A vet in Leatherhead has urged pet owners in the area to be vigilant after a cat was shot in its side and leg with an “air rifle”.

In a Facebook post, Winton Lodge Vets wrote: “Urgent warning to our Leatherhead cat owners. Someone near Copthorne road is shooting cats with an air rifle.

“Poor Frankie has been shot twice. The police have been informed. Please share this widely so we can stop this happening to any more cats.”

The pet owner, who would only give her name as Ellie, who lives in Challenge Court, said she became worried when she felt a lump on Frankie’s side.

She said: “I was stroking there and realised she had a lump. I was a bit worried about it because I did not see what it was because I could not see any kind of wound.”

When she took Frankie to the vet on August 30, Ellie was told her pet had a pellet in her side which needed to be surgically removed.

During Frankie’s operation on September 19, the vet found a second pellet, which hadn’t been there during the first consultation.

Ellie said: “I was pretty horrified. I was kind of surprised that I hadn’t noticed that there had not been more of a visible wound.

“It may have been that she was shot from a distance away and she obviously curled up and went to sleep.”

Simon Neuhoff, the owner of Winton Lodge Vets, said: “Frankie should make a full recovery. Luckily these pellets did not penetrate deeply.”

Ellie said: “She’s not lost her love of people which is great. She’s just been feeling a little sorry for herself.

“She’s hurt that she can’t go back out. She sits in front of the window looking out.

“It’s horrible that there’s all these attacks on pets, when you think it can’t as a really quiet and family friendly area.”

She added: “I would like to think that she would not go back to the place where she was attacked the first time but obviously she’s been shot twice and she’s not got the hint.”