An escaped Savannah cat that was prowling Norfolk for a month before being caught was "shot with a gun" near the end of its jaunt in the country.
And its injuries were so serious that now the exotic feline, named Blaze, has had to have its paw amputated.
The animal, which has been likened to a "small leopard", was first spotted by a dogwalker in Bramerton, near Norwich, last month and quickly made national headlines due to its size.
Kevin Murphy, of the Norfolk Wildlife Rescue, said the pet escaped sometime in May, which led him to set out to find the animal and return it to its owner.
It was first seen in a field between the A146 Loddon Road and Framingham Lane on June 23.
But on Thursday (July 17), Mr Murphy tracked it down to a garden in Bramerton- about seven miles from the cat's home in the NR1 area of Norwich - where it was found sitting in a plant pot.
It was then that he realised the extent of its injuries, including a gash to its chest and a broken paw.
Mr Murphy said: "He was first spotted in the Bramerton area, and that's where it pretty much stayed.
"The daughter of an elderly couple in the village called me. I went over there and then went to see a neighbour, then a lady came down the road and said, 'Are you the cat man?'
"And then I saw that the cat was sitting in a plant pot.
"The daughter went behind the greenhouse to get its attention and started making cat sounds, and I went, ' This is going to be my only chance.'
"I netted it. Once I caught it, it went back to looking like a normal cat size. But when I got it into the net, it did look big. Then I noticed the wound of the chest. We believe it's been shot.
"His owner said that he thinks it's a gunshot because there were metal fragments in the wound.
"Was it shot with a shotgun with lead pellets, buckshot, a proper bullet, or was it an air rifle? We don't know yet.
"That whole area is farmland. I'm not saying it was a farmer; you're never going to find out who did it.
"I'm more going towards the idea of a shotgun because they spray out. But then, honestly, if it got hit by a shotgun, it wouldn't have had a paw.
"The vet thinks whatever it was shot with ricocheted and hit its chest, too.
"I've dealt with guns before, so I know the shooting patterns and how far away you have to be.
"How it survived with a broken paw, I don't know, because it needs five meals a day."
Mr Murphy said that the animal, which is native to sub-Saharan Africa, is not aggressive and "just like any other cat", raising questions as to why it may have been shot at.
"They're not going to go for you if you go up to it like any cat. If it's in the mood to be friendly, it will be.
"You'd approach it like you would a dog; you'd check with the owner about their temperament. They don't attack you."
The feline was then taken to a vet who decided its paw should be amputated due to the extent of its injuries.
According to a recent freedom of information request by Born Free, there are two Savannah cats and three servals registered as being kept at private addresses in South Norfolk.
The animal is a hybrid breed between a serval, a wild African cat, and a domestic cat.
Norfolk Constabulary have been asked whether or not they are investigating the incident.
Share