A serial sniper may be on the prowl and targeting defenceless cats.

The warning comes after yet another cat was shot with an air rifle.

Meg, a four-year-old Burmese, had to have 10 stitches after being shot in the stomach. Her devastated owner, Ellan Iaquaniello returned to her Aylesford home on Friday of last week to discover her injured pet,

Miss Iaquaniello, 36, rushed Meg to her veterinary surgery where she was told the pellet had narrowly missed Meg’s heart. The pellet had rebounded off the animal’s chest bone.

She said: “The vet said Meg had been shot at close range and that he had treated three other cats which had been shot.

“She is such a friendly cat and I have this horrible image of someone turning her over onto her back, then shooting her.

“It is bad enough if your cat gets shot though some kind of accident, but to think of someone doing it at point blank range is just blind cruelty.

“I would just like to re-iterate the warning that there is someone or a group going round and shooting at animals.”

In June, Thomas, a tabby belonging to David Day, from West Malling, was also shot at close range, prompting a similar warning.

Senior veterinary surgeon, Raj Brahman, from Companion Care Vets, Quarry Wood Estate, Aylesford, said Meg was the fourth cat with gunshot wounds he had treated in the last three months. The other cats were shot in Aylesford, Ditton and Maidstone.

He added: “Last year I only treated two cats who had been shot.

“It is very distressing to everyone. I would rather be treating sick animals, not ones who have been shot.”

Miss Iaquaniello has reported the shooting to West Kent police.