NYC family forced to put down beloved cat ‘Cheese’ after he was shot with crossbow

A Queens family was left devastated after having to put down their beloved 9-year-old cat “Cheese” when he returned home Monday with a crossbow arrow in his chest.

The family heard the orange tabby meowing to come inside their Little Neck home around 3 p.m. after he took a stroll around the neighborhood — something he often did — and immediately could tell something was wrong.

“He’s a pretty vocal cat… but he was just meowing like something was off,” Michael Del Giudice, 27, told The Post. “My younger brother found him with the bolt in him — someone shot him with a mini crossbow.”

Cheese, whose full name was “Cheese balls,” was shot with the bolt square in the chest, between his front legs, Del Giudice said.

“We took him to the vet and he was too far gone,” he added. “There was nothing we could do so he had to be put down.”

He said the vet believed the bow had clipped an artery and that the indoor-outdoor cat was bleeding out internally.

Del Giudice said he and his family were shattered by the attack against poor Cheese — and also angered.

“He was a great cat, you could do whatever you wanted [without him minding],” he said. “You could wear him like a scarf. He was really cool with being picked up for a cat.”

Del Giudice believes whoever shot his cat did so intentionally and that it may not be the animal abuser’s first time using the feline for target practice.

About six months ago, he found what he believes to have been the plastic tail-end of a bolt or dart stuck to Cheese’s fur, he said.

“It’s not a kid that got a crossbow for Christmas. At least in the last six months, someone’s been hunting cats — racoons even maybe,” Del Giudice alleged.

The neighborhood, which Del Giudice said was full of animal lovers and pet owners, has been on high alert since Monday’s attack.

“The people who take care of the cats on the other block, they’ve been noticing that a couple of cats they usually take care of on the regular have gone missing,” he added.

The Little Neck resident said he has his own stray, a black cat he named Pepper, who he often takes care of.

“But I haven’t seen him in a couple days now, so it’s kind of worrisome,” Del Giudice said.

The tight-knit community has come together to spread the word of a possible serial animal abuser which Del Giudice said has been “reassuring” after the loss of his furry family member.

A NYPD spokesperson confirmed the report and said detectives are investigating.

Del Giudice said he hopes police catch the animal abuser.

While the sicko remains free, Del Giudice said he hopes other pet owners in the neighborhood are on the lookout.

“Everybody in this neighborhood has got pets,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to see it happen to anybody else.”