Paige Parker, owner of shot moggie Molly, raced her to the vet and says 'it was a miracle she survived'
Molly the cat has used up one of her nine lives after surviving being shot by a heartless thug.
The moggie is believed to have lay injured for four days before dragging herself home as she clung onto life.
Distraught owner Paige Parker raced her per to the vet who pulled out an airgun bullet from near her neck.
Now Molly might need one of her legs amputated after the shot caused severe nerve damage, while a vet bill could run into thousands of pounds.
"She could have died, it was a miracle she survived. She pulled through by the skin of her teeth," said Paige, 19, of Greenside, Gateshead.
Molly left her home on Monday May 1 and didn't return until four days later.
"We hunted everywhere and put it on our local Facebook Page. But on the Thursday Molly came back home, dragging herself to the doorstep," added Paige, a support worker, who lives with Partner Sam Atkinson, 30.
"We had to lift her into the house. Her front left paw was limp and she was in pain. We took her to the vets in Felling in Gateshead and they thought she had been hit by a car. But after we left her with them, we had a phone call within ten minutes saying the X-ray showed a pellet near her neck. She had been shot."
Molly was then referred to Mooriew Veterinary Practice in Backworth, North Tyneside, where she underwent surgery.
"Molly had been shot through her neck, it nicked the side of her heart, through her shoulder blade and a nerve to her left front leg, before clipping the edge of her lung.
"She is temporarily paralysed and if she doesn't recover after four to five weeks she may have to get her leg amputated.
"The vet thinks she has probably been shot deliberately. No one has owned up to it, I think it's just awful.
"I wasn't insured for Molly so it has already cost £1,700 and it could be two or three thousand more if she needs her leg amputated. She is only young and has her whole life ahead of her, she is part of the family."
Paige is so annoyed that she has now set up a petition calling for registration or licencing for pellet guns.
She added: "The petition has got recognition from across the world and hundreds have signed it."
Vet Jessica Bedwell said: "Molly was admitted to Moorview Hospital as an emergency transfer from another out of hours emergency provider. X-rays taken by the referring vet demonstrated an airgun pellet lodged in Molly's left armpit. Molly had gone missing four days earlier and had managed to drag herself home on the night she was brought in.
"Clinical examination suggested that Molly had been shot through her neck and into her armpit.
"The initial concern was that major organs and vessels in her thorax may have been damaged.
"She was unable to move or feel her fore limb when she came in, and I was concerned that the pellet had damaged her brachial plexus - large collection of vessels and nerves in the armpit.
"Molly was hospitalised overnight on pain relief and fluids for shock.
"A CT scan was performed the following day which thankfully showed no evidence of punctured lung, although some gas was found in the sac surrounding her heart.
"The scan confirmed the pellet had damaged her nerves in the brachial plexus and had also fractured a small portion of one of the vertebrae of her neck.
"Considering the site of the gunshot she was incredibly luck!
"It is hoped that the use of her left fore leg will return over the next few weeks, although this can not be guaranteed."
Paige reported the incident to Northumbria Police and the RSPCA.
A Northumbria Police spokesman said: "On Saturday, 6 May, at 10.52am police received a report of a cat that had been shot with an air rifle in Greenside, Gateshead. The cat received an injury to its leg."
In February Jennifer Logan, 29, also from Greenside, discovered her cat Lucy had also been shot by an airgun.
The mum-of-two said: "The bullet was stopped by a bone near Lucy's neck and I pulled it out. Now Molly has been shot but she is a lot worse. The person who is doing this must be caught."