Winston *SN*

My story

All shelter animals have a backstory, even the ones who are only a few days old. Sadly, we can’t ask them to tell us their side. Winston’s story began before he was surrendered to CAP, but we can only fill in the blanks from the account of his previous owner with what we saw in front of us. Winston’s previous owner was going through a challenging time, and unfortunately, he got caught in the middle. He was 7 pounds when he should have been about 11 to 12 pounds. He was also terrified; he shied away from our touch and wanted nothing to do with any of us. Moreover, he had severe scalding wounds on both of his hind legs; the lesions were infected and necrotic, making every step he took a painful one. Furthermore, he was covered head to toe in feces and urine. The smell filled the room. Yet, I could not bring myself to give up on him, so even though he resisted every attempt I made to make him more comfortable, I bathed him and got him ready to go for a sedated debridement of his injured feet and then took him home for recovery. The stress did him no favors; as a result, he also developed an upper respiratory infection, which we treated, along with his injuries, his ear mites, and ear infection. During this time, I also realized that his pupils did not react to light. Meaning, his pupils would not contract; they are permanently dilated. While Winston can still see, his vision is not as good as most cats his age, and he is more sensitive to direct light, all of which makes him a bit more skittish, but not less loving and playful. It took him several months to fully recover and regain a healthy weight safely. But more importantly, he regained enough confidence to trust humans again and seek affection, sometimes a little too eagerly. I learned that Winston can coexist with other cats, but he requires time, slow introductions, and a lot of positive reinforcement. He still hates to share and is greedy with food. With that being said, he responds to treats, and he is very trainable. He is scared of my dog, so I avoided them being in the same space. Winston will likely thrive in a home with older children, given his skittish nature. Children in the home must be at least 12 years old. 07/10/2025. -TN

If you have any questions or would like to adopt Winston *SN*, please reach out to the adoption group directly. PetSmart Charities does not facilitate the adoption process. Thank you.