A woman has spoken of her disgust and outrage after she discovered her cat had been shot, not once, but twice with an air rifle.

Claire Holmes was at home last Thursday when her husband noticed that their cat, Milo was limping.

After inspecting the cat and seeing a wound and some blood on its fur, Claire rang the vet.

The vet told them that Milo would be safe until the next morning when Claire took her cat to the vet.

“We took Milo to the vet. They looked at Milo’s leg which was very bruised and swollen. So they were going to keep him in and x-ray him.

“I left Milo at the vet and before lunchtime they rang to say they had done an x-ray and could see pellets in the ankle joint. I asked what do you mean pellets and he said ‘from an air rifle’, which absolutely stunned me that somebody had shot Milo. I was really upset and angry.”

The vet removed the pellets from Milo’s ankle and to Claire’s astonishment another pellet from Milo’s toe which she believes is from a previous incident.

“The staff at Erne Veterinary Group were fantastic with their thorough and tender care of Milo.

“I cannot fathom why anybody would shoot at a cat with anything let alone air rifle. I am disgusted at somebody doing this.

“If somebody shoots at an animal, you don’t know when they could shoot at a person next. It is just ridiculous.”

The incident has affected Milo according to Claire who said the cat has stopped going outside and they have to give it water through a syringe as it had stopped eating and drinking.

Claire made a statement to police and hopes that sharing the whole incident will lead in some way to finding out who took aim at her cat and she urges anyone with information to go to the police.

“I’m furious somebody would do this to an animal.

“Where we live is very quiet. I have lived here for years and can’t imagine anyone using an air rifle to shoot a cat. I don’t know how this has happened.

“My hope is that making people aware of this, somebody might know something.

“If at least the person who did this, sees it and knows it has been reported to the police, they will understand the pain and upset it has caused.”