Cat owner devastated

Devastated Bassetlaw resident Lynne, who didn’t want to give her surname for fear of repercussions, sadly had to have her one year old tabby Oscar put to sleep over the weekend.

His death comes a year after her other cats Jet, 10, and Cleo, seven, died under similar circumstances close to their home.

“It happened on Friday, he wasn’t very steady on his back legs and so we thought it best to take him to the vets as soon as possible,” she said.

“It all happened so quickly. He went in for tests and before we knew it we were going to a specialist in Dewsbury.”

“We thought it was an infection but then it showed a kidney failure brought on by being in contact with antifreeze.”

“There was nothing more we could do, it happens almost immediately. It was horrendous and we wouldn’t want anyone else going through what we’ve had to.”

Lynne suspects someone to the east of Retford, close to Welham Road, may be poisoning cats deliberately - though this hasn’t been proven.

“If it were winter with everyone using antifreeze on their cars then I could understand it a little more,” she added.“It’s just awful.”

“We would hate to think it was someone in the local area being cruel. It would be evil.”

“My vet said she believes it’s antifreeze due to the type of kidney problems Oscar had.”

An RSPCA spokesman said reports of antifreeze poisoning in cats are ‘fairly common’.

“It is very often hard to prove that the poisoning is deliberate, as often it could be a matter of accidental poisoning,” he said.

“Unfortunately the taste of antifreeze is very attractive to cats and ingesting just the smallest amounts can lead to kidney failure and death.”

“We would like to remind owners that unintentional poisonings can happen.”

“Signs of antifreeze poisoning can be seen anything from 30 minutes after a cat has ingested the chemical.”

Signs of antifreeze poisoning include sickness, seizures, difficulty breathing and appearing uncoordinated.

Poisoning a cat deliberately is a criminal offence and those convicted could be sentenced up to six months imprisonment and/or a fine of up to £20,000.