Warning to cat owners as one dies and another injured in anti-freeze poisoning
A family has been left devastated as their beloved cat died after being poisoned by antifreeze.
Stacey Hughes wants to alert other cat owners in the area and warn them to be vigilant after her two cats, Dobby, 6, and Odin, 10 months, were both poisoned with antifreeze on the same day.
Sadly, Dobby could not be saved - and Odin is now "not the same cat anymore".
Stacey first became aware of the horrifying situation when her daughter woke her up on Thursday morning to tell her that her youngest cat was unable to walk.
Speaking to Grimsby Live, the 33-year-old mum said: "My daughter said my younger cat, Odin, couldn't walk and couldn't stand on his back legs.
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"I immediately took him to the Blue Cross, and they were quite surprised to see what a state he was in.
"He was OK in himself, but he just didn't have control over his back legs, his back end was going upside down, so they kept him in for testing.
"I came home to look for my other cat Dobby, and she didn't come home until 7pm that night after my friend found her.
Odin is 'not the same' after the ordeal (Grimsby Telegraph / MEN Media)
Dobby was unable to walk before deteriorating even more (Grimsby Telegraph / MEN Media)"She came stumbling through the back gate and couldn't walk, so we immediately took her to the Blue Cross too. They admitted her straight away because they'd seen how Odin was."
Staff were unable to carry out a urine sample on Odin because his kidneys weren't working - but after successfully obtaining a sample from Dobby, they were able to confirm that the cats had been poisoned with antifreeze.
"I just felt instant panic. I've got a dog as well so I was worried that someone had put something in my garden. It worried me that it was both of my animals because part of me thought, is it deliberate?," Stacey said.
When she checked the alleyway outside her property, she saw a pile of bin bags that had been recently dumped there. She believes this is where the antifreeze was.
She continued: "There was quite a lot of rubbish, so we don't know if something was poured in there accidentally or on purpose. I'll never know if it was intentional.
"My cats hated each other. The whole time we had Odin, him and Dobby used to hiss at each other, so they didn't go out together. The chances of them both stumbling across it and drinking it just doesn't make sense to me.
"Part of me thinks, has someone done it because [the cats] were going in their garden?
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"If it's deliberate I don't understand how someone would hurt an animal, but if it was accidental, maybe someone should use their brains a little bit.
"Antifreeze has got such a sweet smell and it attracts animals, so people should be a bit more mindful on how to properly dispose of it."
Because Odin was found and taken to the Blue Cross quickly, he recovered after being given IV fluids - but Stacey said he "isn't the same cat anymore".
"He still tremors and he can't really sit up for a long time, he's not eating a lot, and he just sleeps all the time," Stacey said.
Tragically, Stacey was told on Saturday morning by staff at Blue Cross that Dobby did not make it, and died as a result of the antifreeze poisoning.
She said: "Dobby had vodka treatment, which is basically alcohol in her bloodstream to stop the antifreeze crystallizing in the kidneys, but she went a bit funny after her first lot of treatment.
"Her breathing wasn't right and her heart wasn't beating properly, so they stopped treatment on Saturday morning, and by 1pm on Saturday, I got the phone call to say that it was best to put her to sleep.
"She was the most harmless cat in the world. My little boy had her for his whole life, the whole family are just heartbroken.
"I'm very emotional, I've got a blocked tear duct in my eye because I've cried so much. She wasn't just a pet, she was just a perfect cat, she was so loving, and now I'm just constantly worrying because Odin's not himself."
Stacey said she hopes to raise awareness of her experience to other cat owners in the area, and wants to stress how important it is for people to dispose of antifreeze properly.
"If someone reads this and they think, 'I've got some of that', please dispose of it correctly. If Dobby's story helps people to dump it properly at least some good could come out of it.
"I just want to say thank you to the Blue Cross for everything they did for both of my cats."
For information on what to do if you think your cat has been poisoned, read the Blue Cross' helpful guide here.
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