A family has been left devastated after their pet cat was put down without their consent by a vet who thought it was a stray . Julie Neeson was worried when the cat , who was called Babies , did n't come home after being let out in Newtownabbey , Co Antrim . She went looking for the animal with daughters Tia , 13 and Kiana , 10 , but a worried passer-by had already taken him to a local vets . Devastated : Kiana Neeson , 10 , and her family were left devastated when their pet cat Babies was put down without their consent or knowledge . Vets presumed the animal was a stray when it was handed in without a collar or microchip . Tia and Kiana ( pictured with their other cats ) wrote a letter to Babies after discovering he had been put down . With no microchip and his collar already removed by the time he was brought in staff presumed Babies was a stray and gave him a lethal injection after detecting signs of illness . The family arrived the following day to be presented with his frozen body . Speaking of the loss , Mrs Neeson said : ' I am devastated , my daughters are devastated . 'When I got there they handed my cat to me and he was frozen . He had been kept in the freezer over night . 'He was frozen stiff and waiting to be disposed of . I could n't believe it . ' When Babies first went missing the family did not panic as he was so well liked by neighbours he often spent the night at their houses , she added . The vet who gave Babies the lethal injection has since apologised for the confusion . ' I 'd like to express my sympathies to the cat ’ s family at this difficult time , and I am sorry that this decision was made without them being present , ' she said in a Facebook post , ' Belfast Live reports . 'This poor cat was suffering from chronic renal failure and had been for some time . Heartache : A note penned by the 10-year-old following the cat 's death . Babies did not return home after being let out one evening . The animal was so well liked by neighbours he would often spend the night at their homes , said Mrs Neelson . 'The cat was presented to us as a stray by a concerned member of the public who felt sorry for him and took it upon herself to bring him to the vets . ' A spokesperson for Pets At Home said : 'We completely understand the family ’ s response and it ’ s never easy to lose a beloved pet . 'Our vet is very experienced , fully qualified and was acting in the best interests of the cat . We ’ d like to express our sympathies to the family at this difficult time . ' 'The cat was brought in and presented as a stray by a concerned and sympathetic member of the public who recognised that he was not well . 'The cat was in the end-stages of chronic renal failure . He had clearly suffered from this condition for a number of years and was unfortunately untreatable . 'He was not wearing a collar , and was scanned for a microchip but none was found . 'Unable to identify the owners and with the cat suffering , he made the difficult decision to put him down . 'We ’ d like to express our sympathies to the family at this difficult time . ' The animal was put down by vets at a pets at home store near her home . The store has apologised for the incident since .
Julie Neeson 's cat Babies did not come home after being let out at night . The animal was picked up by a stranger and taken to a local pet store . There vets considered it a stray as it was not wearing a microchip or collar . Babies had been suffering renal failure and was given the lethal injection . Mrs Neeson and her two daughters discovered he was dead 13 .