Gisborne District Council issues city poisoning warning after two pets died on the same day

Stewart grabbed his cellphone light and saw Tussey hiding in a corner, “screaming, crying and howling in pain.”

The kitten was rushed to an emergency veterinarian, and despite being able to initially stabilize her condition, she died the following morning.

When the couple got home, they checked their backyard for possible poisons and disposed of any vomit they could find before letting Okee and the other two cats out.

“But we must have missed something. Oakie was out with the dog walking group in the morning, but around 3pm that afternoon you could tell something was terribly wrong with him,” said Stewart.

“He began vomiting, convulsing and becoming insane. He was howling, screaming and running away from a demon he couldn’t see, ramming into gates and fences at full speed.

“He was so scared, it was just horrible.”

Oakie was rushed to the vet with a very high temperature that “seemed to be starting to cook his internal organs”.

“They were trying to get his temperature down and get him to a semi-stable state,” Stewart said.

But two hours later Oakie died.

The veterinarian said the poison in this case is different from common household poisons such as rat poison, snail poison or antifreeze. All household poisons have dye in them, which means that if your pet eats them, you can see it in their vomit.

“This chemical is not available domestically and should not be used in urban areas. Whatever it is, it acts quickly and is more likely to be a direct poisoning than a secondary poisoning from eating a dead animal,” Stewart said.

“Whatever it was, it was portable, so a child could have picked it up. The only way Okee got it was if Tootsy brought it into the yard. Unless someone deliberately threw poison into our house, but we don’t want to believe someone would be so evil, we think this was negligence, not a deliberate targeted act.”

Stewart said their cat, Lola, survived a poisoning two years ago that killed three other cats from their neighbors.

Gisborne District Council (GDC) biosecurity team leader Phillip Karaitiana said it was important to inform neighbours when any approved poisons were used in residential areas.

“Please ensure that bait feeders/stations are used to keep bait out of direct contact with pets and children, and that they are secured in set locations whenever possible,” Karaitiana said.

“This story is a horrific reminder of the consequences of using poisons in an unsafe or indiscriminate manner in an urban environment.”

Karaitiana said using mousetraps is an alternative to placing poisons, and there are many types of traps, from kill traps to small live capture cages.

“If mousetraps are used, it is recommended that they are carefully placed to prevent pets and children from getting in the way. Ideally, the mousetrap box should have a secure lid to prevent pets or children from entering.”