Sunrise weatherman Sam Mac has returned to work after taking a few days off to mourn the death of his much-loved cat, Coco.
The Channel Seven star revealed in an emotional social media video over the weekend that his feline friend, who was well-known to viewers, had sadly been put to sleep.
Watch Sam address Coco’s death on Sunrise in the vide above
Watch Sunrise on Channel 7 and stream it for free on 7plus >>
Speaking to co-hosts David Koch and Natalie Barr on Wednesday’s show, Sam opened up about the “extremely difficult” last few days without his four-legged pal.
“My beloved Coco, my rescue cat, who we featured on the show for many, many years, we sadly had to say goodbye on the weekend,” he said.
“It was extremely difficult, any pet lover or anyone who has been through that knows how hard it is, they are family, they are so much more than just a cat or just a dog.
“The Sunrise family got around me, you guys sent me flowers, and people understand it’s real grief when you lose an animal and I’m still I guess processing it.
Sam said he wanted to say a “big, heartfelt thank you” to the “tens of thousands of people who reached out” to offer their messages of support.
Sam had his feline friend, a Burmilla, for more than a decade after rescuing her from a shelter.
Coco regularly featured on Sunrise, in Sam’s social media posts and appeared alongside her owner on the cover of his 2021 book, Accidental Weatherman.
She was also the first-ever cover cat on Pussweek magazine and Sam took her as his guest to the Logies in 2019.
“We’ve had so many fun moments, all to promote animal rescue, it’s something I’m extremely proud of,” Sam said.
The breakfast television presenter had set up a fundraiser in Coco’s honour following her death.
“I was hoping to raise $1,000 and we’ve raised over $21,000,” Sam revealed.
“That will help other animals, that will help other people get to experience what I had with Coco, so thanks for getting behind it guys.
Sam joked that his other cat is relishing the attention following Coco’s death.
“Catra is my blind cat, the one that doesn’t get the limelight, she’s coming out of her shell so maybe she sees an opening now that Coco is not around.”
Natalie Barr suffers a sad loss
Natalie Barr then revealed that her own furry friend had also recently passed away after almost two decades years with her family.
“It wasn’t a good week for cats,” the Sunrise co-host said.
“We had to put our own cat Flash down on Friday night.
“We had her for 18 years, she was a loved member of the family, the kids have grown up with her.
Nat joked that Flash was “not as famous as Coco”.
Source: 7News