A UK college student invested nearly a class credit’s worth of money to hire a detective to find her lost 1-year-old cat, Winston.
“After the first week, we really started to lose hope and thought that we might not see him again,” owner Katie Carr, a 24-year-old at the University of York, told South West News Service of dropping about $1,000 after Winston jumped out a window in her Manchester home.
“We thought that something bad might have happened to him … We were leaving out toys and food, things that smell nice to him, hoping to lure him home.”
Carr quickly recruited a pet investigator to search for her beloved Winston. Unfortunately, after 72 hours of fruitless looking, the search by the real-life “Ace Venture: Pet Detective” was called off.
“I felt so helpless,” she added.
The desperate search continued for 40 days as Carr put up posters, searched streets and put out SOS messages on social media.
But in a “miracle” on Oct. 15, Winston was found — and later identified by microchip — 12 miles away inside a Bolton resident’s garden, but the cat was in very poor condition, as it lost its sight and ability to hear.
“Basically, he had starved so much that his body had broken down all of his fat, releasing toxins into his blood and poisoning his brain,” Carr said.
“When we first went to pick him up, they said that things didn’t look good for him – he was so sick, and they weren’t sure that he would live.”
Veterinarians were able to save Winston’s life, however — at a hefty price of nearly $8,500.
“It was really a miracle that this happened, as he only had a few hours left to live at that point because he was so starved,” Carr added of the feline’s week-long stay in special care.
“He was having seizures, and he was blind and deaf … he would still need a feeding tube, special cat food and multiple follow-ups and blood tests.”
As the endeavor nearly ran Carr and her family $10,000, they started a GoFundMe page to cover expenses — and were thankful to have raised more than $3,600 in a week.
“The reaction has been amazing – we’ve been blown away. We’ve had friends and colleagues and even strangers donate to it,” said Carr.
“We’ve learned that a lot of people really do love their pets and can sympathize with how hard it is to lose a pet.”
Nowadays, Winston has a nearly clean bill of health and, despite being a little skinny, he’s back to his mischievous ways.
“He’s running and playing and causing chaos just like he used to,” said Carr, who added that “it was all worth it” to spend so much time and money on rescuing him. “I’m so relieved – he’s my best friend.”
