A cat which had his leg “blown to smithereens” by a yob who blasted him with a pellet gun has made a miracle recovery after vets put him back together – like a jigsaw.
Distraught owner Jodie Robertson, 21, took her beloved pet Bobbie to the vets fearing the worst after he limped through the cat flap in agony on Saturday morning.
The three-year-old moggy had been shot by a thug at point blank range causing his thigh bone to explode into 20 separate pieces.
The pet underwent a 90 minute operation where vets pieced his leg and thigh back together using pins and even glue to seal the bone.
Incredibly, just 24 hours after surgery, Bobbie was back home with Jodie at her home in Hucknall, Notts.
Furious Jodie, a petrol station cashier, slammed the yob who targeted her beloved pet.
She fumed: “It’s disgusting. I’m so shocked that anyone could do that to a defenceless animal.
“I can’t really describe it in words. It’s horrific. I just hope they catch whoever has done this.”
Angry Jodie, who has had Bobbie since he was seven-weeks-old, had to take out a £1,000 loan to pay for his operation.
She added: “Other pet owners might not be able to take out a loan like I did, so they would just have to part with their best friend.”
Vet Graham Oliver, who operated on Bobbie at Buckley House Vets in Nottingham, said the pellet went through the cat’s right buttock.
He said: “It’s a particularly horrific injury that he’s suffered.
“The pellet has gone in through the right buttock, grazed his sciatic nerve and caused the top of the thigh bone to explode into about 20 pieces.
“We often see cats with pellets in and occasionally they lose an eye or suffer a broken bone, but this must have been done at close range as the energy caused by the impact caused the bone to be blown to smithereens.
“We used an interlocking nail to repair the joints. It involved inserting a pin down into the bone and a bracket into the outer part of the leg.
“We managed to piece the other bits of bone back together again like a jigsaw.
“Similar operations usually take about 40 minutes but this one took an hour-and-a-half, it was quite an intricate process.”
The RSPCA are now appealing for anyone who has any information about the shooting to come forward.
A spokeswoman said: “It is absolutely vital that if anyone saw anything suspicious or knows of anyone shooting at animals in the area that they come forward with information.
“People cannot be allowed to get away with causing such awful injuries.”
A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire Police added: “The misuse of an air or pellet weapon in a bid to cause harm can lead to arrest and prosecution.”
