owner’s anger after her three cats shot

THREE cats have suffered serious injuries after being shot at with an air gun within the space of a month.

They happened in three separate incidents within just four weeks of each other in the Stoke Heath area of the city.

The cats’ owner said one of the felines was already missing an eye due to what is believed to be a pellet wound.

The owner, who does not wish to be named, said the five days her cat went missing were the worst of her life.

She said: “We noticed Dotty went missing on August 30 at around 5pm.

“We are feeling better now we have got our cat family back together but the five days Dotty was missing were the worst five days of my life.

“At around the same time, another of our other cats, Uno, went missing. She came back with a serious air gun injury requiring an operation.

“The vet said they might have had to amputate her front leg, luckily they managed to save her leg by pinning it.

“We also discovered that her one eye previously thought to be a birth defect is actually also a pellet wound from before she moved in with us and brought us her five kittens, two of which we kept.”

The incident comes four weeks after another of their cats - Olive - was also shot, but with much less serious consequences.

The cats are now recovering, but Uno needs to stay immobile for six to eight weeks.

Dotty is home but still very sick as she had an infection developed over the five days she was lost.

The owner was advised to put Dotty down as she would not survive the operation. However the fighting feline survived the op and is on the road to recovery.

The owner has since discovered that the shootings are a more regular occurrence than first thought with people she has spoken to experiencing similar things.

Due to the soaring vet bills, Andrea, from Coventry cat Facebook group, Cat Chat, has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for them. The owner said: “I didn’t think it was a regular thing but having spoken to a few people in the area it is more common than people think.

“We have got vet bills of around £2,000, but Andrea made a gofundme page to help with but whoever is responsible should have to pay really, and for all the cages, medication and cat litter involved in their aftercare.”