A BELOVED pet cat was found dead with its mouth stuffed with mud and bark.
Family pet Ollie was only 16 months old when he went missing from his home.
His body was found abandoned under a bush a week later.
The cat’s mouth was filled with material from a nearby park and there was also fur missing around his neck.
Owner Kelly Roberts, 31, of Woodwards Walk, Acrefair, said the loss of the pet had devastated her children Callum, 13, and Corey, 10.
And she says she is “100 per cent sure someone killed him”.
She said: “It broke my heart. Ollie was the first cat we ever had.
“He went missing on the Thursday evening. We knew something was wrong because he never normally left the garden.
“We looked for him all weekend, and next week, we eventually found him.
“He was under a bush outside our house, his mouth had been stuffed with mud, grass and bark from the park.”
She added: “You could tell that there had been a struggle, there was fur everywhere.
“And it wasn’t just a bit of mud in his mouth, it was piles of it. It must have been forced down there.
“It doesn’t bear thinking about, how someone could do that.”
She said she had asked neighbours but no one knew who might have done it.
She now wants to tell people about Ollie’s case: “Hopefully it will prevent this from happening again.”
Kelly and partner David Johnson, 32, buried Ollie in the garden, with a cross to mark the grave made by the children.
The family got Ollie along with his sister Mollie, also a white domestic cat, who “pined and cried” for Ollie after his disappearance.
They also have a nine-week old ragdoll kitten called Kenzie.
The RSPCA is now asking for anyone who might know anything to come forward.
RSPCA inspector Chris Dunbar said: “We sympathise greatly with the cat's owner and are appealing for any information.
“What cat owners and other caring neighbours and residents can do in the area is to remain watchful of any suspicious behaviour and to report any incidents to us.
“If someone has intentionally killed the cat, then be warned that a prosecution could lead to up to six months in prison and/or up to a £20,000 fine under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.”
Ollie went missing on May 31 and was discovered early the following week.
Call the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.