A DISGUSTED cat owner is appealing for information after his pet was shot by an air rifle.

Winston the cat is lucky to be alive after the pellet shot at him narrowly missed his heart. Although he is recovering, vets have judged the operation to remove the pellet too risky.

Owner Pete Williams, from Corfe Mullen, described his anger at the perpetrator and is offering a reward to anyone with information that will lead to an arrest.

Winston was an Easter present for eight-year-old son Kieran.

The father-of-one first noticed something wrong with Winston when he started acting out of character.

“I was in bed and, normally, Winston sleeps on the pillow next to me, but he didn’t this time. He stayed at the bottom of the bed and made these growling noises every time I moved – at first I just thought he was being crabby.

“In the morning, I found him asleep on the floor next to my bed. I didn’t think much of it and went to work.

“Mum went to feed him and called him. Normally, he’s straight into the kitchen, but she had to go find him this time. She checked him over and he growled again.

“She took him to the vets straight away. They could feel something under his fur, on his side just below his back. They thought it could be a bite but needed to do an X-ray to be sure.

“They discovered a big hole in his side and could see a pellet in the X-ray. It had just grazed his liver and missed his heart by a few millimetres. It’s lodged near his belly."

Pete immediately called the police to report the incident. A spokesperson for the force said they had received a call from “a very upset resident” in Corfe View Road.

“They discovered their cat had been shot by what we believe to be an air rifle," the spokesperson aded.

Seven-year-old Winston is now on antibiotics and painkillers after his ordeal, but Pete said he struggled even to go to the toilet after being shot.

“I’m angry to think anyone could do that to an animal – it’s disgusting, shooting at someone’s pet. If it was five millimetres closer to his heart, he would have died.

“I’m happy he’s still alive. But I’m worried now and don’t know if I want to let him outside anymore.”

The shooting happened between 7pm and 9pm on Tuesday, April 19, and anyone with information should ring Dorset Police on 101, quoting occurrence number 55160061713.