Cat lover Sue Masters suspects two of her pets have been targeted by cruel thugs after both sustained the same uncommon injury in the space of a week.

Both suffered what vets described as a ‘pull’ injury and Mrs Masters, 41, of Esmead, Chippenham, fears they had been grabbed and swung by their tails.

Her cat Tom had such a bad fracture to his tail that the vet at first feared it may have to be amputated, raising suspicions that the injury was not caused accidentally.

Mrs Masters’s fears were raised further when the second of her five cats, George, came back to her Monkton Park home soon after with the same injury.

She thought it too coincidental and she has referred the matter to the RSPCA, which is investigating.

It was not the first time Mrs Masters’s cats have been targeted. Last year one had its collar glued to its neck.

Mrs Masters works as a theatre nurse at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

She took home Tom, 11, as a kitten from Cat Rescue in Chippenham and also rehomed George, eight, when his owner struggled with alcoholism.

She said: “For days Tom had no feeling at all in his tail. The vet was worried about nerve damage affecting the use of his bladder and bowel. If the spinal cord had been severed rather than just badly bruised, he would have had to be put down.

“They said it looked like he trapped and yanked his tail or possibly someone had pulled it.

“It could have been an unlucky accident, but when the second one had the same injury it seemed like too much of a coincidence. There wasn’t a mark on them apart from that.

“It makes me feel sick, quite ill, that somebody could do that.

“Any kind of intentional cruelty to animals is beyond my comprehension. They’re on the mend now, just very traumatised. I can’t stop them from going out, but every time they do I worry if they’re going to come back in one piece.”

A spokesman for the RSPCA said: “Pulling a cat’s tail can cause serious injuries and even lead to paralysis and death.

“It is important that children and anyone who has care of a cat understands that they cannot grab a cat by its tail.

“It is an offence to cause an animal unnecessary suffering under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which carries a maximum sentence of £20,000 and/or a jail sentence of up to six months.”

Anyone with information about the incidents should call the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999 and ask for Inspector Ian Burns.