‘It’s so scary’: Cat shot with crossbow in Hamilton’s North End

But, after the veterinarian confirmed Monday the young tabby cat was shot with a crossbow, Amanda McDonald is left wondering whether Fern has made an enemy.

“It’s so scary,” she said.

Fern “comes and goes on her own,” McDonald said, leaving their home near Simcoe Street East and Mary Street through a pet door installed for her sister, Izzy, a senior yellow lab with a weak bladder. She leaves the house early in the morning, typically returning throughout the day to eat and nap.

“Every time I walk down the street with her people love to tell me stories,” she said.

Fern usually comes home at night, so when McDonald hadn’t seen her in two days, she began to worry. She scoured the area, calling the cat and speaking with neighbours. Fern, who typically comes running when she’s called, didn’t appear.

On Monday, days after Fern went missing, a soft mew drew McDonald to a backyard a few doors down, where she found Fern not moving. She had a wound and something hard in her left back leg that McDonald assumed was a broken bone — not a foreign object.

“I thought that she got attacked by a coyote or raccoon or stray cat,” she said.

She took her to the vet immediately.

“When they came to see me after they’d done her blood work and her X-ray, they said she’d been shot by crossbow,” McDonald said. “They were pretty shocked.”

X-rays show a metal bolt, which McDonald says is about six inches long and the diameter of a pen, lodged in the cat’s hind end.

McDonald has launched a GoFundMe to help cover costs, which could amount to about $7,000 if the bolt has damaged organs and surgery is required.

For now, the bolt has been removed and Fern is home, lethargic and feverish, “but still alive,” McDonald said.

“She’s doing better. But we’re still not out of the woods,” she said on Wednesday.

Hamilton police say they’ve received a report of an arrow “in relation to one animal.”

“The investigation as to who is responsible and what the circumstances are surrounding this incident remain under investigation,” police said in an email.

According to McDonald, Fern wasn’t the only victim.

A squirrel with a similar dartlike projectile lodged in its body was found in McDonald’s yard a few days earlier, leading her to believe the shooter is nearby.

She’s warning pet owners, especially those with outdoor cats — who some feel are a nuisance — to be cautious.

“I definitely won’t be allowing her outside until we found out who is doing this,” she said. “I don’t feel like it’s safe for any animals.”