A 19-YEAR-OLD cat is lucky to be alive after being shot with an air rifle. Winston was rushed to Green Pastures Veterinary Centre in Moor Lane, Weston, when owner Tracy Beaver came home to find him and the kitchen floor covered in blood. The vets found a

A 19-YEAR-OLD cat is lucky to be alive after being shot with an air rifle.Winston was rushed to Green Pastures Veterinary Centre in Moor Lane, Weston, when owner Tracy Beaver came home to find him and the kitchen floor covered in blood.The vets found a small wound on his left side and after several x-rays discovered he had been shot and the bullet had gone through his side and was lodged next to his spine.During surgery the vet found that the bullet had badly damaged Winston's intestine and kidney and stopped the operation to tell his owners she did not think he would make it.Tracy Beaver, of Shrubbery Avenue, said: "Surgery was risky because of Winston's age, but we asked the vet to carry on and see what happened. We are amazed he is still alive."The vet kept ringing us up asking if they should carry on treating him but he is one of the family and we had to try to save him. "Nobody thought he would pull through and we all said goodbye to him never expecting to see him again."But now he is jumping around and right as rain. We just wish people would learn not to use such barbaric weapons around animals."The vets were so amazed that Winston had made it against all the odds they named him pet of the month.