Kurt Zouma's cats have been seized by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).
He's also been fined two weeks' wages - believed to be £250,000 (€297k) by his club, West Ham.
The defender was seen to kick and slap a cat in his home, in a video shared by his brother Yoan on Snapchat over the weekend.
The video has led to widespread condemnation of the player, and of his manager David Moyes' decision to play Zouma in Tuesday night's Premier League game with Watford.
"We'd like to reassure people that we're investigating and the cats are safe and in our care," read a brief RSPCA statement on Wednesday.
Update on viral footage of cats
We'd like to reassure people that we're investigating and the cats are safe and in our care. We have been dealing with this since before the clip went viral online and we need to follow the proper legal process and not discuss due to UK GDPR laws. pic.twitter.com/LticInSmpn— RSPCA (England & Wales) (@RSPCA_official) February 9, 2022
"We have been dealing with this since before the clip went viral online and we need to follow the proper legal process and not discuss due to UK GDPR laws."
After the video went viral, Zouma apologised for the video, rather than his actions, saying, "I also want to say how deeply sorry I am to anyone who was upset by the video.
"I would like to assure everyone that our two cats are perfectly fine and healthy.
"They are loved and cherished by our entire family, and this behaviour was an isolated incident that will not happen again."
His club also condemned the actions contained within the video, but Moyes defended his decision to play the 27-year old on Tuesday night.
"It's something we're all disappointed with and something we can't understand," the Hammers boss told Match of the Day.
"He'll learn from it [but] today I had to pick a football team that gave me the best chance of winning the game as manager of West Ham.
"I know how people feel, but I'm also a football manager here.
"My feeling was that Kurt has apologised and I understand a lot of people will not just be accepting of an apology. But to me he came out and [apologised] honestly and I had to do my job."
West Ham statement:
West Ham United can confirm that the Club is supporting an RSPCA investigation into the actions of Kurt Zouma in the video circulated online this week.
Kurt and the Club are co-operating fully with the investigation and the player has willingly complied with the steps taken in the initial stage of the process, including delivering his family's two cats to the RSPCA for assessment.
Kurt is extremely remorseful and, like everyone at the club, fully understands the depth of feeling surrounding the incident and the need for action to be taken.
Separate to the RSPCA's investigation and pending further sanction once the outcome of that process is determined, West Ham United can confirm that Kurt Zouma has been fined the maximum amount possible following his actions in the video that circulated.
The player has immediately accepted the fine, which will be donated to animal welfare charities.
West Ham United would like to reiterate our condemnation of Kurt's actions and make it clear that the matter continues to be handled with the utmost seriousness.
However, we believe it is now important to allow the RSPCA to conduct their investigation in a fair and thorough manner, and will be making no further comment at this stage.
