Cat OK after being shot in head with a crossbow

[October 31, 2008]  AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- A cat shot in the head with a crossbow arrow at a trailer park on Friday survived and returned home with only minor injuries. The arrow was removed from Stewie's head after the cat was brought to the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Molly Fee, an intern at the school, said the arrow narrowly missed Stewie's brain and eye. She said Stewie has a ruptured eardrum and will most likely lose some of his hearing.

Auburn police are investigating.

Stewie was shot with the arrow in Gentilly Trailer Park after his owner fed him about 10 p.m. Thursday. Three hours later, the cat's owner heard a tapping noise, which was the arrow hitting the outside of the trailer as the cat tried to get under it.

Lenore Bacek, another Auburn intern, told the Opelika-Auburn News in a story Thursday that said once the vets determined the arrow had not gone through the cat's brain, the extraction took "about two seconds."

Fee said the animal cruelty was blatant.

"I've seen shot wounds, intentional and accidental, but never intentional like a crossbow," she said.

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Information from: Opelika-Auburn News

[Associated Press]

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