A horrific attack on a Gymea family cat has shocked a community with vets believing it was deliberate.
Neils Buitendijk, his wife and three children thought of five-year-old Fifa as part of the family.
Mr Buitendijk was frantic when the Devon Rex cat went missing on Wednesday, March 18.
It was only when Fifa returned home on Friday morning that Mr Buitendijk realised something terrible had happened.
Fifa was rushed to the Kirrawee Vet Hospital where vets took an X-ray and ran tests.
The results horrified the family: the vets had found an object that looked like a bullet.
‘‘We were shocked. We couldn’t work it out because he had no bullet hole or entry point that we could see,’’ Mr Buitendijk said.
‘‘They believed the bullet entered through the mouth.
‘‘The surgeon said the only way the bullet could have entered Fifa where it did was if someone literally held him down, opened his mouth, straightened his neck by lifting his head and then shooting.’’
The bullet was believed to be an air gun rifle pellet. An operation to remove the pellet cost thousands of dollars.
Kirrawee Veterinary Hospital surgeon Dr Simon Illkin said the attack left significant damage to Fifa.
‘‘I’ve never seen anything like it, it’s beyond cruel,’’ he said.
‘‘We had five vets working on him and we had nurses stay overnight to make sure he always had someone with him.
‘‘The whole team was devastated. It’s astonishing that he lasted so long.
‘‘It’s a disgusting case and a warning sign. Anyone with information should call police.’’
Despite a successful operation, Fifa didn’t wake up from surgery and died on Saturday afternoon.
‘‘We took Fifa home and wrote letters to him. I dug a grave out the front of our house by the roses where he liked to be. We read out our letters, said goodbye and I buried Fifa.
‘‘My wife has not stopped crying since.’’
The family has taken comfort in the hundreds of messages of support from the community.
‘‘We’ve just been inundated by hundreds of messages,’’ Mr Buitendijk said.
‘‘We hope this brings some awareness to our community that this is happening.’’
A fundraising page has also been set up to help with the family’s vet bills.
If you would like to donate go to www.gofundme.com/pe89lk.
Sutherland police are investigating the incident.
