This stray cat had to have one of her legs amputated after she broke it while pregnant with four kittens.

Ilford Recorder: Mona, who had her leg amputated, and her four kittens. Picture: Celia HammondMona, who had her leg amputated, and her four kittens. Picture: Celia Hammond (Image: Archant)

She was found with the fractured bone sticking out of her leg in Ilford, struggling to look after her newborns in a shed.

Rescuer Barbara Edwards said the animal’s plight was a symptom of the “crisis” with strays around Ilford.

She added: “We were called on the Satruday before Mother’s Day by a concerned member of the public who had seen a black and white pregnant cat dragging her back leg.

“When we found her, the leg was broken with the bone sticking through the flesh.”

Named Mona by charity volunteers, she had taken shelter in a garden shed near South Park and given birth to her kittens.

She was found and taken to the Celia Hammond Animal Trust shelter in Canning Town but it was too late for her leg to heal and vets had to amputate it.

Barbara said she was one of 21 cats volunteers have found around Ilford in just three weeks.

The strays, including 10 kittens and juveniles, will all be neutered and re-homed but charities and rescue shelters are struggling to cope with demand.

Barbara said: “People can’t afford to feed the animals and look after them.

“If they leave homes, nine out of 10 times the animals are left behind. It’s just a symptom of the age we are living in.”

She is urging people to get their cats neutered and report any strays as kitten season starts to stop more being born on the streets.

Volunteers are struggling to cover the £150 veterinary costs for Mona and her kittens and have launched Mona’s Mother’s Day Appeal to help support them.

Donate by calling Celia Hammond Animal Trust on 01892 783367 or visiting www.celiahammond.org.