Help save Winky, the one-eyed cat found injured after 10 years!

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Given by 62 generous donors in around 5 months

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One-eyed cat "Winky" found injured from dog attack after being lost for ten years!

Auckland

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If ever there was a cat that had used up all 9 lives and more, this would be him! A true survivor, here is Winky’s story…

Around June 2011, Karyn Robson was visiting the SPCA and caught a glimpse of a 2-year-old cat named George, who had already been through the wars having been rescued after losing an eye. Despite his disability, he was the friendliest and most loving cat in the building and within seconds Karyn knew she would be taking him to his forever home, at least that was the plan.

The name George didn't quite capture his cheeky personality, so he was immediately renamed “Winky” and lived happily with his new family for around 9 months. In March 2012 Winky went missing from the Viaduct area in Auckland. A huge search operation was endured for weeks with posters plastered all over, but he was never seen again and presumed to be dead. To make matters worse, a man repeatedly called Karyn at the time to torment her, even saying he had just been served up his remaining eye in a restaurant. What a nice guy.

Ten years pass by......

Then, out of the blue, the SPCA called to say Winky had been found in Mount Roskill after being attacked by a dog. He had suffered serious injuries and is in need of urgent surgery, but he can be saved. This page is to raise funds to get him through surgery and back on the mend. We are currently seeking a vet who can operate and care for him in Auckland.

Being missing for so long he does not have insurance and is now too old to be covered. Every donation helps and in return we will keep you posted with updates. Even if you can't contribute, please share this so we can get his story out there. He has already been on the radio and we hope to get more coverage by the media in the coming weeks.

Karyn has since moved out of Auckland, so if all goes to plan, after his recovery we would like to relocate him down to Christchurch to live out any remaining lives he may have left with his loving family.

Winky in the Media:

RNZ: https://rb.gy/wwfv01

Star News: https://rb.gy/mndxhl

NZ Herald: http://tiny.cc/zzbouz

The Switzerland Times: https://rb.gy/aignfm

The World News: https://rb.gy/4vzygc

Canada Express: https://rb.gy/ol1bdd

TWnews.co.uk: https://rb.gy/5lsrak

Use of funds

All funds will be used towards surgery, veterinary care, support and transport for Winky to be reunited with his family. We have been told he will likely need ongoing veterinary care after the operation. Any leftover funds will be donated to the SPCA.

Winky lands in Christchurch 11 March 2022

Last week Winky had his stitches out and was given the all clear to fly by the vets in Auckland. He was flown down via Air New Zealand, although his cage was damaged on the way and he had a cut on his paw (unsure what happened to him), but he seems to be in great spirits.

We are slowly introducing him to our other two cats, a rag doll and medium hair tabby. Otherwise he has settled in well and has had a further checkup from our regular vet where he was treated for worms and had vaccinations.

At home he seems to have figured out his new bed is for sleeping in. He also has his own cat tower and plenty of toys to play with. He is doing great and we are so glad to have him home. He is loving being around humans all day and has the same personality he did ten years ago. For a 12.5 year old cat he still enjoys playing like a cheeky kitten. We had wondered if his personality would have changed from his experience, but it hasn't.

Thanks again for all of your support, it really helped to get him on the mend and reunited with us!

Winky's family.

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