Tain woman's warning after cat dies amid fears it may have been poisoned by food
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Animal owners have been warned to be careful by a grief-stricken woman who fears her beloved cat was poisoned by food bought from a popular store.
Elaine Torley (38), from Tain, says 11-year-old Gizmo died suddenly after eating a new batch of food bought from Pets at Home.
The Ava Optimum Health brand is currently being examined by experts to find out if it is at the root of the deaths of more than 300 cats across the UK, and has already been the subject of a recall by manufacturers.
However, Mrs Torley wants to spread the message as widely as possible to others who may have bought the food but are unaware of the ongoing investigation.
“We thought we were doing the very best for Gizmo – he was a fussy eater and we finally found this brand, that cost £19 per packet, that he liked,” she said.
“We knew it was expensive, but we knew, as an indoor cat, he needed the best food possible.
“He has been on the same food for a number of years without any problem.”
Gizmo was a rescue cat who came to the family when he was still very young and Mrs Torley added: “He became part of the family and up until two days before he died he was running and playing about with our three-year-old daughter, Maisie Star.”
Things changed almost overnight, she said, after he began eating his new food.
“He was out of sorts,” Mrs Torley said. “He went from jumping about to lying still, not able to do anything.
“He was a really busy cat, and all of a sudden he was doing nothing.
“We tried everything to get him interested, but eventually Jock, my husband, took him to the vets.
“They believed he had been poisoned and had a condition called feline pancytopenia.
“After blood tests they said he had a very low white and red blood count and our only option would be to take him to specialist care in Glasgow – but that he might not survive the four-hour journey.
“We decided to bring him home, where he passed away a few hours later.
“It is devastating.
“Maisie keeps asking when Gizmo can come home from the moon. We all miss him so much.”
Pets at Home in Inverness said it wrote to all users of Ava Optimum Health food it was aware of, with the range under investigation having a batch number of GB218E5009.
Mrs Torley said they had heard there might be an issue from an item reported on ITV’s This Morning programme and that they had received a letter from Pets at Home telling them not to use the food, but by then it was too late.
“The staff in Pets at Home in Inverness have been very good to us, and have helped us where they could,” she said. “But we are still waiting for the details.
“We are facing a huge vet bill and we want to know if he was poisoned.”
A spokeswoman for Pets at Home said: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Elaine’s cat, Gizmo.
“We are working closely with the Food Standards Agency (FSA), the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and wider industry to understand the rise in feline pancytopenia cases and possible causes.
“We immediately implemented the manufacturer’s recall as a precautionary measure as soon as it was announced by the FSA and we continue to be guided by the FSA, the RVC and other relevant authorities who are urgently investigating this serious matter.
“With many cat lovers and owners among our colleagues, our thoughts are with everyone affected.”
