Cat shot by airgun loses eye and another pellet found in his chest in previous attack

• Oscar the cat was shot right through the eye with an airgun
• X-rays revealed a second airgun pellet from a previous attack
• Owner Amanda Leadbetter is unsure whether it was a deliberate attack

By Alex Ward


This unlucky tabby cat lost an eye after being shot with an airgun and X-rays of the injured pet showed another pellet lodged in his chest.
Oscar the cat is two lives down after he was shot right through the centre of his eye with an airgun and, while having surgery to remove the metal pellet, vets discovered the other one from a previous attack and it is unclear how long it has been there.
Owners Amanda and Steven Leadbetter discovered three-year-old Oscar lying in the garden, covered in blood at their home in Findon Valley, Worthing, West Sussex.

Unlucky tabby: Oscar the cat lost his eye after being shot with an airgun and X-rays revealed a second pellet in his chest from a previous attack

The injured tabby is now back at home recovering after the hour-long operation to remove his eye.
Mrs Leadbetter, 36 said: ‘It was terrible. We found him lying at the bottom of the garden covered in blood and rushed him to the vet. When they X-rayed him they found the pellet in his eye and then another metal pellet in his chest.
‘We had a sleepless night because we didn’t think he’d make it. It was touch and go and we were beside ourselves.
‘They had to remove his eye but his stitches will come out on Saturday and he’s doing OK. He’s eating and purring, which is a huge relief. He’s such a sweet, kind-natured cat.’

Straight through: X-rays of Oscar's head revealed the pellet which went straight through the cat's right eye

Previous attack: X-rays also revealed a second airgun pellet lodged in his chest which vets decoded to leave there after they found it was not causing the cat any problems

Mrs Leadbetter, who works as a hairdresser, said people often shoot rabbits at the nearby fort Cissbury Ring where Oscar often goes prowling.
She said: ‘People shoot rabbits up there and it could be hugely bad luck that he has been shot twice by someone doing that. 
‘But it’s very suspect, especially as they got him right in the eye. If it was deliberate then it’s a vile act.’
Steve Wickham, the animal welfare officer at the RSPCA in Worthing, is investigating the case. 
He said: ‘I’m relying on the public to let us know if they saw someone doing this.

Bad luck or a vile act? Owner Amanda Leadbetter says people shoot rabbits in the area where Oscar goes prowling so she is unsure whether it is extremely bad luck or a deliberate, 'vile act'

‘We will prosecute if we have evidence. In cases where we have the airgun pellet or bullet, we pass it to the police and they can match it to the gun and we have had successful prosecutions.’
The vet decided to leave the pellet found in Oscar's chest as it was because it was not causing him any problems.
A cat miraculously survived when it was shot three times in the face with an airgun and nearly hanged in a savage assault in 2010 in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
Another cat dragged himself two miles after he was shot twice with an airgun, even scaling a seven-foot fence, to get home in Girton in Cambridgeshire last year. Gigio the cat was close to death after thugs fired at his head and chest, leaving him with a collapsed lung and a ruptured diaphragm.