HAYDEN, ID -- At least a half dozen cats in one North Idaho community got so violently sick they died, leading veterinarians to believe they were poisoned intentionally with antifreeze.

In the Emerald Estates neighborhood, it’s not hard to spot a cat lounging outside. Lindsey Prumers’ cat Leo was one of those felines – friendly with just about everyone. Then mysteriously he got sick and died.

“Just put it to the back of my mind and then within the last two months I’ve lost three cats,” Prumers said.

She recognized the signs, and knew something was wrong when another car, Winston Charles, started meowing in pain.

“He actually came home early in the morning, was obviously really sick, in fact he couldn’t walk, it was almost like he was drunk,” Prumers said.

Winston Charles never made it and within a few weeks two other cats, Sydney Anne and Bali, also got violently sick and had to be put down. In all three cases, vets confirmed poisoning.

“The vet said that probably the only poison that would do this kind of kidney damage would be anti-freeze,” Prumers said.

Prumers started asking around her neighborhood, talking with everyone and discovered a disturbing pattern.

“My neighbor next door, same thing. Neighbor up the street, same thing. Two neighbors at the back of our backyard, same thing. So now we know that there’s somebody here, who is deliberately poisoning our cats,” Prumers said.

As word gets out, many in this community feel terrorized and forced to keep their pets within arm’s reach.

“We keep our cats inside, but I’m fearful for the other pet owners, pet lovers in the area because we’ve never experienced this kind of problem before,” neighbor Charmine Carawy said.

A Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department report says at least five people have had cats die since April. The case is under investigation.