A cat believed to have been dumped from a car in a country lane and found with metal poking out of its chin has been saved.

Last month, a witness saw a car stop in Pinden, Dartford, before the door was opened, a cat was “pushed out” and the vehicle drove off.

The incident was reported to the Bexley and District branch of Cats Protection which put out an appeal in an attempt to find the owner.

The same cat was then spotted living as a stray in a skipyard in Pinden, where the workers gave him the name Grady.

Michelle Ellis, who helps with cat rescues, tried to catch Grady but he disappeared.

The elusive moggy was next found to be straying in Longfield.

Michelle and residents started to feed him regularly and finally managed to catch him on Saturday.

Grady was taken to Tracy Roberton, of Shekinah Cat Rescue, a small centre in Gravesend, where he was examined and found to have a large black scab under his chin.

She said: “I booked him to see my vet. We thought he was injured.

“The vet examined him and under the scab was a protruding piece of metal.

“The vet realised this was from a previous surgery to repair a broken jaw and the wire had not been removed and was now badly infected.”

Grady was given an antibiotic injection and had a successful surgery today to remove the wire, and was neutered and chipped.

Tracy added: “It is all a mystery. Why would a cat have costly surgery to repair a broken jaw, but then be dumped?

“Did he escape accidentally? We are trying to find out if he has an owner out there who is looking for him.”

A JustGiving page Tracy set up to cover Grady’s vet costs had its £600 target reached in just one day.

Tracy said: “Unfortunately there has been more cats abandoned and surrendered to rescue, and dogs too, since the cost of living crisis.

“Rescues are under much pressure and are often full. This is why Grady came to me.

“The large rescues did not have space available, due to the amount of cats being abandoned at this time.

“He will stay with us for a while to recover from his ordeal and once he is fully recovered, we will look for a suitable adopter, who will be carefully chosen, once his true personality shows and we get an idea of which type of home is best for him.

“As a rescue we will offer full rescue back up, for Grady’s lifetime.”

Tracy also urged anyone looking to adopt a rescue cat, rather than buy one, to visit the resource website Cat Chat, which can be found by clicking here.

Lesley Baker, coordinator for Cats Protection’s Bexley and District Branch, said: “We were contacted at the end of April about a tabby and white cat who had been dumped from a car in the Pinden area.

“The cat was reported to be unharmed and as there was no evidence of an owner or who had left him, we advised how best to look after him and offered to take him into our care as soon as space was available.

“Luckily a fellow local charity was able to offer him immediate space.

“We are aware it is an extremely difficult time for many at present and across Cats Protection’s network we have seen financial reasons account for 9% of all cats relinquished into charity care compared with 5% last year and 3% the year before.

“Nonetheless, it is never acceptable to abandon a pet and we would urge anybody who is struggling to care for their cat for any reason to get in touch.

“We never judge and if we are given a little warning that a cat may need to come into care will work with the owner to find the best option for the cat.”