An animal charity has warned a cat poisoner could be on the loose in East Ayrshire.

The death of a pet in Kilmarnock last week follows three anti-freeze poisonings in the same housing estate last year.

The owners of Toothless the cat found he was behaving strangely after arriving back at their home on Glencraigs Drive on May 10, the Scottish SPCA said.

They took him to a local vet, where his kidneys failed and he was put down.

A Scottish SPCA spokesman said: "We are concerned that someone is poisoning cats in this area on purpose.

"The latest incident follows the deaths of three cats from Onthank Drive in October 2016, which is only a short distance from Glencraigs Drive.

"The poisoning of domestic animals is a huge issue and we deal with a large number of complaints regarding poisonings and they are incredibly difficult to solve due to the nature of the crime."

He added: "Poisoning an animal will cause a huge amount of suffering and, in the majority of cases, a slow and painful death."

Scottish SPCA experts have been unable to say if the latest poisoning was deliberate.

The charity added: "However, the poisoning of cats in Scotland is widespread and in our experience there are people out there who wish to cause harm and death to defenceless pets.

"We ask anyone with information to get in touch, all information will help to prevent any more animals being needlessly killed."