GRAPHIC IMAGES: Cat fighting for life after being shot with a BOW
THESE are the anxious scenes as a vet battles to save the life of a cat shot by a maniac armed with a long bow.
Vets battle to save cats life after being shot with an arrow from a long bow
The lethal arrow went straight through the cat’s body with such force that the missile ended up being bent out of shape.
Miraculously, the tabby and white cat was not killed outright but the sharp arrowhead smashed two of its vertebrae.
A surgeon at South Essex Wildlife Hospital managed to remove the arrow from the cat but fears the projectile may have been stuck in the animal for several weeks before she was found by animal lovers.
The cat, nicknamed Samson had been brought to the wildlife hospital at the weekend
X-ray of the cat, Samson, shot with an arrow
The cat, nicknamed Samson, had been handed over to the wildlife hospital in Grays, Essex, at the weekend and the veterinary team immediately got to work removing the arrow with its red and yellow fletches.
We think the patient had been like this for some weeks due to the infection and how the skin has sealed around the entry and exit wounds
Graphic pictures, an x-ray as well as a video show the fraught moments as the vet works on the animal to save its life.
The images, posted on the hospital’s Facebook page, saw horrified animal lovers sending in hundreds of pounds in donations for the cat as well as calling for tougher sentences for cruel animal abusers.
Giving a condition update on the cat, the wildlife hospital told supporters: “The cat underwent surgery and had a large arrow removed from its back.
The wildlife hospital removed the large arrow from the cat's back
'The cat is extremely poorly, we don't yet know the prognosis', says the wildlife hospital
"On entry, the projectile bent on hitting and smashing the top of two vertebrae.
“We think the patient had been like this for some weeks due to the infection and how the skin has sealed around the entry and exit wounds.
"The cat is extremely poorly, we don't yet know the prognosis.”