Possum on the mend after foot shot
Aside from the tiny cast, you would never know Possum the cat had been left with a hole in the back of its foot and two broken toes after being shot with a slug gun.
The ultra fluffy feline doesn’t cry from its injuries and instead smooches up to everyone, constantly purrs, and sidles up with a limp to anyone that enters the confined space it has to stay in for six weeks while recovering.
Possum, named because of its black fur, bright green eyes, and likeness to the nocturnal creatures, belongs to Heather and Ray Looker but it was Shelly Tipler who came across the cat’s injuries.
‘‘He’d been away for a few days and Monday morning I came over and he was standing in the hallway and I said ‘where have you been you bloody rat bag?’ and he looked at me and walked straight towards me and his foot was just about double in size and I tried to have a look but s..t he was in pain,’’ Tipler, who lives on the Lookers’ property in New Plymouth, said. ‘‘We lost another cat in September and going by what’s happened here it might have been the same thing, only he didn’t get to come home.’’
At first Tipler thought it was a gin trap that had hurt Possum but after taking him to the vet she found out the slug was still in its foot.
‘‘What sort of mentality do people that do that have? He’s in a splint for six weeks and the vet isn’t sure what’s going to happen with the slug, whether it will fester up and pop out.’’
Tipler said the Lookers, who were currently travelling the South Island in their motorhome, had only had Possum since January.
‘‘He’s been a stray and he was dumped on Smart Rd and the lady thought it might have been the other cat so we went out and had a look and ended up bringing him home.
‘‘When he came to us he had been in the bush for three months and was covered in flea bites.’’
Tipler had reported the incident to the police who were investigating the offence under the Animal Welfare Act.
She also posted about the incident on Neighbourly, where a number of people wished the feline a speedy recovery and condemned the culprit.
SPCA animal welfare inspector Maria Carroll said she was appalled and wished Possum a speedy recovery.