Sandi Thom has called in pet detectives to held find her missing cat, as fears grow that the animal may have been shot dead.

The cat, named Toots, went missing six weeks ago from the singer’s mother’s home in Edzell, Scotland.

Thom enlisted the help of Animal Search UK and put up posters in the surrounding areas in an effort to find the cat.

But the pet detective agency now fears Toots may have been shot dead and the animal’s body disposed of along the banks of a local river.

"The police have confirmed it is illegal to shoot a cat,” Thom wrote on her website.

"However, to enable them to make an arrest we have to find wee Tooty's remains, or this sickening person will get away with it.

"How would this person behave, if someone walked up to his dog and shot it dead?"

Tom Watkins, who founded Animal Search UK, told the BBC there was “pretty firm evidence that Toots has been shot”.

He added that Thom had been left “terribly upset” over the disappearance.

The cat originally lived at Thom’s London home before moving to her mother’s property in Edzell.

(by Jason Gregory)