A DEVASTATED family want pet owners to keep an eye on their animals after two of their beloved cats were poisoned.
The Stevenson family, of Malthouse Road, Ilkeston, found their cat Paddy dead in the garden on Tuesday.
Then the following Monday morning one of the family's other cats, Gizmo, had to be put down after falling seriously ill over the weekend.
Ca
thy Stevenson, 38, said: "The amount of pain and devastation that our family's been through this week is something I don't want anyone else to have to face."
A vet told Cathy, her husband Ian and their 12-year-old son, Joshua, that she believed Gizmo was poisoned by either anti-freeze or weed killer.
Cathy said: "We just want other people in the area to know that this has happened.
"It could be totally innocent and just someone using something to kill weeds in the garden, but we don't want the same thing to happen to another family.
"Joshua's been devastated by it, to have one pet die is bad but two in the space of a week is horrendous, it's really hit us all hard."
The Stevenson's adopted the cats from a rescue centre along with another Max. They also have a long-haired exotic cat, Taz.
Cathy said: "Ian's building an area in the back garden now so the others can still go out but only in the safety of our back garden."
A spokesman for the RSPCA said: "We don't know at this stage if the two deaths were accidental or deliberate.
"We would appeal to anyone who may have any information about this incident to contact the RSPCA in confidence on 0300 1234 999.
"Many people are unaware of the dangers common household chemicals can pose to cats and we would urge people to take care when using chemicals, especially outdoors."
