Cat gets paroled, strangely (7)
I believe the answer is:
leopard
'cat' is the definition.
(I know that leopard is a type of cat)
'paroled strangely' is the wordplay.
'strangely' indicates anagramming the letters.
'paroled' is an anagram of 'LEOPARD'.
'gets' is the link.
(Other definitions for leopard that I've seen before include "Spotted beast" , "The cat that does not change its spots" , "Spotted animal" , "dangerous when free" , "Animal that doesn't change its spots" .)