Help Winston Recover

When I moved to England last May, I had no friends here, no community, and was living four hours away from my closest family. So I adopted a cat to keep me company. In the year since I brought him home, he's been so much more to me than just company. He’s been my reason for getting out of bed some mornings, my laughter in my saddest moments, my motivation to work for a better life, my stability, my family, my home.

On September 6th, my sweet mustache cat Winston escaped our home through an open window in the middle of the night, and for 40 days, we’ve had no sign of him. We made every effort to find him - from physical searches to “Missing” posters, posting in nearly every missing cat Facebook group in England, and even hired a (wonderful) professional pet finder to aid in the search. But our best efforts couldn’t bring him home, and I started to lose hope that I would ever see him again.

Miraculously, 3 nights ago, a selfless member of the community spotted him in her garden 12 miles away from where he went missing and brought him to the vet, who scanned his microchip and called to inform me he was found, and he was alive - but barely.

When he was found, he only had a few hours left before he would have died from starvation. The vets see his survival as miraculous and a testament to his will to live. Because my Winnie is a housecat and a cave-dweller by nature, he has not approached people for food until he was completely desperate.

40 days of starvation has taken a horrible toll on his organs, and he will have a long road to recovery. He’ll need several days and nights of hospitalisation, a feeding tube, and an aggressive course of medication to rehabilitate his liver and bring his nutrient levels back into a safe range.

I’d never subject him to unnecessary suffering, but his veterinarians are optimistic that he can make a full recovery with proper treatment.

Sadly, the treatment he needs isn’t something I can afford. His initial blood tests and veterinary care have cost around £1200, and each day he spends in the hospital will cost around £1000. But he’s my family, he’s fought hard for his life for the last 40 days, and I owe it to him to fight just as hard. Our community has been absolutely amazing throughout this time - helping in the search, sending love and positivity for Winston, and ultimately rescuing him. Now, I’m reaching out to this lovely community again to help bring Winston back to health.

Every little bit helps. Please if you’re able, consider donating and/or sharing. I will be sharing updates on his condition