A cat is recovering from surgery after being shot by a “horrid” thug with an air gun.
Now her furious owner says the incident has left her pet anxious and refusing to eat.
It happened on Monday after the female cat, called Luna, returned to her Herne Bay home from a wander, apparently injured.
Owner Barbara Cairns, 70, says she saw what appeared to be dried blood on her pet’s grey fur and investigated further.
“I picked her up to examine her and then felt a lump on the other side of her body, so something was definitely wrong,” she said.
“I called the vet and they said to bring her down straight away and that’s when an X-ray revealed the air gun pellet inside her.”
The pellet was removed and Luna given medication, leaving Barbara with a bill of £400.
She was also given the pellet by the vet, which she has as a grim reminder of Luna’s ordeal.
“Fortunately, the pellet doesn’t appear to have injured any of her internal organs but we can’t be sure she is out of the woods yet,” said Barbara, who works part-time at the Green Door Deli in the town.
“I have medication for her which has to be given with her food, but she is not eating at the moment and still quite stressed, which is a little worrying.”
Barbara, who lives in Carlton Hill with husband, Ian, says she is furious someone would be so cruel to a pet cat and has reported the incident to police.
“Luna is quite timid but she’s not a housebound cat and likes to have a little wander, although she never goes far,” she said.
“I just don’t understand how anyone could do something so horrid to an animal. But I have heard of other pets being shot at and youths firing catapults at birds. It’s just not acceptable behaviour.”
Barbara and Ian share their home with a menagerie of animals.
As well as Luna, they have four other cats, two rabbits, canaries, pond fish, and a terrapin.
“They call me the mad animal lady, but I love them all,” said Barbara.
Earlier this month it was revealed Canterbury City Council (CCC) is spearheading the End Catapult Cruelty campaign, calling for the ban of public use and underage sale of catapults after a spike in cruel attacks on animals across Kent.
It followed an increase in the numbers of incidents involving birds and other wildlife being maimed or killed by ball bearings and other projectiles.
In one horrifying case in Herne Bay, a female mallard needed stitches after being shot in the body.
Cllr Connie Nolan (Lab), the city council’s cabinet member for community engagement, safety and enforcement, is leading the charge.
She said: “Residents have reported people, especially young people, targeting the wildlife in our district.
“Innocent animals are being killed and injured in our district and across Kent and that is unacceptable. Something needs to be done to make it stop.”
