Billy's story
When our vets at the National Cat Adoption Centre in Sussex first saw Billy, he had so many puncture wounds they thought he’d been attacked by a wild animal. But as the treating Veterinary Officer recalls: “When we looked at his X-rays we could see his whole body and head were literally peppered with air gun pellets.”
Two pellets were removed from Billy’s neck but the rest, particularly the four lodged in his head, were just too deep. The Veterinary Officer said it was a “miracle” Billy had survived at all. Billy has been left totally blind in one eye with the other being so badly damaged that it had to be removed. Luckily Billy is now settled in a new loving home and has adapted well to his sight loss.
Jalapeno's story
When Jalapeno was brought to our adoption centre in Bridgend, the staff could tell she was in serious pain. She had lost an eye after being shot with an air rifle, but she was also suffering another, less obvious, injury. The staff discovered Jalapeno had a second pellet lodged in her shoulder. The pain caused by the pellet wedged against bone must have been almost unbearable and Jalapeno had become incredibly shy and withdrawn around people.
The vet operated on Jalapeno straight away, removing the pellet that was causing her such pain. With plenty of rest and time to recover she started to come out of her shell, blossoming into the friendly, playful cat she would have been before being attacked.
Lily's story
In April last year Cats Protection was contacted about Lily, a cat from York that was shot in the stomach with an air gun. The bullet perforated her bowels and she underwent emergency surgery to repair the damage. Despite suffering from severe peritonitis she came through it all and is now well on the road to recovery.
Chaos's story
Chaos was shot between her eyes in September 2016 in Neath, South Wales. The pellet miraculously missed her brain and lodged in the muscle between her spine and gullet, where it remains. It did, however, shatter the bones in her nose making her unable to breathe except through her mouth which, of course, prevented her from eating or drinking.
She was fitted with a feeding tube which has now been removed and she is able to eat and drink again. She has only been outside once since her recovery and was frightened by the lights outside the house which tends to support the vet’s theory that a light was shone in her face to temporarily blind her before being shot.
