Dried up cats decide in a hurry (10)

I believe the answer is:

desiccated

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'dried' is the definition.
(I know that dried can be written as desiccated)

'up cats decide in a hurry' is the wordplay.
'cats decide' can be anagrammed to 'DESICCATED'.
But, I am not clear how the anagram is indicated.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for desiccated that I've seen before include "sterile" , "dry" , "without passion" , "Dried out" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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