Fears after cat is shot in Drummond Road, Wanstead

Two-year-old Bella Lewis nuzzled up to her injured pal Coco the cat as mum Katie, 33, and dad Adam, 34, finished packing at their home in Drummond Road, Wanstead.

Mrs Lewis said: “We were rushing around getting ready to set off for our holiday to Kos when Coco crept in from the garden.

“I could see something was wrong and she sort of dragged herself up the stairs very gingerly.”

Mrs Lewis found the wound from the airgun pellet , and asked her cat sitter to take Coco to the vets.

But the family were forced to set off without knowing if their cat would survive the wait.

Mrs Lewis said:  “I said to Bella ‘Say goodbye to Coco, darling, because you might not see her again’.

“She was so gentle with her. It was heartbreaking to watch.”

Once at the airport, the family called for an update.

Mrs Lewis said: “I was on the phone crying my eyes out. Bella just kept saying ‘mummy’s crying about Coco isn’t she?’”

But after a miserable start to the holiday, they were able to smile again as news came through that the vets at Goddard’s veterinary hospital in New Wanstead had saved the six-year-old tabby.

With Coco on the road to recovery, and the family back at home, relief is turning to anger that someone in the neighbourhood is taking pot shots with an air rifle.

A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said she had heard occasional shots for about a year, and thought that pigeons might be the target.

In neighbouring Wigram Road, Polly Ruseva, 36, said that both she and her husband had also heard shots, adding: “I have two children who play out in the garden but I’m a bit scared to let them out.

“What if this person decides to shoot at them?”

Mrs Lewis said: “It’s shocking that something like this could happen in a lovely place like Wanstead.

“I will be talking to the police.”

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