A family is warning pet owners to be on their guard after their cat was shot by an air gun pellet and had to have her leg amputated.

Ten-year-old Sky was found by Kevin and Cheryl Gander in a distressed state, having crawled back to their home in the Vellum Road area of Sittingbourne recently.

Not knowing what had happened to their rescue cat, the couple took her to Newnham Court Veterinary Hospital in Bearsted for X-rays.

Mr Gander, 45, said: “Last Monday, Cheryl came home from work at about 4pm and let Sky out. At some point between about 4.45pm to 5.45pm that evening, we think that’s when the incident happened.

“Sky then crawled home at around 5.50pm.

"We caught her on CCTV coming home, holding her paw up and meowing in agony.”

The father-of-one added: “We took her straight to the emergency hospital and the vet said it was a really serious injury.

“Later that evening, at about 11.30pm, the vet phoned and said he had established what had happened to Sky.

“He said she had been shot by some kind of air gun or pistol. The pellet had hit her leg and shattered it in lots of different pieces – the vet could see fragments of the pellet on the X-rays too.”

Due to the nature of the injuries, Sky had to have her leg amputated before she was allowed home on Thursday.

Mr Gander, a business development manager for the JCB Group in Ashford, said: “Sky’s not really the same cat at all and we’ve ended up with a vet bill of nearly £3,000.”

He added: “I think it’s really important that people know about this and people in the area are vigilant. It’s a despicable act.

“I don’t know how or why anyone would do anything like this – it’s just very sad.”

Police are investigating. Anyone with information should call 101, quoting XY-047114-18.