Pam and Geoff Ball, from Sandhurst, took their seven-year-old pedigree Maine Coon cat Balthazar to the vet a fortnight ago for a check-up after he had been injured while out in the area.
But, as the X-ray results came through, the vet was shocked to discover that instead of broken bones Balthazar had seven pellets inside his body and one in his head instead.
As a result, Mr and Mrs Ball believe their pet has been the victim of an attack by someone with an airgun. The pellets have not been removed as they are in too dangerous a position, but they do not seem to cause Balthazar too much discomfort.
Mrs Ball said: “I can’t believe anyone would ever dream of doing such a thing to an animal. We were very angry at first but have calmed down since and we are just shocked.
“We took him to the vet for him to be checked out about something else but we found out he had a number of these nasty pellets inside him. It is just disgusting.” The couple think the pellets have been inside Balthazar for some time as he had had another pellet removed last summer by a vet who accidentally discovered it while checking his leg for injury.
Consequently, they have not let Balthazar out of the house since discovering the pellets as they are too scared about what could happen to him and are warning other animal lovers in the Sandhurst area to be vigilant around their pets when outside.
Mrs Ball added: “There is someone around here who is shooting cats for one reason or another. Balthazar does not go far in the garden so it is very upsetting to see that someone has done this.
“We have not let him out since the attack which is a huge shame because he loves roaming around but we don’t really want to let him out of our sight.
“We will certainly think twice about getting another cat in the future. The person who did this needs to be warned - they should come forward and admit what they did to Balthazar, poor little thing.” The pair have reported the findings to the police, who are currently investigating the matter.
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