An Australian family grieving the loss of their beloved pet was dealt another devastating blow when they were handed the ashes of a stray cat in a bizarre vet’s blunder.
Katelyn Tanner-Smith and her family were devastated when their precious kitten Spy died a few weeks ago.
Spy was more than just a pet for the Adelaide family.
The little cat was a loving and caring companion who left a huge void in his owners’ lives when he died.
“Emotionally… it affected us a little bit,” Tanner-Smith told Seven News.
The family paid to have Spy’s ashes cremated and placed in an urn.
For weeks, the family thought Spy’s ashes were in a cat-shaped urn that occupied a prominent place in their home.
That was until they received a shocking call from the vet.
The spy died a few weeks ago, since then the family has had the ashes of another cat on display.
The ashes in the urn actually belonged to a stray deceased who had been cremated by mistake.
“My cat was actually left in the freezer,” said a surprised Tanner-Smith.
“It broke me, like he was our family.”
The family returned the urn to the vet and it was replaced with what are supposed to be their cat’s ashes.
Tanner-Smith still doesn’t feel like she’s gotten the closure she thought she’d paid for.
“I don’t even know if it’s really my cat, they once stuffed the ashes… it just baffles me,” she said.
Katelyn Tanner-Smith and her family were distraught to learn her urn contained the ashes of another cat.
The Adelaide vet has since apologized for the mistake.
‘We are only human. “We acknowledged our mistake and did everything possible to rectify the situation as quickly as possible,” they said.