xyem: As some of you may be aware, my pet cat Anubis (in my avatar, attached a photo of him too) passed away recently of antifreeze poisoning.

On the saturday morning, he was acting sleepily, though this was not unusual. During the day, he threw up a couple of times which also isn't unusual as sometimes he eats some bad grass or something.
During the afternoon, he suddenly took a turn for the worse. His breathing became laboured, he lost his balance (would walk at an angle and leaning) and was very lethargic. I quickly researched the symptoms and found that he matched 6/9 symptoms of antifreeze poisoning (missing were: agitation, seizures and coma).

We took him to a vet on an emergency call, who confirmed antifreeze poisoning, and despite his best efforts and things looking promising as Anubis survived the night (it kills usually within a day of ingestion), he passed away around 6am.

Since this date, my weekly giveaway will now be held in his memory. He was amazing cat, brother, son and friend. I love him a lot and do and will miss him.

As Anubis was a big part of our lives, I was worried about getting another cat for fear of disliking it if it "wasn't Anubis". However, as the days have gone on without Anubis (and much upset), I realised I would love a cat for whoever it was. I wouldn't hate it for not being Anubis because I'm not looking to replace Anubis, I want to love and be loved by another cat.

We started looking for another cat (cats, actually, we want 2) and happened to come across an ad for egyptian maus, boy and girl, and responded to the advert.

Initial "niggling" feeling came from their reptition of what the cats would be supplied with, how "perfect" they were etc. The next "something is amiss" is when we were told they moved to the Isle of Man, while the ad said the location was Coventry. After they "accepted" us having the cats (we had sent them some pictures of Anubis to show we had experience with Maus and that he had been well looked after), I googled the names they gave us and found this.

At least we cottoned on before any money was transferred, so no financial loss there. I decided, just to be sure, to set up an account and respond to the ad again. If they were legitimately selling their 2 kittens, they would say they were taken.

Next day, I got a response. The kittens were availble. Scammers confirmed.

And then it got worse. There were more than the 3 pictures we had been sent originally, so I clicked to see the additional pictures and what did I see?

A picture of my girlfriend, holding Anubis.
Another picture of Anubis..
..and another one of Anubis which had been renamed to "Mum.jpg".

Anubis was a beautiful cat, sure, but he lacked the equipment to sire kittens, let alone give birth to them.

So now not only are these scammers scamming people, they are using the pictures of my recently passed away cat to do so. As you can imagine, that's unsettling and upsetting.

I've reported them with all the details I was given and found out, to the fraud department of our police force.

I know the GOG forums aren't my personal blog, but I felt I should let everyone know what is going on so they can understand why I haven't been doing the draws and such.

For everyone: Please don't use antifreeze for unintended purposes (e.g. rat poison).

For all automobile owners: Please consider using non-toxic antifreeze. It shouldn't cost you much/any more but if it leaks or spills, it is far less likely to kill.

For animal owners: Please be aware of your pet acting "drunk" or being unusually unresponsive. Especially if they are outdoor pets. By the time they display the symptoms of antifreeze poisoning, chances of survival are slim, recovery even less so. Also be aware that after the drunk phase, there is usually a "recovery phase" where the alchohol from the antifreeze is no longer in their system. This is the "quiet before the storm", not a sign the pet is better..

Thanks for your time and I hope you all have a better christmas than I'm having!

EDIT: Attaching didn't work. Didn't warn me that the per-image limit was 500kB..