A CAT was blasted twice with a shotgun – and survived.

Tiger managed to get home after he was shot in Clayton West, but has since had to have a leg amputated.

He is the second cat in the area to be shot since October 12.

Vets believe he was shot at twice as he tried to flee – one hitting his front leg and the second one of his back legs.

He got back to his home at The Royds where his owners discovered him badly hurt.

Tiger lives with Jonathan and Julie Sykes and their five children, David, 21, Zoe, 18, Jackie, 16, Kayla, 15 and nine-year-old Mary.

Mr Sykes, 37, said: “We can’t understand why anyone would want to shoot a cat. Tiger never wanders far. The vets told us his front leg was shattered and there was no option but to amputate it. He had also been hit in one of his back legs, breaking it.

“The vet thinks he was shot twice while running away. At first we thought he must have been hit by a car, so we were quite shocked when an X-ray showed he had been shot.’’

Vets who operated found shards of lead still embedded in him.

Tiger will now have to stay indoors for 10 days and will have to learn to get around using just three legs.

He was shot last Wednesday, a few days after another cat was shot with an airgun in the same village.

That cat, five-year-old Milly, still has a pellet lodged in her backside.

Owner Michael Poole, 38, branded the thugs who did it the “lowest of the low.’’

“I was disgusted,’’ he said. “To think there are people out there with nothing better to do than resorting to getting their kicks from shooting innocent animals is beyond belief.

“Whoever did this is the lowest of the low.”

Mr Poole and his partner, Rosie Browne, live at Scott Hill in Clayton West and have had Milly since picking her up from a rescue centre when she was a kitten.

Det Con Russ Conlon, of Kirklees CID intelligence unit, said: “It’s worrying enough that anyone would shoot a cat with an air rifle, but even more disturbing if a shotgun has been used. Has someone been bragging to friends or acquaintances about what they’ve done? If so, we’d like to hear about them.

“As far as we are aware, these are the only two incidents of this nature in the Clayton West area, but there have been six others across Kirklees since the start of the year.’’

He warned: “If people are seen carrying weapons in a public place they will be arrested.’’

Anyone with information should contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.