Cat in the US takes bullet to the head, saves toddler
A brave cat in the US has used up one of his nine lives after taking a bullet to the head near where a toddler was sleeping.
Pennsylvania woman Angelica Sipe believes her three-year-old son, Daemire, would have lost his life if their cat named Opie had not been there to save the day.
The ginger cat was resting near the toddler at his York home, when a stray bullet came crashing in through the window early on Thursday morning.
The bullet hit the couch where Opie was relaxing, passed through the animal's head and exited via his torso, before ricocheting across the room.
“It came in the top of his head, out the bottom of his neck, and back into his shoulder and out his armpit rib area," Ms Sipe told Fox 43.
It then lodged itself in the pillow of a love seat, just centimeters away from where the three-year-old was sleeping.
"It took me a second to realise what just happened. The first thing I did was check on my son and he was sound asleep. Then I saw my cat on the floor and that's when I realised my cat was shot," Sipe.
“It could have been my son," said Ms Sipe, who is thrilled that the cat, which she believes saved her son’s life, is expected to make a full recovery.
Ms Sipe said she did not think twice about forking out more than $1300 on vet bills to help Opie, who only suffered muscle damage in the traumatic incident.
"I wanted to keep him. He was my son's little hero, so I need to keep him around," she said.
Ms Sipe said while she is used to hearing gunshots on nearby streets, the violence had never entered her own neighbourhood.
"I want out," she told Fox43."I don't want to stay here."
Police say they have no leads as to where the bullet came from and noted that no other injuries have been reported.
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