A woman from Barry whose pet cat needed to undergo extensive surgery after being shot by an air gun is blown away by the level of support shown by concerned people.

Rachel Gibbs the owner of Mimosa a one-year-old moggy was horrified to learn that her beloved pet had been injured deliberately.

Rachel said: “When she came to us, she was extremely timid and lacking in confidence and we were told that she may never want to go outside due to the trauma experienced as a feral kitten.

"Surprisingly, she started to go outside, even venturing over the wall into the neighbouring gardens! -we saw this as a great achievement for her and she's been a really happy little cat.”

Mimosa at the vets Mimosa at the vets (Image: Rachel Gibbs)

Then on Wednesday, August 14, Mimosa came back home dragging her right back leg and covered in blood.

At first Rachel suspected the wound was the result of a brutal cat fight and thought nothing sinister was at play. However, at her local vets the full extent of damage was revealed.

“They assessed the movement in her back legs, and it was non-existent in the right and weak in the left.

"At midnight the vet called to say that it wasn't what we had thought. She hadn't been in a fight but had been shot by an air gun!”

“At the time it was horrible because we didn’t know if she was going to die or not and she’s a young cat.”

The decision was made to seek specialist advice in Bristol with a neurologist.

Rachael said: “We saw the x-rays and could see the pellet alongside the spine. The neurologist recommended a CT scan and removal of the pellet

Then, the vet called after the CT scan to let us know that some of the pellet fragmented.”

Due to the fragmentation the cost of the operation increased so Rachel set up a ‘Go Fund Me’ to help ease operation costs.

In total Mimosa’s vets’ fees accumulated to £7,300. The Go Funds Me has just reached nearly £500 at time of writing. You can support the fundraising here.

Mimosa has since come home and is making a promising recovery.