Laurence Dollimore
AN expat’s cat ‘saved her life’ after the clever moggy ‘warned’ her of carbon monoxide poisoning inside their Marbella flat.
Debbie Lush was forced to act after her kitty, named Coco, refused to stop meowing at the boiler inside her rented apartment.
Suspecting something was amiss, following weeks of headaches, the estate agent, from Dublin, bought a carbon monoxide detector, which began immediately beeping.
A plumber who came the next day, insisted he had fixed the problem after hoovering away some dust.
But, that night, Coco continued to ‘howl’ at the boiler, so Debbie sensibly sought a second opinion.
Fortunately another plumbing firm discovered a hole in her cavity wall leaking the lethal gas.
It also emerged that her boiler was 27 years old and had rotting rubber parts that had never been replaced.
She was told it needed immediate replacement.
“Coco knew something was wrong and she would not let up until I got the boiler examined.
“Now it’s fixed, I haven’t heard anything more than purring, it’s incredible!”
She continued: “If it wasn’t for her I could be dead.”
Now she is calling for a so-called ‘Coco’s Law’, which would require all homes in Spain be fitted with a carbon monoxide detector, particularly tourist apartments.
She added: “I already feel better and the headaches have stopped. God knows what could have happened if Coco hadn’t raised the alarm.”
She added: “I would advise all homeowners in Spain get a detector because every year I hear about horror stories of people dying.”
