It is thought Gioia Minghella's six-month-old Bengal kitten, Cesare, was shot with an airgun.

Ms Minghella, of Havenstreet, on the Isle of Wight, said: "I cannot begin to imagine what was going through the head of the person who did this.

"That someone, a person, could do such a thing to an innocent creature just shocks me to the core."

I'm so proud of the Isle of Wight. We live in a very privileged, close-knit community, but this has shaken my belief in the place where we live Gioia Minghella

Inquiries into the incident are still ongoing and Chief Inspector Paul Clark said that police on the island were prepared to use new powers to arrest anyone carrying even an unloaded air weapon in public without permission.

He said: "People carrying imitation firearms or air weapons in public have become a real problem to the police."

Cesare was shot some time on Sunday morning, 7 March, after wandering out of the home of Ms Minghella, sister of award-winning film director Anthony Minghella.

The animal has since undergone an operation to remove a pellet and to reset the bone.

Body 'caved in'

Ms Minghella said: "We were playing with him before he went out. He was so full of life and vitality.

"But the next time we saw him, he literally looked crushed. He looked as though his body had caved in on itself.

"At first we weren't sure what was wrong, but during the day I realised that something really serious had happened to him.

"He just got sicker and sicker and looked as if he was withering in front of me."

Bengal cats were originally bred in the US from Asian leopard cats and a domestic breed. Kittens can cost from a few hundred pounds to thousands for a top show cat.