A cat who was found seemingly abandoned outside the gates of a California animal shelter is facing an uphill battle to find a new forever home.

Shaun Paw was first spotted outside the Valley Animal Center in Fresno in February of this year. "He was spotted sitting outside of our facility's gate when I was leaving work for the day," the facility's cat care associate Minah Camacho told Newsweek.

The 4-year-old Shaun wasn't surrendered by an owner. He wasn't neutered or chipped and was found with no form of visible identification. Even so, Camacho and the other staff at the shelter suspect that Shaun once had a place he considered home.

"It's suspected that he may have been dumped as he warmed up to our staff extremely fast and never showed any signs of aggression toward humans as unsocialized cats normally would," Camacho said.

Shaun also struggled with the adjustment to life in a busy shelter environment.

"At first, he was very scared and confused and would cry a lot. He genuinely just wanted someone to be by his side constantly to reassure him and give him pets," Camacho said.

"Once he got out to our adoption floor, it was pretty clear that he had never been around this many other cats as we have all of our cats coexist in connected rooms."

At first, Shaun spent much of his time in the shelter's outdoor "Catio" area, but while his confidence has grown to the point where he's no longer on edge when indoors, he tends to get upset if the area is ever closed off due to the weather.

"During the summertime, we do need to keep the Catio doors closed, and he has resorted to staring out of his room window directly at staff and stare us down until we finally break and go give him some love and treats," Camacho said.

It will take Shaun time to get used to life in a shelter. "His biggest obstacle is his size and also how long it takes him to gain confidence with other cats," Camacho added.

However, it might be a while before Shaun leaves the shelter. The sad truth is there is considerably less demand for adult cats compared to kittens.

A study conducted by Priceonomics using data from Petfinder found that, while 81.9 percent of kittens on the adoption website ended up finding a home, that dropped to just over 60 percent among adults.

Camacho said she thinks Shaun Paw's biggest stumbling block is his size and the way he interacts with other animals. "He is quite the large boy, which makes sense because he went the first four years of his life without being neutered," she said. "This can intimidate some adopters due to them either having small children or other small animals, but he is a very gentle giant. He truly just wants affection from his human."

Shaun Paw can also take a while to get used to other cats, meaning he has a habit of being a "bit growly" among other felines, which might put off potential adopters. However, Camacho said she knows the perfect person is out there somewhere ready and waiting to give Shaun Paw the forever home he so richly deserves.

"He is kind of like a bubbly dog in a sense; very food motivated, loves people, and loves his outdoor time. Shaun would be best suited in a household with no dogs as he is very afraid of the presence of dogs," Camacho said.

Best kept indoors with outdoor trips undertaken using a harness, the main thing Shaun Paw needs is time. "He is a very shy boy in new environments, so he will need someone who will understand that he may have never really had a household environment before; they may be his first experience in one, so his adjustment process will need a lot of patience," Camacho added.