‘Poisoned’ Beloved cat killed by anti-freeze
ABRISTOL woman was left devastated after a £400 autopsy proved her cat had been poisoned by antifreeze.
Nicola Loughnane, who lives on Doveswell grove in Withywood, said her cat Gizmo was found foaming from his nose and mouth.
She said after returning from a short trip to Butlin’s last month, her 22 year-old son informed her that Gizmo had passed away.
According to her son, the cat was fine the whole day on Friday, September 25, and the following morning had eaten then “toddled” off for the day.
But later that evening, Gizmo was discovered deceased on the landing inside her home.
Mrs Loughnane said: “He had foam coming out of his mouth and nose.”
Distressed, she immediately took her cat to a local vet as she could not fathom how and why it happened.
She said: “I paid £400 for an autopsy at the vets only to find out that he was poisoned by antifreeze.
“My cat was just a year old and in perfect health, had a shiny coat and sparkly eyes – so there was no reason for him to pass away.”
Mrs Loughnane believes that there is foul play involved in the death as she said she received threats that her cat would be poisoned for allegedly defecating in a nearby garden, four weeks prior to the incident.
She said: “More than one cat has died of antifreeze in the space of a few weeks, with mine being the first. These incidents are occurring weeks apart, this is not just a oneoff thing – I’ve heard of at least four cases about this now.”
The 45-year-old has lived in the area for six and half years and said she has never heard of cats being poisoned by the dangerous substance.
She said: “This is either somebody being very careless with antifreeze, somebody who has a leak out there, or someone who is deliberately putting antifreeze out for the local cats.”
Mrs Loughnane is aware that this time of year people top up their cars with antifreeze, but is urging vehicle owners to check their engines on a regular basis.
She said: “If more people are actually aware that antifreeze is toxic to cats that would be brilliant.
“The substance is very sweet to them but they do not know that it’s poisonous because it tastes nice.
“Unfortunately one of my cats decided to have a taste and now I’ve lost him.”
A spokesperson from Avon and Somerset police said: “We received a call from a cat owner on September 26 to say their pet had died and she believed it had been poisoned.
“House-to-house and CCTV enquiries were carried out.
“However, there was no evidence which determined how the cat died or showed that its death was as a result of any criminality.”