Cat shot through with arrow receives emergency surgery

A cat shot through a large part of his body is recovering at a California animal shelter after emergency surgery to remove the arrow that pierced him.

Doctors at the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus removed the arrow from a 2-year-old male cat, which went in the left shoulder and exited from its the lower chest.

"The cat is lucky that the arrow didn’t cause more damage," Dr. Sara Strongin, who performed the surgery, told ABC News. "We just don’t know if there is any internal damage that we can’t see."

An animal control officer found the cat and brought it to the shelter on Saturday. The cat was alert and moving when he was brought in, according to Strongin, but also in a lot of pain.

Because of the extent of the damage, the cat's leg may have to be amputated, Strongin said.

Right now, the cat is on medication, antibiotics and IV fluids in the shelter.

The shelter does not know who shot the cat, but said it will assist Perris Animal Control officers in finding the culprit.

In California, the penalty for animal cruelty is up to a year in prison and a fine of $20,000.