Care worker's beloved rescue cat shot by pellet gun

Two-and-a-half-year-old Tinkerbell was cowering with fear when Nikki Hartland found her at her home in Stubbs Lane after work.

The rescue cat, who has lived with Nikki's family since she was seven weeks old, was rushed to the vets where a pellet was found lodged in her chest.

Nikki believes the incident must have took place in the neighbourhood – and she is urging anyone in Lostock Gralam with information to come forward.

She told the Guardian: "It was heartbreaking – she's my little shadow following me around.

“She went out at around 3pm and I popped out for work. I got back in at 6.30pm and I thought she would be starving by then, but she was cowering and hid under the bed, she would not come out.

“I had to drag her out and she was not walking, she just flopped over, so I could tell something was very wrong."

Nikki took Tinkerbell to the out-of-hours veterinary clinic at Hollybank, in Sandiway, where they eventually found the wound before giving her an x-ray to see if anything had got stuck inside.

The wound was discovered when Tinkerbell went to the vets on Saturday  

The scan revealed a pellet lodged in her chest, close to her heart, and Nikki admits she was 'very lucky'.

Nikki said: "At the vets, they asked me if I lived in an area where people did shooting, but it's just a quiet housing estate in Lostock and there are loads of cats.

"She has been going out for two years and there has never been an issue. She doesn't wander far, and if I call her from the back door she gets back in a minute."

Tinkerbell was kept in at the vets overnight with an IV drip, before returning home on Sunday for plenty of rest.

Tinkerbell is now resting up following her ordeal  

She is now on antibiotics and painkillers, while the incident ended up leaving mum-of-two Nikki with a £600 vet bill.

She said: "I understand that some people get annoyed at cats in their garden, particularly if they use them as a toilet, but there are other ways to shoo a cat.

"I honestly feel sick. Every time I drive by the house I just can't believe that one of my neighbours has done this to my cat.

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"Somebody must know something. I have spoken to the police and I have posted on Facebook, I just want people to be aware."

Anyone with information about the incident or CCTV footage should call Cheshire Police on 101, quoting incident number IML896794.