Pellet gun attack costs B.C. cat its leg and costs of care leave it homeless

PARKSVILLE, B.C. – A two-year-old tabby cat on Vancouver Island is recovering from a leg amputation after someone shot it with a pellet gun.

The BC SPCA says the male cat, named Onyx, was targeted recently near his home north of Nanaimo.

The SPCA's Parksville branch manager Nadine Durante says one of the cat's remaining legs is also broken.

Costs of the surgery and recuperation are estimated at about $1,800, and the society is appealing for assistance with the bills.

Durante says Onyx is also homeless because his owners had to surrender him when they could not afford the cost of the medical care.

The cat is doing well and Durante says he will spend several weeks in a foster home recovering before he is ready for adoption into a home that will keep him indoors so he cannot be injured again.