A teenager has been left heartbroken after her cat died because someone pulled its tail.

Zoe Collings, 16, from Addington, Liskeard, is now urging people not to pull cats' tails because it can cause irreversible damage.

Her eight-year-old cat, Floyed, had his tail yanked so hard, he was paralysed and lost control of his bladder and bowel, which in turn led to him being put down .

Zoe, who wants to train to work as an RSPCA warden, said: 'The damage was too far up to have his tail amputated, so we had no choice but to put him down. It must have happened fairly near where I live as he could hardly walk after being out.

'If the person who did this to my cat is reading this article, I would like them to know that they have caused a lot of people a lot of pain – seeing my cat die in my arms is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

'I would like to know if anyone saw anything around the afternoon of Saturday, April 18, but would also like to educate people about the damage that can be caused.'