A WOMAN who had to watch two of her pet cats suffer long and painful deaths as a result of drinking anti-freeze fears they may have been poisoned.

Vicky Coward, 39, is urging drivers to be more careful with the lethal coolant after losing four-year-olds Sooty and Sweep in quick succession.

Cats like its sweet taste, so it could be they wandered into a garage near her home in Bovington Camp and lapped it up.

But as four of her cats went down with antifreeze poisoning three years ago, Ms Coward suspects it could be deliberate.

“I went to let my dogs out one lunchtime and found Sooty hunched up on the patio,” Ms Coward said.

“He was in really bad shape. I brought him inside and he hid under a table, he was clearly quite distressed.

“I took him to the vets and they said he was showing signs of toxic poisoning.”

Heathland Vets did their best, hooking longhaired Sooty up to a drip, but after a few days he was put down.

Ms Coward had just finished burying him in her garden in Cologne Road when she spotted his grey-and-white sister Sweep curled up in pain.

She only lasted one night at the vets, who proved the cause with blood tests.

Ms Coward, a cinema worker, is keeping her remaining cats indoors.

“It seems odd that only my animals have been affected,” she said. “Or it could be someone’s being careless and mine have found the anti-freeze because they are nosy.

“I’m worried about when it’s safe to let the two cats I’ve got left out, and what’s going on around here.

“Anti-freeze is so dangerous to animals. It hurts them quite a bit before it kicks in properly and once the symptoms show it’s generally too late to save them."

RSPCA inspector Graham Hammond says anyone draining anti-freeze from a vehicle should discard it quickly.