A Kingston mum who used a cat-sitter while on holiday in Tenerife claims she returned home to find mould, dead pets, and her 6-year old autistic son’s therapy cat had vanished.

Cleo Boucher, 24, who owns three Maine Coons and is fostering a pregnant moggy cat, said she paid £84 to book a cat sitter for six days through the company Cat In A Flat.

Returning from a family holiday in Spain, she said she was distraught to see her flat in a state of disarray with mould in her fish tank and kitty bowls and all her fish and fully aquatic frogs had died.

Ms Boucher claims her son’s therapy cat, a four year old Maine Coon called Cece who helps her son cope with his anxiety, had disappeared.

She said: “My son gets nervous around anything. He has not been in school for nearly a year and we take Cece out with us. We go to the park. We have taken her to his school, like a dog”.

The Kingston mum said she was forced to break into her flat and climb up two storeys when her cat sitter failed to leave the key in the plant pot in her garden at the end of the booking as instructed.

She said: “I came back in the evening. I have a seriously disabled son. I go in my garden and find no key, so I’m thinking ‘what on earth am I going to do?’

“I had to break into my flat, climb up two storeys. I could have killed myself climbing up two storeys”.

She added: “This company has no safeguarding and I want to make sure it doesn't happen to anybody else”.

A spokesperson for Cat In A Flat said: "Even though our investigation only started over the weekend, we hope that you can see that there have been some false and misleading accusations made.

"Her cat is an unchipped outdoor maine coon. Following Cleo’s instructions, the cat was allowed to leave the house whenever it pleased during the cat sitting and had been seen until the end of the booking.

"Sadly outdoor cats can go missing, and we really do want to help her find her cat.

"We were very sorry to hear her fish died. Amphibian and fish caring is not part of our service, and unfortunately the cat sitter was not left with very clear instructions".

"On the last day of feeding the cat sitter was delayed as her boyfriend was taken to hospital. Cleo did not share when she would be returning home and that the cat sitter had her only key".