The death of a cat which was found decapitated at the bottom of its owners garden last Friday (8) could be linked to the ‘M25 Cat Killer’.

The owner, who did not want to be named, said her husband found the 18-year-old cat’s head at the bottom of their garden in St Albans with no body or other remains in sight.

After taking it to the vet to be examined, the couple were told that the decapitation was probably carried out by a human and not another animal.

The owner of the cat said: “There are absolutely no other remnants nor blood of her body or fur in our garden nor the gardens of our neighbours.

“Her head was in our garden by our climbing frame. The vet said she had a trauma to the head before she died and did not think it was an animal that had attacked her.”

They cannot be sure without a postmortem, but charity SNARL (South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty) will pay for one as part of their investigation into cat mutilations.

The charity is working with Det Sg Andy Collins of the Metropolitan Police who is leading ‘Operation Takahe’ following a series of cat mutilations in Croydon and Greater London. The culprit is colloquially being referred to as the ‘M25 Cat Killer’.

Boudicca Rising, who runs SNARL, said that there had also been instances of a similar nature in Birmingham, Manchester and Northamptonshire but they could not be linked until results of the postmortem come through.

SNARL have released a statement urging cat owners to be vigilant. It read: “We advise that anyone living in the greater London area keep their cats indoors as much as they can and let them out only during the day when they can be supervised.

“Please keep your cats in at night. We appreciate this isn’t easy, particularly as the weather gets warmer but you will cut the risk to your cat dramatically if you keep them indoors during the hours of darkness.”

The St Albans incident is currently being examined by DS Collins as part of the Met Police operation.

He said: “It has presented all the hallmarks of the M25 Cat Killer but until we’ve had the postmortem results through we can’t know for sure.”

Herts Police said they would also continue to look into the incident.

A spokeswoman said: “We are taking this incident extremely seriously and continue our investigations. We are aware of incidents in other parts of the country and have linked in with colleagues in the Met; however, at this stage, there are no firm links between the case in St Albans and any others, although we will be keeping an open mind.”

If you have any information please contact DS Collins on 0208 6490216, the RSPCA on 0300 123 8018, or SNARL on 07957830490.