A beloved family cat has been left fighting for his life with vets believing he may have been poisoned.
Freddie, a five-year-old cat from Whitfield, fell very ill over the weekend, with vets claiming on Monday that he may have drunk antifreeze.
The cat first fell ill on Saturday, with his owner, Dianne Hutton, saying he was acting lethargic and throwing up.
She added: “He’s an outdoor cat, we’ve had him for a while and he’s always going out, but on Saturday he became really unwell, so we took him to the vet on Monday and they said that, while they need to do other tests, they’re 90% sure that he’s got antifreeze poisoning.
“We’ve got no way of proving that it was an intentional poisoning, but we live in the Whitfield area and there’s been another two similar stories here recently, so we’re led to believe that it may have been done on purpose.
“It’s just worrying, there’s not really any way that we can trace it back, but if someone is doing it then I want to say that there are other ways to keep cats off your property, much safer ways.”
The poisoning has had a huge impact on the usually active cat’s health.
The 30-year-old owner said: “He’s still very ill, so we don’t know if he’s going to pull through.
“When we took him to the vets they had to put him on a drip at the vets, he was refusing to drink and he kept throwing up over the weekend.
© Courtesy Dianne Hutton
“He’s usually a very active cat, we have a toddler and they go out and play together, he’s very friendly. All the neighbours know him too, he’s just a very well-known and loved cat.”
Dianne has also urged others in the area to be careful and keep their cats safe, saying: “It’s coming into winter and, if people are wanting to use it on their cars, I would ask them to make sure that if they spill any they wash it away.
“I understand that some people don’t want cats on their property, but there are safer ways to keep them away.”
