SINGAPORE (AP) - A newspaper says a Singapore man who set his neighbors cat on fire after the feline defecated in front of his apartment has been fined by a court.

The Straits Times said a district court on Tuesday ordered 78-year-old Chua Tuang Seng to pay a fine of 3,000 Singapore dollars ($2,400) and to pay SG$1,235 to the cat's owner for medical treatment.

The paper said Chua pleaded guilty to "causing unnecessary suffering to an animal." It said Chua last year poured kerosene over a 7-year-old Persian tabby named Ricco and set its fur on fire with a lit piece of newspaper.

The cat belongs to a neighbor on the floor above Chua.

The paper said Ricco was hospitalized for four days and still has scars from the attack.