A PET lover has spoken of her heartbreak following the death of her cat after it was poisoned with anti-freeze. Tommy, a nine-year-old ginger cat who died after struggling for five days against the poison, is one of more than 50 animals to be poisoned in the region so far this year.

A PET lover has spoken of her heartbreak following the death of her cat after it was poisoned with anti-freeze.

Tommy, a nine-year-old ginger cat who died after struggling for five days against the poison, is one of more than 50 animals to be poisoned in the region so far this year.

He left his home in Garrison Road, Yarmouth, as usual last Sunday and seemed fine when he returned, but started being sick overnight.

After making an initial recovery, Tommy was left lethargic and reluctant to go outside until he was sick again on Thursday and his owner Debbie Wilby rushed him to the vets.

Upon examination it became clear he had been poisoned, and despite extensive treatment he went into kidney failure and was put down on Friday.

Later tests revealed that antifreeze poisoning was the cause of death. It is thought that Tommy was poisoned in the immediate area of Garrison Road as he never went more than 100 metres from home.

The RSPCA are now appealing for information about the poisoning.

Mrs Wilby said: 'Tommy just seemed a little unwell and I thought he was just off-colour. Even when he was at the vet he looked a little bit better, but he just deteriorated.

'It was heartbreaking, especially for my children, when we had to have him put to sleep.

'Our other cat, Jimmy is a house cat so we are not worried about her, although she does seem lost without Tommy.

'We just want to make other people aware that there may be poison in the area and to keep an eye out for their cats. I dread to think that someone might have done this deliberately.'

At this stage it is not clear if the poisoning was deliberate or not.

RSPCA inspector Ben Kirby said: 'We don't know if this was accidental or deliberate. Sometimes anti-freeze is spilt when someone is working on their car, but sometimes it is laid deliberately to poison cats, probably to keep them away from property.

'The effects, as in this case, are often deadly as the animal suffers a slow painful death.'

Anti-freeze is attractive to cats and tastes sweet to them, but only a small amount can cause a cat to become very ill and many cases end in fatality.

Last year the RSPCA had 131 reports of animals being poisoned in the eastern region, 54 of which involved cats.

This year 58 cases of animal poisoning have been reported so far, 27 of which were cats.

The RSPCA are asking anyone with information about this incident to contact them in confidence on 0300 1234 999.