A DISTRAUGHT cat lover is urging other pet owners to beware after his Siamese was poisoned...by a bunch of flowers.

John Hartnett, of Bradstone Avenue, Folkestone, believes Catti had rubbed up against the vase-full of blooming Stargazer lilies he had bought for his partner Patricia Walger-Amuchastegui.

Mr Hartnett says that being the fastidious animal she was, she would have cleaned the pollen from her fur.

But this proved toxic, led to renal failure and the 13-year-old animal had to be put down.

Mr Hartnett, a 51-year-old computer engineer, said: “It was a vile death for her. I blame myself terribly because if I had acted when I first saw she was ill, there might have been a chance to save her. But I thought she just had stomach cramps caused by a fur ball. When I realised something was badly wrong, I got her to the vet, but she was blind and virtually paralysed.”

Mr Hartnett, who has another cat, Chili, looked at the subject on the internet and found it is the basis of much research, particularly in America.

He added: “It was only when the vet asked if I had recently bought any new house plants that we put two and two together. I just want to warn cat owners to the dangers.”