Clackamas County Sheriff's deputies arrested a Milwaukie-area woman at her home Monday after finding a dead cat strapped with jumper cables to a makeshift operating table, surrounded by a wet sponge, scissors, a 12-inch knife, a plastic razor and a cigarette butt.

Investigators said the cat's body had been tampered with and partially shaved. A necropsy determined the cat died of asphyxiation.

Ashley Fawn Guldager, 21, had been living at the home in the 1900 block of Southeast Sunnyslope Road in Oak Grove.

The dead animal was a neighbor's 9-year-old cat, Mama Kitty, who went missing three days earlier, deputies said. Deputies said Guldager and the cat owners know each other.

Investigators said Guldager is suspected of killing the cat, but they offered no motive. She has been referred for a mental-health evaluation.

A wet sponge, scissors, a knife, a plastic razor, jumper cables and a light were seized from the scene.

A roommate who discovered the cat and called police also expressed concern about chemicals Guldager was mixing inside the house. Clackamas Fire District #1 responded to make sure the house was safe to enter.

After several taped interviews with the suspect, authorities believe Guldager is single and unemployed and had been living upstairs on a couch at the residence for about a month. The cat was found in a downstairs bathroom.

Guldager was booked into Clackamas County Jail on accusations of first-degree theft and aggravated animal abuse, a charge used in cases of malicious killings. Bail was set at $100,000.

The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office urges anyone with information about this case to call the agency's tip line at 503-723-4949.

-- Michael Bamesberger