Pet owners in Gargrave are being warned to be on their guard after two cats died from poisoning in the village.

The animals, which lived in neighbouring houses in Sharphaw View, suffered the same symptoms and had to be put to sleep within 24 hours of each other.

Gusty, a black and white long-haired tomcat with one eye, fell ill on Thursday November 18. His owners Peter Wood and Mollie Brandt first noticed there was something wrong with their 11-year-old pet when he struggled to jump up.

Mr Wood said: “It started on Thursday. He just seemed to go funny. He lost his back legs slightly at first so he couldn’t jump up.

“The next day his back legs went completely and he couldn’t go anywhere. He was sick and then he started having fits. He was really in a lot of pain. It was heartbreaking to see.”

Gusty was taken to the vet on the Friday and deteriorated throughout the day. One of his kidneys failed and the decision was taken to end his suffering in the early hours of Saturday November 20. The vet diagnosed poisoning but was unable to say what had caused Gusty’s death.

Mr Wood said he later found out his neighbours’ tomcat Nico had also died. The nine-year-old black cat, which belonged to Nick and Wendy Cox, was put to sleep at around 1am on Sunday November 21. Nico had experienced the same symptoms as Gusty.

Mr Wood said, following the deaths of the two cats, he had discovered a raw sausage at the end of the driveway. He said he suspected it may have been poisoned and left out for an animal to eat. “I found it very strange after what had just happened,” he said. “We live in a cul-de-sac so it isn’t as though people are regularly walking by. How on earth the sausage got there I don’t know. It would be very strange for someone to drop it there.”

Mr Wood reported the death of the cats to the RSPCA. He was advised by an RSPCA inspector to keep the sausage in the freezer in case it could be analysed and used as evidence if anybody was caught and prosecuted for the poisoning.

Mr Wood and his partner, who still have two cats, have also put up posters around the area warning cat and dog owners of the potential dangers. We don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” said Mr Wood. “We have spoken to everyone in the area with cats and dogs to warn them what has happened and what to look out for.”