Mack the cat can't count, but if he could he'd probably be calculating how many lives he has left.

The steel-gray feline survived being shot in the head with an arrow last month outside his Bainbridge home.

But he doesn't want to make a big deal out of it.

Frightened by his newfound fame, Mack hid from the cameras Wednesday morning after a local news crew was finishing up its interview.

By Wednesday afternoon, he was home snoozing on the lap of his owner, Jean Kissinger.

"This was really unusual for him, but I guess all the attention was too much for him," Kissinger said.

At one point Wednesday, six members of the media were canvassing Kissinger's neighborhood searching for the 14-month-old cat.

Shortly after all the reporters gave up hope of getting a shot of the local celebrity and pulled away, Mack made his way back home — just like Kissinger said he would.

Kissinger described Mack as a big teddy bear who liked to be around people, at least he did until he was shot with the arrow.

Since his brush with death, Mack has been understandably shy around company.

Mack was shot around 11:25 p.m. on Dec. 22 outside a home in the 300 block of Walnut Street.

Kissinger, who cares for eight cats she rescued from the streets, said she found Mack with the arrow in his head after he had been let out to roam around the yard.

"I opened the door and I honestly thought I was losing it — that I was seeing things," she said. "As soon as I figured out it was an arrow, I panicked."

Despite the arrow sticking through his forehead, Mack acted pretty much as if nothing had happened. He walked inside the house, plunked himself down in the living room and stared at his bewildered owner.

"The only thing odd about him was that he kept meowing, which I thought was probably his way of telling me he was in pain," she said.

A retired registered nurse, Kissinger said the fact that Mack was walking and communicating made her optimistic. But she called the police and her son to figure out what to do next.

Kissinger's son, who lives down the street from his mother, told police he saw the silhouette of a person standing in the backyard as he approached the home. But the person fled before her son could get a good look.

Mack was taken to Pets Emergency Treatment Services in Lancaster that night to have the arrow removed, under anesthesia.

"It took about 10 days for him to recover from surgery, but he was pretty much back to normal," Kissinger said.

While it appears the worst is behind Mack, Kissinger is trying to find a way to pay the $750 medical bill.

"I'm so happy he's all right, but I really don't know how I'm going to handle the costs," she said at her kitchen table, which was filled with paperwork.

A few hours after the interview, however, Kissinger reported that she had already received a $250 donation from a local resident who heard about Mack's incident.

"It's so nice to know that when something bad like this happens, there are good people willing to help," she said.

Authorities so far have no suspects in the shooting, but Susquehanna Regional police Lt. Stephen Englert said officers are on the case.

Englert said police are taking the incident seriously and are determined to find the person responsible. The perpetrator is facing charges of animal cruelty.

"I don't know who could do something like this, but whoever it is must be sick," Kissinger said.

Police ask anyone with information to contact them at 426-1164. Tipsters also may call Lancaster City/County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-322-1913 or anonymously text LANCS plus your message to 847411 (TIP411).
kshuey@lnpnews.com