A CAT has been left with damage to her skull after she was shot with an airgun.

Sick yobs fired at Sasha, an 11-year-old Persian, as she was taking her morning stroll.

The first her owner Rose Day, 88, knew of the injuries was later that day when the ailing cat got up from her bed.

Rose’s son, John Day, who lives with her as her carer in Belgrave Road, Leigh, said: “It’s only when Sasha got up in the evening we saw this blood on her head and spatter around the edges.

So I cut the fur away and saw a little hole. I took her straight to the vet.

“They took a look at it and they’ve got a lot of experience in these things. They found it was a proper hole, so it really bounced on the skull and damaged it.

“They kept her in for a couple of nights.”

The family have had to pay out £230 so far for her treatment which they should be able to claim on their insurance, apart from a £50 excess.

But it’s the last thing Mr Day needed, as his mother is disabled and his father Victor, 91, has dementia.

He said: “My mother’s 88 and she’s been quite ill recently.

She had an ulcerated leg.

“She has been in and out of hospital. She’s got heart problems and water on the lungs.

“This is the last thing she wanted to happen.”

Sasha’s injury comes after police received three reports about cats being shot by airguns in Shoebury in April.

It is believed Sasha was shot in the Rayleigh Road area some time on Saturday.

Police confirmed they were contacted at lunchtime on Sunday by a resident of Belgrave Road, in Leigh, who reported the injury of a Persian cat the previous day.

House-to-house inquiries were completed by PC Sian Crocker.

Acting Inspector Ian Gennery said: “While incidents of this nature cannot be labelled as a crime under Home Office classifications, I fully appreciate the need for police to investigate such matters due to the cruelty involved and the level of upset that is caused to the animal’s owner.

“I would welcome any information from the public about how this cat came to be injured on Saturday, in order for us to pursue further inquiries.”

Anyone with information can call PC Crocker at Leigh police on 0300 3334444.