The "most horrific" case a Welling vet has witnessed in her 30-year career has a happy ending after a lucky moggy got to keep her leg.

Five-year-old tabby Missy suffered terrible wounds after being shot earlier this year and almost lost the limb.

Owner Terri Brooke, of Penn Lane, Bexley, is now delighted Missy has recovered following a four-hour operation at Park View Veterinary Group in Park View Road, Welling.

The vets were forced to piece her bones back together with pins because the leg had been so destroyed.

News Shopper reported on the horrifying incident last February when Missy was the third of Ms Brooke’s cats to be shot at.

The bullet, which was not an ordinary pellet, exploded on impact when it hit Missy’s chest and travelled through her muscles shattering her leg bone.

News Shopper: Bullet-ridden moggy keeps leg following the "most horrific" case Welling vet has seen

Fragments of metal were clearly visible in the X-ray but following the complex operation and months of recovery, the cat has been given the all-clear.

Ms Brooke, 54, who runs her own beauty college in Eltham, said: "She had to have pins inserted in her legs and spend three weeks in a cage for them to settle.

"The vet said, ‘I can’t believe how well she’s doing.’

"First of all they thought she’d definitely have to have her leg off but I wanted them to try the pins in case.

"The support we’ve had since News Shopper wrote about it in February has been amazing.

"I’ve had texts from people I’d not heard from in years asking about Missy and people always stop and ask me about her when I'm out and about."

News Shopper: Cat shooting most 'horrific' case Welling vet has seen in 30-year career

Veterinary partner Mary Cox, who treated Missy, told News Shopper:  "This is the most horrific case I’ve come across in the 30 years I’ve been qualified.

"The bullet entered her chest cavity and travelled through muscle into the leg and the force of the impact caused the metal to explode.

"We are getting more and more cases like these."

Over the last two years Ms Brooke’s other two cats have also been shot at which resulted in one of them, Dickie, lost a leg two years ago.  

Despite leafleting hundreds of homes in the area, Ms Brooke still does not know who is responsible for the heartless attacks.