A WOMAN is urging pet owners to be vigilant after almost losing her beloved cat.

Karen Jones, of Deeside, said her elderly cat Charlie was rushed to the local vets after getting a bag stuck around his head and if a local resident had not stopped to help, she fears he would have suffocated.

She said: "The lady who found him, found him in one of the gardens at Lavender Court. She found him running around with this bag on his head because he couldn't get it off.

"When she got to him she took the bag off and took him straight the vets because he was quite lethargic.

"This lady just happened to see him and thank god she did and stuck around to help. Just keep your eyes open, if it wasn't for that lady, I wouldn't have my Charlie today."

Karen said Charlie got his head stuck in a sandwich bag and it is believed he digested food, left in the bag, which made him ill for two days after.

He will now refuse to leave the house on his own despite previously being an outdoor cat.

The pet owner added: "It seems suspicious to me because he was so poorly afterwards and it makes me think it was meant to harm an animal.

"He's always gone out, he's an outdoor and indoor cat and he's always gone to Lavender Court.

"I think it's very scary to think that someone might have done it on purpose, I would like to think it wasn't.

"It's frightened both him and me. He will never go out again, that seems awful but the thought of someone setting out to harm animals on purpose makes me scared.

"He's fine in the house, I can't lose him. It's just very sad in this day and age, if it had been done on purpose, that someone would scoop so low. He's quite an elderly cat and just happened to put his head in a bag, I think it's very sad."