A STEVENSTON mum is warning locals to be vigilant after her cat was shot in the ribcage with what was thought to have been a .22 rifle – just two years after she lost another cat to poisoning.

Donella Miller and her husband John were abroad on Friday, June 3 when they received a call from their 24-year-old son Johrdann telling them that four-year-old Daisy had suffered a gunshot wound.

Donella, who lives in the Hayocks area, told the Herald: “It was a .22 air rifle. It’s definitely been deliberate. I want to make other cat owners aware. I know that you can’t stop a cat wandering but I just want other owners to be vigilant in case this happens again. If the person who did this wanted to scare the cat away from their garden, then fair enough, but why shoot her?

“We’re concerned because we’ve got two other cats and a few of our neighbours have cats and they’re worried too. The police have been involved and they said that if we heard any rumours about who might have done it, we’ve to let them know right away and they’ll go straight to their door.

“We were on holiday in Majorca when Daisy was shot so my son Johrdann had to deal with it all himself. When Johrdann phoned to tell us what happened I was very upset. Johrdann’s ok but I think he was a bit affected by it. He was upset but he was quick to react and took Daisy straight to the vets.

“It’s really worrying because this sort of thing has happened to us before. One of my cats, Marx, was poisoned two years ago and died.”

Luckily, Daisy seems to be on the mend and has been receiving treatment at Oaks Vets in Saltcoats.

Donella said: “She’s been up and down to the vets and seems to be getting better. They reckon she’s going to be alright but she’s to go back for another check-up. The bullet went into one side and hit her rib cage. It’s still inside her and they don’t know yet whether to remove it or not. They might just leave it there if it’s not causing her any harm.”

A spokesman for Police Scotland stressed that local people should not be alarmed because officers had not received any recent reports of similar incidents in the area.

The spokesman said: “The matter was reported to police and we attended and provided the family with suitable advice. Trying to work out exactly where the incident happened is difficult because obviously a cat wanders.

“At the moment nothing else has been reported so it’s unlikely there’s someone going about shooting cats. However, if anybody has any information about this incident or hears about a similar incident then please call police on 101.”