A cat from Newport was left in a ‘pool of blood’ after it was shot twice with an air rifle.

Fourteen-month-old Dorothy is running out of lives after she was shot twice by a stranger near her Rogerstone home.

Owner Georgia Hayes, 22, of Myrtle Close Rogerstone, said on March 4 she came home to find that her cat- a domestic longhair- had a lump on her head and on taking her to the vet discovered there was an airgun pellet embedded in her skull.

“Mum mum came home from work around 12 o’clock and saw she had a lump on her head and thought she had just been in a fight,” she said.

“But it had left a red mark and she was shaking and running away because she was scared of us.

“We thought someone had kicked her in the head so we took her to the vets and they thought it was an abscess but then said they could see something.

“When they operated on her they said it was an air gun pellet.”

Dorothy was in recovery, but around 4pm on Sunday (March 15) she was shot again and received wounds to her left back leg.

She was taken to the vets a second time where she received stitches to her head, and leg as a result of the two pellet wounds.

“She is really distressed and quite agitated,” Miss Hayes said.

“She was found in a pool of blood in the bed on Sunday.

“She is limping and looks a state.

“The vet said she is very lucky but is running out of lives.”

The cat who once loved going outside risks losing that freedom as owners Miss Hayes and her mum Emma Hayes want to keep her inside for her own safety.

They want other residents to be aware of an individual targeting cats in the area.

“We have around 15 cats in the area as this has never happened before,” Miss Hayes said.

“We can only think she went to the toilet in their garden and they didn’t like it.”

Mum Emma Hayes said she understands that members of the public can use a water pistol to frighten a cat from their property but said the airgun was “an attempt to kill.”

A Gwent Police spokeswoman said: “The owner from Myrtle Drive, Rogerstone discovered the injury (on Saturday March 7th) after taking the cat to the vets. It is thought the cat had been injured with a pellet gun.

“Enquiries are ongoing.

“If anyone has any information they should call 101 quoting log 390 15/3/15”