Cat dies after being shot in suspected air rifle attack

A distraught pet owner has appealed to anybody with information after her cat was killed in what is being treated as a deliberate attack with an air rifle.

On Saturday afternoon, Sarah Fenn, from High Road in Bressingham, noticed her cat had begun behaving erratically after spending the morning outside.

She took her to a specialist vet in Newmarket, where surgeons told her that her cat, named Cleo, had suffered a bowel injury, which would have been the result of being shot by a BB gun or air rifle, and most likely deliberately.

Despite initially being given a 50/50 chance of survival, 14-year-old Cleo was put down on Sunday night, after her condition deteriorated.

Miss Fenn said: “When she came in on Saturday, she was meowing quite a lot, then she threw up and jumped on the bed and was really limp.

“We gave her loads of attention but she wasn’t responding at all – she seemed really unhappy. But you couldn’t tell from the outside that she had been shot, because she wasn’t bleeding.

“We took her to the vet and the surgeon said she had been shot and that, judging from the angle, they said it was deliberate.”

Miss Fenn’s misery was compounded when she was prevented from seeing Cleo as she was put down, due to the ongoing social distancing laws.

The 27-year-old said: “We weren’t allowed in, so we were just sitting outside in my car.

“It was horrible, because she wouldn’t have known what was going on, so it would have been a lot better if there were familiar faces around her.”

Anyone with any information on the possible shooting can contact the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.