A Wainuiomata moggy is "extraordinarily lucky" to be alive after a crossbow bolt went through his head.
Moomoo's owner, Donna Ferrari, says she was shocked when she saw him with the arrow lodged in his skull.
The four-year-old feline initially hid in bushes and refused to come out. So, Ms Ferrari went in search of him – eventually discovering him with a red crossbow bolt embedded in his skull above his left eye.
Staff at the Wainuiomata veterinary clinic said they'd never seen anything like it, before referring Moomoo to the Massey University Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
Vet surgeon Dr Jonathan Bray says Moomoo is "very brave".
“There was a little bit of injury to his nose and eye socket, but he’s an extraordinarily lucky cat. The velocity of the bolt hitting him would have been quite frightening, so he’s very brave. He’s very well this morning – bright and happy, the wound is doing fine and he’s got nothing that is going to cause him any long-term harm.
"The bolt went in just above the eye but was a glancing blow across the cranium so didn’t actually impact on brain tissue at all," Dr Bray says.
"It was really just a matter of opening up the track so we could clean up the contamination so it would heal up okay."
The SPCA is investigating the incident.
"I'm sick to my stomach. Hopefully the person responsible is caught or feels so much hatred from the community that they never do anything like it again," Ms Ferrari says.
Moomoo is expected to make a full recovery.
Anyone wanting to contribute to Moomoo's recovery can make a donation to:
Wainuiomata R.A.O.K.
Account number: 38-9015-0318020-00
3 News
source: newshub archive
