Pet owners ‘baffled’ over cats being shaved

Multiple cat owners in Westbury have shared concerns over their cats returning home with sections of their fur shaved off.

Rebecca Linton, who lives in the north of Westbury, noticed her cat Keith was coming home missing patches of fur around a month ago.

After later seeing social media posts from other pet owners reporting similar incidents, Rebecca said she realised her cat was not the only one affected and described the situation as ‘baffling’.

“I kind of chalked it up to scrapping with a cat or fox or something, but when we looked closer you could tell it wasn’t fur pulled out, it was stubbly, like a grade one or two with clippers,” said Rebecca. “It baffled me as I couldn’t think why anyone would shave a cat.

“He came back a few days later with more which then made me believe it was someone actually shaving him, almost as if he was running away and was caught.

“Keith is extremely friendly and is known in the street for coming and saying hello to people, but we all know there’s some people who dislike cats or have a problem with a cat for reasons like going into their garden etc. Again, I just assumed it was one of the neighbours trying to keep him away or something, I don’t even know.

“But when I saw the post on Facebook, I saw it wasn’t just us being targeted and it baffled me. I don’t know why anyone would do this it’s so weird. There’s a patch on his bum and his side. There is no rash, no cuts, it’s just short fur in patches.”

Similar reports of cats being shaved have been shared from surrounding towns, including Trowbridge, Warminster and Melksham, with incidents in Melksham reported over several years.

Pictured: Keith with patches of fur missing