Hucknall cat on the mend after being shot by thug

A black and white cat belonging to a Hucknall couple could be called a miracle moggy after his life was saved by a local vet.

Ollie, short for Orlando, looked as if he had spent all his nine lives at once when he was shot in the throat on Good Friday.

The injury was so severe that it looked as if Ollie was beyond help but he is now well on the way to recovery.

This is thanks to the skill of Miriam Lynch, a vet at the Buckley House surgery on West Street, Hucknall.

Miriam said: “I more or less had to rebuild Ollie’s windpipe. It was a very difficult operation which took about two hours. Up to then, Ollie could not even walk without collapsing.”

Ollie is owned by Mark and Lisa Burbanks, who live on The Brickyard. Mark is a local builder and Lisa is a swimming instuctor at Hucknall Leisure Centre.

They adopted Ollie as a 10-week-old rescue kitten and he is now nearly two.

The couple have two sons, Brenn (20) and 14-year-old Jack. It was Jack who found Ollie in a neighbour’s hedge after following a trail of blood which the cat had left.

It is not known what sort of weapon was used to shoot Ollie because the missile ricocheted out of his shoulder and has not been found.

The callous attack has been reported to police and the RSPCA and CCTV footage provided to help track down the culprit.