Cat set on fire makes miraculous recovery in Washington. Now he’s looking for a home

A cat likely “doused with a flammable liquid” and set on fire has recovered and is now ready to be adopted, a Washington animal rescue said.

Vinny, the kitty, was seen by a man on camera footage in an apartment parking lot behaving “erratically” and “shaking his head, running back and forth,” the Kirkland-based animal shelter called MEOW Cat Rescue said in an Oct. 31 Facebook post.

After the man looked closely at the footage, he noticed the cat’s ears looked injured, officials said.

The rescue provided a trap and saw Vinny had “melted tissue left where his ears had been,” officials said.

His whiskers had been burned and there was no fur or skin on the top of his head or back, the rescue said.

Vinny’s burns had “penetrated deep into his flesh,” officials said.

After Vinny underwent surgery, he was put in a foster home where his “bandages were changed daily” and his wounds began to heal, the post said. His right eye was so injured that it had to be removed.

The rescue center attributes Vinny’s “will to survive” and his care team’s commitment to saving the cat’s life, officials said.

Now, Vinny’s wounds have new tissue, but his fur will not grow back, officials said.

Vinny’s foster home provided plenty of cat toys, other cats and a little dog, the rescue said.

McClatchy News reached out to the shelter for a comment on Nov. 1 and is awaiting a response.

The little survivor is learning to “trust people again” as he makes biscuits and snuggles near laps looking for head scratches, the shelter said.

Kirkland is about 10 miles northeast of Seattle.

This story was originally published November 1, 2023 at 11:16 AM with the headline "Cat set on fire makes miraculous recovery in Washington. Now he’s looking for a home."