A Whanganui family's cat Jinx is recovering from a broken femur after being shot.
A Whanganui family's cat Jinx is recovering from a broken femur after being shot.
When family cat Jinx came home one day, his Whanganui owner noticed he was limping. A few days later, a bullet wound was found in his leg.
After discovering what seemed to be a fracture, owner Craig Vartha, who lives at Okoia, took him to the vet.
“We thought maybe he’d got kicked by a cow or something,” he said.
The vet confirmed the cat’s left femur was broken but the focus turned to ensuring Jinx made it through the night as his health started to deteriorate.
“There was a point that night that we didn’t even know if he’d be around or not,” Vartha said.
“It was a no-brainer to have him come home intact,” Vartha said.
The vet determined the injury was caused by a bullet after wounds and small metal fragments were found.
“They confirmed that it was caused by a high-velocity impact, definitely from a bullet because there was an entry and exit wound and it had taken about 10mm of his bone, which was basically just turned to dust,” Vartha said.
Jinx’s surgery has left him with an internal and external rod, and eight weeks’ recovery time.
There is still a chance the bone will not grow and the leg will need to be amputated but things are looking up for Jinx.
Vartha said one of their cats, Minni, was missing cuddling up with her brother who needed to be kept in a crate while he healed. She was sleeping next to the crate to be close to him.
Jinx's sister Minni sleeps outside his crate to be close to him.
The Vartha family has seven cats that have come to them over the years.
“None of them we adopted, they adopted us,” Vartha said.
After discovering what caused the injury, Vartha posted on social media to warn residents in the Okoia area and ask people to look out for another of their cats, Comet, who had gone missing around the same time.
Comet came home four days after the incident, scratched but relatively unharmed.
The SPCA recommends keeping cats inside to protect them from these types of incidents.
“This is why SPCA supports keeping cats safe and happy at home through use of cat-proof fencing, catios or enriched indoor living,” SPCA scientific officer Dr Alison Vaughan said.
There is a guide on the SPCA’s website to help cat owners “keep their cats safe while also meeting their physical, health and behavioural needs”.
According to section 28A of the 1999 Animal Welfare Act, the “reckless mistreatment of animals”, including actions that result in pain, distress or injury, is punishable by up to three years in prison or a $75,000 fine.
“We encourage anyone who witnesses something that potentially is a breach of the act to report this to SPCA,” Vaughan said.
The family, especially Vartha’s 8-year-old daughter, was upset about the incident and knew it was unlikely they would find out who shot Jinx.
