THE hunt is on to find the sick person who blasted a cat with a pellet gun.

Pet owners are being warned to be on alert after the cruel shooting.

When Theo the cat limped home his owner, veterinary nurse Emily Barrow, assumed he had been in a fight and cut his paw. But she was shocked when an X-ray revealed that the three-year-old had in fact been shot and the pellet was lodged in his front paw, breaking his toe.

Theo, named after former Saints and current England star Theo Walcott, was targeted while outside his family home in Woodland Close in Thornhill Park, Southampton. When he limped home Emily could see he was in pain and took him into work with her at the Riverside Veterinary Surgery in Bishopstoke. It was only when the X-ray showed a pellet had shot through his front paw and into his toe that Emily realised how lucky Theo had been. If he had been shot in the belly or chest, it could have been fatal.

Now the outdoor loving cat will be forced to spend the summer inside, waiting six weeks for the break to heal. Emily, 24, said: “It’s just horrible to think that someone out there could do this to a poor little cat. We were all just so shocked because this was the last thing we expected to find.

“I dread to think what could have happened if he had been hit in the belly or chest, or if he had been so badly injured that he wasn’t able to limp home.

“The worst thing will be having to keep him inside for six weeks over the summer because he will hate it. He loves nothing more than to go out and play so it is going to be very tough to keep him occupied.

“I just hope that other cat owners keep their eyes peeled and that the people who have done this sees what damage they have done and stops.”

Police are now investigating.