This Tiny Kitten Was On The Brink Of Death, So A Woman Desperately Fought To Try And Save Him

Tiny Winston the kitten was incredibly weak when he was dropped off with his siblings at animal shelter Feline Hope in Kitty Hawk, South Carolina. There, he met volunteer Michelle Martello. And while Winston was teetering on the brink, Martello knew she if there was a chance to save him, she had to try.

When Winston and his two siblings arrived at the animal shelter, their chances of survival didn’t look good. It’s unclear exactly what the poor kittens had been through. But whatever the truth was, they were fighting for their lives.

It was their precarious condition that caught volunteer Martello’s attention. She works for Feline Hope, a non-profit animal rescue group that provides a number of vital services for the wider community.

The charity neuters and spays animals, and provides financial support to help cover medical costs for pets in Kitty Hawk. According to its website, it’s also a supporter of the trap, neuter and return program. This initiative captures stray cats, neuters them and, if they’re healthy enough, releases them into safe locations.

Furthermore, Feline Hope donates homeless cats to loving families. It also aids sick felines like Winston and his sisters, who Martello had her eye on as she raced to do what she could to save the trio.

Unfortunately, despite Martello’s speedy response time, she couldn’t help all of them. Another member of Feline Hope, Lita Katulski, revealed the devastating news to Love Meow in October 2018. “When she got there early the next morning, two kittens had passed.”

However, tiny Winston still clung on. But his small size concerned vets at the charity. The kitten was approximately two or three weeks old, but poor health meant that his growth was stunted.

In fact, Winston was the same size as a newborn kitten, but that was the least of his problems. In addition to that, he hadn’t eaten properly in quite a while. As a result, Winston suffered from a serious case of malnourishment.

Winston didn’t weigh as much as he should, and his dramatic levels of dehydration indicated he hadn’t been drinking properly. Furthermore, a flea infection had drained so much blood that it had left him with anemia.

Yet despite all of these problems, tiny Winston fought for his life like a warrior. It was only fitting that Martello showed the same tenacity in trying to save him. She got to work treating what issues she could to keep him hanging on.

Martello subsequently dedicated herself to Winston’s round-the-clock care. She bathed him repeatedly until his fur was clean of the clinging dirt and even fed the underweight kitten with a syringe so he could eat easier.

But even with Martello’s support, Winston faced an uphill struggle. The brave little kitten’s various health problems and troubled development left him with a compromised immune system. At one point, it even looked like Winston would lose his grip on life as his condition degenerated even further.

Martello had stood by Winston through thick and thin. She wasn’t about to give up on him so easily, and raced the tiny cat to an emergency clinic. The doctor treated Winston with medicine and fluids, but his life hung in the balance.

Yet again, Winston proved that although he has the body of a kitten, he’s got the heart of a lion. He not only recovered overnight, but was also well enough for another visit to the clinic the following day. Since then, his condition has stabilized.

At least, it has for the most part. Martello, who ended up adopting Winston, kept a constant eye on him. He even accompanied her to work to avoid staying home alone. But the little lion’s starting to get a little more independent.

And Winston’s playful personality is blossoming as his health improves. Feline Hope volunteer Katulski told Love Meow that the kitten’s not quite out of the woods yet, but his future looks brighter. Especially considering what he’s had to overcome.

“It is a long journey back to health when something has been that close to death for as long as he was,” Katulski explained. “He only weighed as much as a newborn. He was a brittle sack of bones and his digestive track didn’t work.”

Katulski added, “Making it this far has been a miracle.” Which just describes Winston all over. He started out completely dependent on Martello, but he’s slowly finding his own feet. Now he enjoys exploring, and has even began eating solids.

Winston is a growing boy, but he’s only as big as a sweet potato according to Love Meow, so he has far to go. And he’s not in any rush to shed his kittenhood just yet. He still savors the simple things, such as his habitual snuggle with Martello after a feeding.

It’s likely that Winston wouldn’t have his second chance at life if it wasn’t for Martello and Feline Hope. But he isn’t the only cat the group has rescued. He is just one of the many animals that owe their lives to the volunteer-ran charity.