A family left with a soaring vet’s bill after their pet cat was cruelly shot in the shoulder at point-blank range are angry they’ve been left with no redress.

The “horrific” shooting happened in the Halfway area on the Isle of Sheppey.

WARNING: There is a graphic image further below

Karen Clayton said her daughter Carris first heard their cat Silas screaming in pain outside her bedroom window at about 10pm on Thursday (January 18).

When Carris, 24, went to investigate she opened the window and the three-and-a-half year-old family pet leapt in before collapsing in a heap on the bed.

Karen, 47, told KentOnline: “My daughter heard him screaming outside her bedroom window, so she opened it and at first she thought the cats had been fighting.

“He jumped in her bedroom window, then he just flopped onto her bed and then all I heard was her just screaming ‘Mum I need you to come and help me’.

“So I've gone running in there and my cat's laying there looking at me with these big white eyes and he's got this huge huge wound.

“He was horrifically injured. We took him to the emergency vet and they told us he probably wasn’t going to survive. They said they would do everything they can but they told us to say goodbye.”

But Silas, whose shoulder blade was completely shattered and whose flesh was riddled with fragments of shot, pulled through those dangerous first few hours and was transferred to a specialist veterinary hospital in Hatfield.

Since then the moggy has had four surgeries and has racked up a bill of more than £8000 for his owners.

Silas’ family have been told to expect this number to go up, above and beyond their insurance cover of £10,000 and have set up a GoFundMet page to help cover the 18 months of care he may need. Click here to contribute.

Karen, who raised Silas from a kitten, said the most shocking part of their beloved pet's ordeal was finding out that he had been intentionally shot.

She said: “Because there was so much flesh missing it was hard to tell at first what happened but we could tell it didn’t look like an animal bite.

“His wound was a big round hole so we thought maybe he had been hit by a car but we weren’t sure.”

The worried pet owner added: “We couldn't work it out but then at about 2am the vet called with an update and she said ‘I'm not really quite sure how to tell you this but it appears your cat has been shot’.

“I literally just cried my heart out, him being shot never even crossed our minds.

“It's just not something you think will happen round here, you don’t think that on the Isle of Sheppey someone's going around shooting animals.

“It just upsets me so much I can barely even think about it. I'm assuming I'll probably feel better when he gets to come home but then I'll start to feel more angry.

We just can't understand how anyone could shoot a cat

“The vet said they had dealt with many many injuries and things like animal abuse but this wound is one of the worst they have ever seen.

“We just can't understand how anyone could shoot a cat.”

Silas suffered extensive tissue damage, a shattered shoulder and the family have been told he still faces possibly losing his front leg.

And while the immediate threat to his lift has passed vets have warned he remains vulnerable to infection. .

After getting back from the emergency vet, Karen reported the shooting to the police via their non-emergency line.

But following day she was shocked to receive an email stating that the incident would be recorded as an “act of criminal damage” to an “item” valued under £5000 and no further action would be taken.

Their letter to the pet owner read: “Having reviewed the circumstances of this crime there are no further enquiries we can make and this investigation has been closed.

“I appreciate that this is a distressing and upsetting incident but unfortunately as there are no reasonable lines of enquiry at this time we can not proceed with an investigation.

“If we are made aware of any lines of enquiry such as posts on social media or CCTV footage we can reconsider our decision and take any further necessary action.

“I hope your cat makes a full recovery and if you have any further information then please let us know.”

Cats are regarded in law as the “property” of their owner.

Because of that, an offence may be committed under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 if a person, without lawful excuse, kills or injures a cat belonging to another person.

But the classification of her pet as an “item” has further enraged Karen.

She added: “I reported this to police and got an email back saying it is classed as criminal damage to an item under the value of £5,000 so as no video or CCTV evidence they are not investigating.

“I am disgusted that the police couldn’t even give me the courtesy of a phone call, just an email saying they are not interested.

“I think people need to be made aware that this has happened. What if the next target is a person?”

A spokesperson for Kent Police said: “We received an online report at 6.16am on Friday 19 January 2024 stating that a cat had returned home to Western Avenue, Minster-on-Sea, with injuries believed to be caused by a firearm.

“The injuries happened between 4pm and 10pm on Thursday 18 January, however the location of the incident is unknown.

“Although, no suspects have yet been identified should any further information come to light then officers will investigate accordingly.”

The family has now issued their own appeal for anyone in the area to check their CCTV or doorbell footage to see if they caught anything on camera.

If anyone has any footage or information, contact Karen at k.clayt76@gmail.com.

The attack has also been reported to the RSPCA.