A CAT had to have a four- hour operation after it was shot with an airgun.

Rosie, a 14-month-old black and white Persian cross, was shot in the neck with a metal pellet in her owner’s garden.

Vets spent hours painstakingly searching for the pellet, which had lodged millimetres from her spine, removing it and stitching her up.

Owner Rebecca Banfield, 29, of Haven Vale, Wantage, has had to pay a £1,500 vet’s bill and is now desperate to find out who was responsible.

The shooting happened at about 7pm on Wednesday, October 14.

Mrs Banfield said: “She went out to do her business and was only gone for an hour, when my daughter Charlotte found her cowering under the kitchen cupboard.

“We weren’t sure at the time what had happened to her.

“We didn’t notice any blood at first. The wound was just under her chin and we didn’t want to tip her head back in case she had a spinal injury.

“It wasn’t until the vet was checking her out that we noticed. She had a tiny little hole in her neck.

“I’m on disability benefit and finding the money for the operation was very difficult.”

Vet Emily O’Reilly performed the operation at Medivet, in Woodstock, after an x-ray revealed the pellet.

She said it had entered through the cat’s neck, hit her shoulder blade and lodged next to her vertebrae.

Mrs O’Reilly said: “She’s very lucky to be alive and it could’ve so easily been a lot more serious. The pellet had even taken off a few whiskers.

“It was a very difficult operation and she has recovered remarkably well.

“You do see cats being shot now and again and it’s just mindless idiots shooting anything that moves.”

Wantage Primary School pupil Charlotte, seven, said: “It was horrible. I was really scared she was going to die and had bad dreams afterwards.

“I’m so happy Rosie survived.”

Thames Valley Police spokesman Claire Gourlay confirmed both police and RSPCA officers were investigating the attack.

In September, two ducks were shot dead with an airgun in Glebe Close, Abingdon, while in July a pet cat needed surgery after it was used for target practice in Burford.

Anyone with information about the incident should call the police on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.