A family fears its cat has been deliberately poisoned, leading to his death.

Dean Rayner and his wife Katie, of Broomfield, Silver End, noticed their four-year-old cat Coco was seriously ill last week after he started losing weight and not cleaning himself properly.

They put it down to the sudden heatwave but it turned out to be something far more sinister when they visited Black Notley Veterinary Clinic on Monday morning.

The vet confirmed that Coco had such high-levels of toxins in his kidneys, there was little doubt he had been poisoned.

Mr Rayner, a special constable for Essex Police’s rural policing team, said: “Coco spends time at a house further down as well and the lady rang me last week saying that his back legs were shaking and she noticed he was really skinny.

See the Braintree and Witham Times for the full story.