A Campbell River family has a hair-raising mystery on their hands as they try to figure out who has been shaving one of their pet cats.

Jo Jo Yarjau says it started in January, when the family noticed their cat Tabby was acting strange.

“She was just walking around and she wouldn’t let anybody touch her and she wouldn’t really eat,” Yarjau said. “She would just hide all day.”

Eventually, she went to pick the cat up and noticed she was missing a large swath of fur on her underbelly.

“The first time it was the base of her tail as well, and under her belly,” Yarjau said. “It looks like a razor did it because it looks like her nipples were cut, and that’s a pretty defining factor of what’s going on.”

She said it seems whenever Tabby goes outside in the Kit Crescent area of Campbell River, she comes back with a different part of her body shaved. It's happened five times already, and other cats in the neighbourhood have also been shaved, Yarjau said.

The family has growing concerns that the cruel joke will only escalate.

The cat is an indoor and outdoor cat, and Yarjau said at 12 years, she’s too old to become a strictly indoor cat.

The family is pleading for the person responsible to stop shaving their cat, and warning other pet owners in the area to be on the lookout.

With a report from CTV Vancouver Island’s Gord Kurbis