A cat survived falling 100ft from the balcony of her owner’s penthouse apartment in Edinburgh.

Shale, four, was found at the bottom of the ten-storey building in Granton by a neighbour who called the Scottish SPCA. Since then she has had three major operations and is finally back on her feet.

Campbell Wild was at work when he received a phone call from Oak Tree Veterinary Centre to say that his pet had been injured. She had climbed on to the wall of the terrace before falling.

In the accident the cat suffered a split palate, damage to her two front legs and a chipped tooth. It took a month in the vets to get the moggie back to health.

Mr Wild, 34, thought he would lose his cat when the vets called.

He said: “I was straight away down there. I didn’t want to leave it until after work because she might not be there. Obviously when they’ve fallen that far you don’t think they’re going to make it.

"She was in such a poor way, I just didn't think there was any way she would pull through. The vet was concerned that she might have brain damage or might not be able to see or walk, but she has made a full recovery.”

Alistair Marks, principal veterinary surgeon at Oak Tree Veterinary Centre in Queensferry Road, said he had never before witnessed such a badly damaged palate.

He said: "She came in a very poor state. She was unconscious and bleeding from the face. Her front legs were very floppy and she was barely breathing.

“The main priority was to save her life – if the Scottish SPCA hadn’t brought her in so promptly and we were able to treat her she would have slipped away a few minutes later.”

It has taken Shale around a year to fully recover from the fall in June 2009.

Mr Wild has now installed chicken wire along the bottom of the wall to stop either of his cats from jumping up on to it.