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Family cat put down after being shot with air gun

By Hayley Robinson

A family's beloved cat had to be put down after being shot at close range with an airgun.

Toni Maxted found Cola bleeding when she returned to her home in Medway Close, Sittingbourne.

As it was after hours, she contacted Nottcuts Veterinary Surgery in Maidstone and was told to bring Cola in to be examined.

Once there, an X-ray revealed an air pellet had damaged the small intestine and entered the bladder.

The nine-year-old pet then underwent two hours of surgery to repair the damage and seemed to be making a good recovery.

But she took a turn for the worse and Mrs Maxted had to make the heart-wrenching decision to put her to sleep.

The incident has been reported to the police.

The mum of three said: "She was too poorly and we had to make the decision to put her down as she was getting worse.

"She was such a friendly cat, I just can't believe someone would do this and be so utterly cruel.

"Animals don't even kill or injure each other for fun. It's just inhumane.

"I wonder if someone out there might have a bit of a conscience.

"I've told several neighbours what's happened as there's lots of cats in the area and I'm interested to know if anyone saw anything.

"One neighbour said someone in the road recently found a poorly cat in her garden.

"Even though it wasn't hers she took it to the vet and was told it had been poisoned.

"We've got another cat called Fizzy and I've kept her in since this happened. She knows something's not right and appears to be missing Cola."

Assistant veterinary surgeon Jim Parren, who treated Cola, said: "I suspect she was shot at a fairly short range due to the degree of damage.

"There was also a lot of bruising around the entry point.

"It's possible she could have been held as she was shot but that is purely speculation.

"This illustrates the severe and sad consequences that can result from the misuse of pellet guns."

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