A pet owner was left "horrified" after her blood-soaked cat returned home having had its eye shot out by a thug.

Black and white cat Poppy was so badly injured in the attack that vets advised her owners to have her put to sleep after her eye was left hanging out and her jaw had been factured.

She was not eating and vets said the the most humane thing to do would be to put her to sleep, but to their amazement 30 minutes before she was due to be put down she started eating - and was saved.

Owner Jackie Towne had let seven-year-old Poppy out at 10pm as usual but became concerned when she failed to return home after half an hour.

Mrs Towne raised the alarm with her husband Jim on Tuesday, March 6, but shortly afterwards Poppy turned up at the door with blood streaming down her face.

Poppy after the incident
Poppy after the incident

The mother-of-two, of Midway, said: "I went to open the door and there was blood all down her face. I started panicking. It was mayhem.

"Her eye was hanging on her cheek. I couldn't look. Her eye was out and I knew we had to get her to a vets."

Originally thinking Poppy had been hit by a car, Jackie and her husband Jim rushed the critically ill cat from their home in Winchester Drive to Pride Vets in Derby where she was left to undergo treatment including X-rays and tests.

Poppy before her eye was injured
Poppy before her eye was injured

Mrs Towne, who is a technical records administrator, said: "At 2.30am the vets rang me and told me they had X-rayed her and found a really large pellet right behind her eye.

"I would rather someone would have knocked her over. I was more horrified when the vet told me someone had shot her.

"I couldn't believe someone could do that to a defenceless animal."

The vet told the devastated pet owners that Poppy's jaw had also been fractured and she would be unable to eat – meaning the most humane thing would be to put her to sleep the following day.

Jackie, 60, said: "She was going to be put to sleep at 3pm the next day.

Poppy the seven-year-old cat
Poppy the seven-year-old cat

"But at at 2.30pm we had a call saying she had woofed down a bowl of tuna – it literally saved her life.

"We took her home at 3pm on Wednesday. She has been very sad since, bowing her head a lot.

"She is usually a moany cat and doesn't like to be touched but she's purring every time we touch her. The incident seems to have changed her personality.

The vet told Jackie that Poppy was lucky to be alive after being hit with a hard leaded pellet.

Derbyshire Police have been informed and an investigation is under way.