THE OWNER of a cat at the centre of a media storm after it turned up in a garden dyed a fetching shade of bubblegum pink has admitted she did it herself with food colouring.

Natasha Gregory, of Pasteur Drive in Angel Ridge, Old Town, said she got the idea after watching a television show where people did a similar thing with dogs.

The 22-year-old said the cat, which she calls Oi! Kitty, used to belong to her sister but had been given to her when her sister bought a dog and could not cope with the two of them.

The mum-of-two, who says her favourite colour is pink, and has dyed her own hair the same shade, said she has been surprised by the media attention surrounding the story, which has been covered by news outlets around the world.

“I only had her a couple of days,” she said.

“We decided to give her a bath so she didn’t smell of the other house and wander home.

“There is this programme I’ve seen where two girls dyed their dog pink with food colouring – the only colours I had in the house were red, green or blue and as she’s a female cat I decided to go for red so it would turn out pink because she is naturally a white cat.”

But when Miss Gregory let her out into the garden the following day, the pink puss escaped and was later found in a garden in Wesley Street by a bemused neighbour who contacted the RSPCA thinking it had been done as a sick prank.

“A friend called me the next day and said ‘I think I’ve just seen your cat on the television’,” said Natasha.

“So I checked the websites and it popped up everywhere. I was quite surprised that it’s gone this big.

“But if you think an animal’s been abused then it’s different.”

She said she had checked the bottle beforehand to make sure it was not toxic and has asked that any money the national press pays her is donated to the RSPCA, which has been caring for the cat.

The RSPCA launched an investigation into the incident after it was reported to them, thinking the moggy was a victim of animal cruelty and had been dumped on purpose.

Miss Gregory said she had contacted the charity to let them know the cat was hers and to try and arrange to get it back.

But a spokesman for the RSPCA said they were still looking into the matter and could not comment any further at this time.