A DISGRUNTLED pet-owner has become embroiled in a dogged tug of war with a Crewe care home that has become a favourite resting place of her cat.

Laura Gutten, from Crewe, said she has come to the ‘end of her tether’ after months of communication with staff from Station House, in Crewe, over her pet cat Abe.

Abe, a rescue cat, frequently visits Station House and has become a popular attraction to the home’s elderly residents.

However, Abe is often in the home when it is locked up at night, something which has caused a great deal of ‘distress’ to his owner.

Laura said: “It’s been going on since before Christmas. He goes missing for weeks at a time.

“They’ve been locking him in and feeding him. We have to go round all the time. I’ve asked the manager so many times, telling them not to feed him and lock him in.

“I’ve come to the end of my tether. It’s just a very strange situation.

“Everyone just laughs but is actually quite distressing, because we can’t let him out just because someone has taken a fancy to him.”

Care UK, which runs Station House, said on many occasions it is simply ‘not feasible’ to search the home’s many rooms to search for Abe.

Care UK spokesman Sheila Roberts said: “Abe is certainly a very sociable cat who is very persistent in gaining access to our care home.

“Although many residents enjoy his company, we do our best to discourage him from visiting as it is impossible to keep track of him in a large building.

“However, despite our efforts to dissuade him, he waits outside the front door and frequently slips in behind visitors to the home or prowls around the gardens until he finds an open window and jumps in.

“We have 71 bedrooms plus lounges, dining rooms, bathrooms, offices, a laundry and numerous store rooms, all on the ground floor.

“Much as we try to help his owner, it is often simply not feasible for our care teams to immediately stop supporting residents, many of who have dementia or require nursing care, to start looking under beds or behind furniture for a cat.”