Palmerston North cat lovers are urging people to be careful when storing poisons after an animal died from drinking anti-freeze.

Kristal Marshall said her 8-month-old cat Carly went missing last Tuesday, but was found on Thursday hiding in some bushes.

"She was curled up, ready to die, and was convulsing," Ms Marshall said.

A quick trip to the vet and a blood test revealed Carly had drunk anti-freeze, which is usually found in car radiators.

Ms Marshall said it had caused the cat's kidneys to fail, but the vets gave the cat something to drink in an attempt to keep her alive. The cat perked up slightly overnight, but the next morning it failed to recover and was put down.

Ms Marshall said she had no idea where the anti-freeze came from.

"I don't know if it was given to her or if a radiator dripped it on the ground. She could have got it from someone's garage. The vet said they see it like dogs see chocolate."

While sad for her cat, she said there were other worries.

SPCA Manawatu branch manager Danny Auger said caution needed to be taken when handling or storing poisons.

"[Animals] won't hunt for that sort of stuff, but if it's lying around they will have it."

He said keeping poisons away from animals was not hard.

"Keep it in secure containers - really common sense stuff.

"Keep it locked away, just the same way you deal with [poisons around] a child."

While anti-freeze was a problem, pets eating rat poison was far more common, Mr Auger said.

"A dog gets hold of it, chews a bunch up and it can have some serious effects."

- © Fairfax NZ News