There are concerns that a serial cat-napper could be on the loose in the Comox Valley.

Cats have been disappearing in a Comox neighbourhood and later turning up on remote logging roads, some of them severely injured or even dead. Carlos is one of those cats.

The Comox pet was found battered and bruised, but alive, after a horrifying 75-day ordeal, according to his owner Deb Wilson.

"Obviously elated that Carlos was found alive, so sad that something like this could happen," an emotional Wlison told CTV News Thursday.

Something terrible happened to the family cat, used as therapy support for Wilson's son who has undergone several heart surgeries, but it remains unclear who did it.

"Carlos was trapped, his skull was fractured and he was dumped very, very far away from our home and left there to die a horrible death," said Wilson. "It just saddens me to think that someone in our neighbourhood, in our community would do that."

The cat was found by volunteers from Kitty-Kat P.A.L.S., a non-profit that traps and then spays or neuters feral felines, after he wandered into one of the group's traps.

"Carlos was found 26 kilometres away from his home, and it was impossible for him to get there on his own," said society president Bryan Baker.

Baker believes Carlos was just the latest victim in a string of cat-nappings that have occurred in Comox over the past decade.

"As far as we know right now, there's about five hot-spots in the Comox Valley where this is happening," he said.

He believes as many as 20 cats per year could be getting dumped in the wild, including another cat believed to be a family pet that was discovered close to a dumping ground Thursday morning.

The RCMP says it is aware of the issue due to chatter on social media, but hasn't received any direct complaints.

Anyone found responsible could face charges.

"Our laws in Canada indicate that you can't cause unnecessary suffering to an animal, so if you're going to take an animal and drop it off far from its home and cause it that unnecessary suffering, then that's something we may consider an offence," said Comox Valley RCMP spokeswoman Const. Monika Terragni.

Kitty-Kat P.A.L.S. is urging anyone who has issues with cats on their property to contact them before taking drastic actions such as cat-nappings.