Miaouch! Amazing pictures of cat that spent a WEEK with crossbow bolt through its body



A kitten lost one of its nine lives when a callous thug shot it with a crossbow.



Dave the tabby cat was targeted while playing away from home. He staggered around with the 14-inch bolt in his body for a week before finally making it back to his garden.



The bolt entered his neck and came out by his left elbow missing his heart by an inch and his lungs by a fraction.

Miraculously the bolt failed to pierce Dave's vital organs and arteries

Though he is now on the mend, his ordeal has left its scar on his owners, the Childerhouse family.



Parents Andrew and Juliet said their daughters Hannah, 12, and Phoebe, eight, were hysterical when they spotted Dave limping across the grass.



Mr Childerhouse, 48, of Terrington St Clement, Norfolk, said: 'This defies understanding of people's minds. It is absolutely horrific. Who would do this to a cat?



'Dave is a very friendly cat so someone probably got very close and then let him have it.'

Dave went missing on June 2 and the family gave up hope of finding him as the week went by.

But eight days later Hannah heard his bell outside and ran out to find him limping along with the crossbow bolt through his body.

Near miss: An X-ray shows how the crossbow bolt passed through the cat's chest cavity

Mrs Childerhouse, 46, said: 'Hannah was having her breakfast and said she could hear Dave.

'I looked out of the living room window and saw him with what looked like a play dart.

'Hannah was screaming constantly - she could not go to school.'

She added: 'The police think it was someone riding past who shot him, but in our view it was a clean shot at close range.'

Mr Childerhouse, a sign maker, said: 'The girls were hysterical. But Dave could still walk around and looked comfortable. There was no blood showing from the wound.

'He was starving and very smelly from where he had been lying in his own mess.'



The 11-month-old kitten was treated at Mill House Veterinary Surgery in King's Lynn by Sarah Colegrove who said Dave was lucky to have survived.

She said the blunt bolt tip meant many of Dave's major organs and main arteries were pushed out of the way rather than being cut.



On the mend: Dave gets a cuddle from Hannah Childerhouse, 12, with her sister Phoebe, eight, and mother Juliet

'We took an X-ray and it showed the arrow was going right through his thoracic cavity,' the vet said.

'One of the main problems was infection. As the arrow went in it pushed a lot of hairs and rubbish from the skin into the chest.

'The arrow came out fairly easily but it looked as if the skin was trying to heal around it so it must have been there for several days.

'Dave is the most amazing little cat. He is on strong antibiotics now and we are keeping our fingers crossed he comes out of this okay.'



Dave is now recovering after five days in intensive care.

The RSPCA will meet some of the £800 cost of Dave's veterinary treatment.