A woman was left heartbroken after her cat returned home with its whiskers chopped off.

Sadie Murphy, of Martin's Score, Lowestoft, made the discovery when she called one-year-old Misty into the house this morning.

The 28-year-old, who has lived in the town all her life, said: 'This morning I let my dogs outside and called Misty in as she goes out at night.

'She jumped over the fence and I could see straight away her whiskers had been cut.'

Misty's whiskers had been sliced off on both sides, as had one side of her eyebrow whiskers.

Miss Murphy said: 'I was so shocked and felt so sad for her. Cats have nerves in their whisker so she would have been in pain when they were cut off.

'Everyone knows whiskers are really important for cats – they are as wide as their body and help them judge spaces and gaps.'

The horrified owner said she is now fearful of letting Misty out of the house again.

She said: 'It's heartbreaking, I won't be letting her out for a while; I don't want anyone hurting her again.

'If her whiskers are short she's going to think her body is smaller than it is and she might get stuck.

'People need to know what sort of people are out there and need to be careful when letting their animals out.'

Miss Murphy added: 'I just don't know why someone would do it.'