CAMPBELL RIVER, British Columbia (UPI) -- Residents of a British Columbia town said they are afraid to let their cats wander the neighborhood because someone keeps shaving them.

Jo-Jo Yarjau of Campbell River said her 12-year-old cat, Tabby, came home with a square-shaped patch shaved into her belly in January and the feline has since come back with patches of hair missing four more times.

"The first time it was the base of her tail as well, and under her belly," Yarjau told CTV News. 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.

Neighbor Vance Assu told the Campbell River Mirror he started noticing patches of fur missing from his 4-year-old cat, Twilight, "in February or March" and the incidents became a regular occurrence.

Assu said his family has tried keeping Twilight in the house, but the feline refuses to cooperate.

"He doesn't want anything to do with being in here, other than to eat and have a nap," he said, but even that is very rare. We've tried keeping the litter box inside, but he simply won't use it.

Yarjau said Tabby is too old to change her behavior to become a strictly indoor cat.

"She'll go crazy. She's 12. You can't just do that all of a sudden," she said.

Yarjau said her family only lets Tabby out at night to avoid the shaving, which thus far has only occurred during the day. She said she fears for the feline's life.

"We only let her out at night now," she said, because it's never happened at night. She's not allowed to wander during the day anymore, because one day she just might not come back.

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