Cat shot in the head with an arrow, survives

A pet cat shot through the neck with a hunting arrow is making a miraculous recovery.

Chopper’s owner, Cathy Zachees Evans, says her cat limped home  early Thursday with the arrow lodged in his neck.

"I was screaming, and crying and trying not to throw up at the same time, just to be truthful," she said.

Evans described how the razor-sharp area of the 20-inch hunting arrow penetrated her beloved cat.

“That’s where the arrow went into, and came across his spine and out the right shoulder area,” she said.

Evans says she knew she had to get to the vet fast, but with great care.

“I put him in the car, braced his chin up with my coupon bag,” she said.

The sight of the impaled arrow stunned the pet clinic staff.

“We were surprised he was even conscious,” vet tech Brooke Stinehart said.

They quickly decided that the only option was to remove the arrow carefully and hope for the best.

“We did not know if it hit any major vessels in his neck, like the jugular, any arteries, nerves right next to his spine. It missed all of them,” Stinehart said.

Evans say she was told a neighbor shot her cat, by accident, thinking it was a possum near the garbage. Her message to that neighbor?

“Please be aware of what you're shooting and where you’re shooting,” Evans said.

Both she and the pet clinic are happy Chopper is on the rebound and a pretty lucky cat.

“It's a miracle. (He’s) got eight more lives to go,” Evans said.

Vets say they expect Chopper to make a full recovery. Animal Control is still investigating the incident.