can kill pets – especially with self-cleaning animals such as cats, who risk poisoning themselves with toxins in dye while licking themselves clean.

But Kate is by no means the first celebrity to have done it, with Nicola Peltz Beckham sparking intense backlash in September for posting pictures of her pink dog, whose ears she had dyed bright orange.

Previously speaking to Metro the RSPCA discouraged people from dying their dogs.

Dr Samantha Gaines, from the RSPCA’s companion animals department, spoke to us about this issue after it came up on This Morning.

‘Dogs are living, sentient creatures – and dyeing or painting them for our entertainment sends out a worrying message, and carries no benefits to the animals themselves,’ she said.

‘Grooming is, without question, an essential part of dog ownership – but these pets should not be treated as novelty accessories.

Kate’s pink dye was non-toxic and made for pets (Picture: Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

‘We’re worried that subjecting dogs to these types of grooms and parading dogs with novelty hair-dos could encourage some owners to forget that these are intelligent, sentient animals and not gimmicks or toys.

‘Furthermore, it risks encouraging other practices which could be detrimental to dogs too; and sets a worrying precedent of how we treat animals in society.

‘Dogs have their own emotions, preferences and needs. Each is an individual with their own personality.

‘Yet creative grooming like this has the potential to perpetuate the idea that dogs are objects or toys; and ours to objectify or treat as we see fit.’

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