California girl reunites with misplaced cat after wildfire

LOS ANGELES — It seems the tall story that each one cats have 9 lives could also be true for a California Maine coon named Aggie.

The beloved feline was feared lifeless for 2 months after the Palisades wildfire in Los Angeles left her household’s dwelling in ashes. However her proprietor, 82-year-old Katherine Kiefer, held out some hope.

Over the weekend, Kiefer acquired a name from the West Los Angeles Animal Shelter. Her daughter Carolyn Kiefer shared their reunion Saturday in a TikTok video that rapidly garnered greater than 1 million likes. It exhibits tears pouring from Katherine Kiefer’s eyes as Aggie curled up in her arms.

“I used to be very a lot nervous that I used to be going to get up and (uncover) it had been a dream,” she stated.

Kiefer was at a medical appointment the day fireplace engulfed her neighborhood and her youngsters could not discover Aggie — who was susceptible to hiding — once they tried to rescue her.

“The one factor my mother requested was: ‘Did you get Aggie?” Carolyn remembers.

Many pet house owners struggled to succeed in their domesticated animals in the course of the frantic rush to evacuate from the Palisades wildfire in January.

Aggie, who’s about 5 years previous, was gifted to Katherine Kiefer by a pal in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media customers have been so touched by the pair’s reunion video that many have been asking for day by day updates. The household’s $30,000 GoFundMe marketing campaign for Aggie’s vet payments had topped $21,000 by Tuesday afternoon.

The cat has undergone a number of blood transfusions and is now seeing a specialist.

“She was mainly pores and skin and bone, and in a state of absolute hunger,” Carolyn stated.

The household will formally be reunited with Aggie when she is launched from the hospital Thursday. Kiefer stated she’s anxiously ready, and she or he has a message for different pet house owners: “Don’t underestimate cats,” she stated.