Staff and patients at the Palliative Care Ward of the Jan Yperman Hospital in the West Flemish town of Ieper are at their wits’ end. Poes, the black tomcat that brightens up the day of staff and those receiving end of life care has gone missing. The nurses and the patients have issued an appeal for information about Poes’ whereabout as he is the ward’s unofficial mascot and he is dearly missed.
The Palliative Care Ward’s Head Nurse Kobe Secu told VRT News that "Poes is really a street cat that ended up here quite by chance. Pets are always welcome on our ward. We used to have dogs but since 2009 we have had a cat”.
Poes is like a member of staff. “His photograph is up on the wall next to photos of everyone that works here on the ward. Poes normally comes by every day. He is given food and drink and gets cuddles from staff and patients. Everyone feels attached to him”.
Missing for a week
Mr Sercu went on to say that "Now we are really worried. We haven’t seen Poes for a week now. Is he stuck somewhere? Has he got lost? Or has he gone away somewhere to die? We don’t know and that is why we have posted a message on Facebook."
"There have been a lot of replies. People are sharing the message and send films of black cats that they have seen. However, none of these have been Poes”.