THE owner of a two-year-old cat says her pet may never be able to walk again after an air rifle pellet came within millimetres of hitting her spine.

Danielle Ette's partner Ben Simpson found the feline, called Daisy, lying incapacitated outside the back door of their home on Hillswood Avenue, Kendal, on Friday evening.

Unable to move her back legs, Mr Simpson, a 27-year-old engineer, took the tortoiseshell cat to the Westmorland Veterinary Group in Kendal where X-rays revealed the nature and extent of the cat's injuries.

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"I was completely shocked and devastated that somebody could be so malicious," said Ms Ette, 25. "My family are disgusted as we are all cat lovers and cannot believe somebody would do this to somebody's pet.

"If anybody knows anything I would ask them to let the police know as we would hate for it to happen to somebody else's pet. Daisy is suffering because of some cruel person. She is currently settled and it is a case of waiting to see how well she recovers and if she will be able to walk again."

After arriving at the vets, Daisy was kept in overnight under observation and was given pain relief.

"On initial assessment at the vets they thought she had been run over and had fractured her pelvis," said Ms Ette, who described the care given to Daisy by the vets as 'excellent'.

An X-ray on Saturday showed the pellet had hit close to her spine which led to spinal shock.

Gerard Winnard, senior small animals clinician at the vets, said the pellet came within three millimetres of Daisy's spine and rattled the bone.

"We have left the pellet alone," he said. "It can do more harm than good taking it out. We've now got to see how the spine repairs itself but we are hopeful she will make a full recovery."

Ms Ette, who got Daisy from a farm with her sister, Willow, when she was just eight-weeks-old, said her cat 's condition had now improved slightly.

"She is having to stay in a cage to rest and continue with medication," she said. "She is still unable to walk and use her back legs so is having to shuffle along the floor.

"They are treating her with pain relief, antibiotics for her wound and anti-inflammatory drugs. We have been informed it will be a slow recovery with a 50/50 chance of her walking again.

"She is very sweet-natured, bright and never ventured very far from the house. Willow has been acting differently whilst Daisy was at the vets as they have never been apart - I think she was lost."

Anyone with information should contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.