The Hall family, who live at Castle Hill, Todmorden, found their seven-year-old cat Beano collapsed in the street suffering a potentially fatal injury to his bladder - where the pellet had lodged - two weeks ago.

Mum Kimberley said the family was horrified by the incident, which was heartbreaking for children Jamie, six, and Toby, four, as they feared their pet would not survive. Kimberley and her husband Jon also have another child, baby Liam.

Kimberley said Beano is a fighter and after intensive and extensive treatment at the vets he is pulling through, making good progress this week after an anxious few days when his health could have gone either way.

She said she had been told there had been similar incidents in Calderdale, including some in Todmorden, and wanted people to know the heartbreak they had caused and how badly they could injure an animal using air guns.

She said they discovered Beano across the street from their home two weeks ago today.

"He was just lying there. His head was moving but just slightly and the children were crying. We took him to the vets and she knew straight away that his bladder was blocked and he was suffering bladder failure," said Kimberley.

After giving Beano painkillers and stabilising him he was transferred to the vets' - West Mount Vets - animal hospital at Halifax.

"We didn't think he'd make it through the night but he was X-rayed on the Friday morning and the vet saw the metal 1.77 mm pellet, which had pierced right through his bladder and blocked it, causing a build up of urine," she said.

At that point it looked as though Beano would have to be put to sleep but he was operated on and began fighting back. The family still feared the worst when he took a turn for the worse over that first weekend but he was again showing strong fight and the family felt they had to give him a chance - and it proved justified. "The next day he was sat up preening himself," said Kimberley.

Beano returned home a day later but he was still not out of the woods because of his damaged bladder. It is only into this week that his progress has given them renewed hope as his injury has begun to heal. "He's now doing brilliantly," said Kimberley, adding that this week Beano is back on his feet and eating well.

She said she did not know who had injured Beano but other pet owners needed to be warned and anyone with air guns needed to know that their actions could prove fatal to pets.

"I don't know whether it is kids who have done this, or if they don't know the damage they are doing. This has been gutting for us," she said.

Beano's vet at West Mount's Todmorden practice, Helen Skepper, said they had found airgun pellets in cats from time to time and there had been another example fairly recently.