A FAMILY cat has been clippered in a random shaving attack in a Coast housing estate.

Old Orchard estate resident Gina Bannister and her family's beloved pet tabby cat, Tommi, was found with his underbelly shaved after a bizarre afternoon incident.

Ms Bannister said about 4.30pm Wednesday her children rang to says something had happened to their nine-year-old cat.

She said they initially thought the cat was sick and losing hair, then realised her underside had been shaved and the mystery cat clipper had tried to shave up the side of Tommi's legs.

"She's a very shy cat," Ms Bannister said.

"She's in and out, but never goes far, she's really very shy. She's normally asleep on the veranda."

Ms Bannister said she was surprised anyone could get so close to her cat to shave it.

The family had been living in Petigrain Ave in the Old Orchard estate for about 18 months and Ms Bannister said they'd never had an issue, which made the disturbing incident all the more bizarre.

"It's really weird," she said.

She sounded the alarm on local social media pages, and said she copped a torrent of abuse and backlash from people about her cat not being strictly inside.

"I thought I'd never forgive myself if another animal got hurt and I knew that had happened," Ms Bannister said.

"There's little kids and things like that around too. It was just a community service announcement."

She said someone had posted on her daughter's page that they'd found their cat with the top half of its coat shaved off in Rosemount, about 20 minutes drive from Palmwoods.