A 2-year-old cat who was shot through the body with an arrow in Perris underwent emergency surgery at a Riverside County animal shelter Friday and appears to be on the road to recovery.

“He was alert, vocal and in pain,” said Dr. Sara Strongin, who performed the operation at the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus. “The arrow entered in his left shoulder and traveled through his muscles and exited in his lower chest area, near his sternum. The question now is whether there is any internal damage that we cannot see.”

According to county Department of Animal Services spokesman John Welsh, a city of Perris animal control officer found the brown-and-white domestic feline and rushed the cat to the shelter in the mid-morning hours.

The tip of the black marksman arrow was pointing out the cat’s underside, and the feathered end out of the shoulder. The length of the arrow was not immediately known.

“The majority of the trauma was sustained in the left front leg and shoulder, as evidenced by the fracture,” Strongin said. “But we cannot rule out any potential internal injury.”

She said part of the leg may have to be amputated due to the breakage.

As of early Friday afternoon, the cat was stable and receiving antibiotics and fluids via an intravenous line.

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“I think he’s extremely lucky that the arrow did not do more damage,” Strongin said. “It will be very satisfying and rewarding if he goes on to live a happy, healthy life in a new home.”

Welsh said that the Department of Animal Services is ready to assist Perris animal control officers in their animal cruelty investigation.

“It’s a heinous act when someone purposely harms any animal causing serious injuries,” said animal services Deputy Director Frank Corvino.

Anyone with information about the situation can contact Perris Animal Control at 951-657-4134.