Telford cat dies after suspected anti-freeze poisoning

Bethany Evans said her beloved cat Emmie was made desperately ill after being poisoned earlier this week.

The 23-year-old, who lives in Donnington with her partner and baby son, say they have been left devastated by the incident.

Emmie, who was about 15 months old, was let out on Monday evening and when Bethany called her in on Tuesday morning, the cat was already in a very bad condition.

She said: "I got up and went to let the dog out and I called the cat and she had managed to wedge herself under the out house which is on legs.

"As I called her, she used all of her energy to throw herself out and just cried. I scooped her up and took her inside and when I put her down she couldn't even stand on her own feet, she was all disorientated.

"I could see she was in pain, she wouldn't eat, she just sat there and wouldn't even move. I called my sister to look after my son and took her straight to the vets. They said she had been poisoned but couldn't say with what. But I think it was anti-freeze because I've seen something similar before.

"At the vets she wasn't even responding to light so we had to have her put down."

Bethany said it has been particularly upsetting for her dog Bethany, as the two animals were close companions, only about four weeks apart in age.

She said: "She has been pining for her. I would say to other owners it just isn't even safe to let your cats out. My neighbour said a similar thing happened to her cat and they had a post mortem where they found out it was anti-freeze."

Though in some cases anti-freeze has been given to cats maliciously, which is a criminal offence, the animals can ingest it accidentally.

Back in 2012, police and RSPCA officials launched an investigation after eight cats were found dead in Shrewsbury in just two weeks. And in the same year, seven cats died in Telford over a similar two-week period after being poisoned with anti-freeze.