THE owners of a two-year-old cat have been forced to put their family pet to sleep after it was shot and wounded in Melksham by someone using an air rifle.

The black and white cat called Felix was put down at Bath Vets when he deteriorated overnight after being rushed there for treatment on Wednesday evening.

Owners Ken and Pam Wathen, of Coronation Road, Melksham, had taken their family pet to the Chapel Vets in Melksham after finding blood on its fur.

They discovered a clear pellet entry wound to the right hand side of its stomach, which was causing Felix to vomit.

Mrs Wathen, 62, said: “My son Martin had found Felix curled up in the garden against the rear wall of the house and brought him inside

“The cat went upstairs but later came down and we noticed he was vomiting and foaming blood at his mouth.

“When I picked him up, there was blood all over my hands and we noticed the puncture wound on his right-hand side.

“My husband and son-in-law, Wayne Robb, took him to Chapel Vets and then later to their surgery in Bath for treatment.”

The vets found the air rifle pellet was lodged on the left hand side of his stomach and had caused a lot of damage. They were going to operate to remove the pellet on Thursday morning.

Mrs Wathen added: “We got a call at 4.10am saying his blood pressure had gone down and his stomach was filling with fluid.

“The lead from the pellet was poisoning him and we had no choice but to have him put to sleep.

“I would like the police to find whoever has done this. There are other cats around here. I just can’t understand why someone picked on him.”

Mrs Wathen said this is the first time anything like this has happened to them.The couple have another black and white cat called Daisy, who is eight and a half years old. She hardly ever goes out of the house.

Police are planning to conduct house-to-house enquiries in the Coronation Road area to find the person who shot Felix.

They are not linking it to animal cruelty incidents in the Wiltshire Crescent area of Melksham.

If anyone has any information in regards to this incident, please could they call PC Tom Carver on 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.