St Helens cat dies after alleged Bonfire Night attack

Lynn Doyle, from Thatto Heath, believes six-year-old Vader was kicked during the night of November 5, leaving him with injuries so severe that she was advised to have him put to sleep.

Lynn had kept all five of her cats indoors because of the fireworks before allowing them outside again in the early hours.

She said: "It was Bonfire Night. I kept all the cats in because I had five, and obviously there are fireworks and people can get stupid.

"At 3am, I got up and took the frame off the cat flap so the cats could start going in and out again, because the fireworks had stopped at about midnight."

But the following morning, Vader failed to turn up for his usual breakfast.

"He was so food-orientated that he was always the first cat in for breakfast every morning at 7.30am," Lynn said.

"He would sit on the side waiting, but he didn't come.

"I thought it was strange, so I stood on the back doorstep and called him. He always came when I called his name because we had a certain sing-song tone that he recognised. But he didn't come."

At around 6pm, Lynn's partner returned home from work and found Vader lying on a desk chair.

She said: "He must have been there since it happened, but he was immobile and couldn't move.

"His chest was unbelievable. He was panting, and you could see all his insides moving."

Lynnette immediately took him to the vets, where he underwent an examination and scans.

She said the vet called her around an hour later and told her: "I'm really, really sorry. Something very severe has happened to this cat."

According to Lynn, the vet ruled out Vader having been hit by a car, fallen or been attacked by another animal, telling her somebody had kicked him.

She said: "The internal injuries were horrific. He was black and blue, his intestines had moved up into his chest and his bladder was perforated beyond repair."

The vet discussed surgery, but Vader would first have to be transferred to an emergency veterinary hospital.

Lynn said she was told emergency care could cost £1,000 a night, followed by another £1,200 to £1,500 for surgery.

She was also warned there was only around a 30 per cent chance the operation would be successful.

"I was distraught," she said.

"The other option was to have him put to sleep, which the vet said was in his best interests.

"I went straight back, held him in my arms and they put him to sleep.

"He died in my arms."

Vader had been part of Lynn's family for six years after she took him in as a kitten alongside his brother, Darth.

She described him as her "first fur baby" and said he was an exceptionally friendly cat.

Vader was described as an exceptionally friendly cat (Image: Lynn Doyle)

"If he saw a car door or front door open, he would go in. He would just find somewhere to sleep," she said.

"One of my neighbours said that a few times she'd come out to go to the toilet in the middle of the night and the cat would be on the landing, asleep.

"I apologised, but she said it was absolutely fine.

"He was super-friendly and just a really good companion cat."

Lynn said Vader's death was particularly upsetting because it was not the first time one of her cats had been attacked.

Her other cat, Darth, had previously been kicked in the back but survived and made a recovery.

She said: "Luckily, he made quite a good recovery. He does have other issues from time to time, but his recovery from those injuries was good. They weren't as severe as Vader's."

Lynn said she wanted whoever was responsible to understand the impact of what had happened.

She said: "I would love to find out who this is. I'd like to just look them in the eye and ask: why? Why did you do this to this defenceless creature who couldn't fight back?

"If you had a problem, you should have come to me. You could have followed the cat home and spoken to me. We could have had a conversation about it if the cat was being an issue.

"If you just kicked him because you saw him in the street and killed him because he was there, where's your humanity? What is this world coming to? Where is your humanity?"

Following Vader's death, Lynn has started a fundraiser for local charity Kitten Karers, which has previously helped her with having her cats neutered.

She said she wanted to turn something terrible into an opportunity to help other cats.

"If I can get something good to come from something bad, I'm going to start a GoFundMe for Kitten Karers," she said.