Story By: Michael Leidig,Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

This is the lucky cat who survived being shot with an air gun through the mouth – and owners only found out about the shooting after they took it to the vet thinking it had been hit by a car.

The bullet went through its tongue and passed into its body through its shoulder, leaving it critically injured.

Its owners, who live with their pet cats in the town of Ibbenbueren in the German province of North Rhine-Westphalia, said they knew something was wrong when Max went missing for three days.

Pictures Credit: CEN/ Tierschutzverein Ibbenbüren und Umgebung e.V.

When he finally turned up after three days covered in blood, they rushed him to the vets.

He had a bullet wound that had passed through his tongue and through the bottom of his mouth into his body.

The injury was so severe that the cat can now only be fed either with a drip or a tube, and he still has a hole in his tongue even after surgery which means that we need to continue for some time yet until they can operate to close up the wound.

Gudrun Breuer, 57, from the Ibbenbueren Animal Welfare Association: said “It is possible to see the entry route from the tongue and follow it through to where it disappears into the shoulder.” 

She said it already had several operations to close the hole in its mouth but confirmed it will still not be allowed to eat solids until all the wounds in his mouth have healed. More than 1,000 EUR have been donated to help treat the cat by well-wishers, which has more than covered all the operation costs. 

Gudrun Breuer added that Max’s owners had reported the matter to police, and added: “We hope that the person responsible will be identified and held accountable.”

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