The stray was found in bushes with the 6in blade sticking out of his skull in the city of Sevastopol in the Crimea Peninsula, and was taken to vets who found the knife had penetrated 2in into his head.

However the blade missed his brain - and the cat, named Zelonyy (Mr Green), is now expected to make a full recovery after undergoing emergency surgery.

Lyudmila Alexeeva - who used to feed strays outside her home in the south-western Crimean Peninsula - was shocked when her favourite cat emerged with the knife sticking out of his head.

Ms Alexeeva told local television: ‘When I went to look for him I found him hiding under a bush and was shocked to see a knife sticking out of his head even though he was still alive.’

She said she took the animal to the nearest vets in the Peninsula - which is the subject of territorial dispute between Russia and Ukraine - where it had been surgically removed under an anaesthetic.

Natalia Morozova, president of a local charity for homeless animals, said: ‘We think the cat had been stabbed on Friday 13, and had therefore been injured for some time before he was found.

(dailymail.co.uk)