A BELOVED family cat has been kicked within an inch of her life in Colley Gate.

Taylor the tabby was brutally attacked on Monday in the Hedgefield Grove area leaving her owner distraught and a vet shocked.

Devastated Bev Bailey is determined to catch the culprits who left her moggy with multiple broken ribs and a ruptured sternum.

She said: "How anyone can do this to a cat is beyond me, kicking a cat half to death is absolutely disgusting."

Taylor left the house as Mrs Bailey went to work on Monday morning and returned in afternoon after being attacked.

She said: "I knew something was wrong when she didn't sniff round our fish and chips as she normally does.

"But she was stone cold and in shock, when we picked her up she screamed and cried.

"We took her down the vets as quickly as we could and they are working miracles with her."

After a touch and go few hours at Vets for Pets, Stourbridge Road, Taylor is still alive but faces six weeks in a cage due to her broken bones if she survives.

Vets for Pets vet Mike Hanna said: "The ferocity of this attack on Taylor is shocking, to break her ribs and sternum she must have received a really hard kick.

"We have lots of incidents of road accidents but nothing like this, she, however, should be ok in the long run."

MrsBailey warned friends and neighbours about the cat attack on Facebook.

She said: "I want cat owners in Colley Gate please keep their cats in at night as mine was kicked within an inch of her life.

"She has never hurt anyone, has a lovely nature and though I will be left with a very expensive vet bill, which I cannot really afford, I will pay whatever I have to do to get her back to good health.

"I hope I never meet the cruel bastards who did this as I will do the same to them."

However, Taylor, who is a bit of a celebrity in the grove after leaving home for four years to live with an elderly lady who was ill, has used up some of her nine lives before.

Mrs Bailey said: "She fell out of an eighth floor flat window and survived when she was young so we are all hoping she will survive this attack."