A MOTHER and daughter who kept 50 cats in 'horrendous conditions' and left two dead kittens rotting in a kitchen cupboard have admitted causing unnecessary suffering.

RSPCA officers found the cats living in the small terrace in Midlothian Street, Clayton, last March.

Piles of excrement and dirt covering almost every surface, floor and wall and one officer described it as 'the worst case' she had seen in seven years.

One of the animals, who had a tumour on its mouth and a respiratory infection, had to be put down immediately.

Four others have since been put down.

Joan Adams, 67, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to animals when she appeared before Manchester magistrates.

Her solicitor, Stuart Kaufman, also entered guilty pleas on behalf of her daughter Anne Adams, 43, who did not turn up at court.

Anna McDonald, prosecuting, said RSPCA officers had been alerted to the condition of the house by police, who attended after a burst water pipe flooded the property.

Suffered

Miss McDonald said: "Inspectors found a large number of cats. The hallways, bath room, kitchen, including the sink and bath, and bedrooms were extremely dirty and covered in faeces.

"A vet agreed the animals should be removed on welfare grounds.

"The vet who examined the cats the next day said they were all in a poor condition, with ear mites, and would have suffered as a result."

Magistrates were shown photos and a video of the house. One photo showed the corpses of two kittens on a shelf in a kitchen cupboard, next to bowls, mugs and breakfast foods.

Joan Adams, who was taken to hospital after the flood and now lives in a bungalow, said: "I thought the cat had a blister on its mouth and I washed it with hot water, but I agree with you now.

"It was terrible the house, I know.

"I should have cleaned it up, I tried but I didn't do enough."

Mr Kaufman, who told magistrates Joan Adams was quite a 'confused' lady, said: "There were two months between the flood and the photos being taken.

"Miss Adams said the water was about 4ft deep, and the flood will have caused some of what you see.

Smell

"No one was living there for two months and things must have got progressively worse."

The case was adjourned until early February for probation reports, with both women facing a maximum of six months in prison and a fine up to £20,000.

The RSPCA has also applied for an order to ban them from keeping animals for life.

RSPCA chief inspector Cathy Hyde said: "It is a sight no-one ever wants to see, a house completely covered in cat excrement. There was not a single clean surface and the smell was overpowering.

"There were two dead kittens, probably about eight weeks old found in a cupboard.

"They're not specific to our proceedings because we're not able to prove how they died because they were decomposing, but that was very distressing to some of the officers involved in the investigation.

"In terms of how dirty the house was inside, this is the worst case I've had to deal with in seven years with the RSPCA."

Both defendants were given unconditional bail. The surviving cats will be re-homed if scans show they are free of disease.