LOS ANGELES — It seems the tall story that every one cats have 9 lives could also be true for a Maine coon from Southern California named Aggie.
The beloved feline was feared useless for 2 months after the Palisades Fireplace left her household’s dwelling in ashes. However her proprietor, 82-year-old Katherine Kiefer, held out some hope.
Over the weekend, Kiefer bought a name from the West Los Angeles Animal Shelter. Her daughter Carolyn Kiefer shared their reunion Saturday in a TikTok video that shortly garnered greater than 1 million likes. It exhibits tears pouring from Katherine Kiefer’s eyes as Aggie curled up in her arms.
On this picture supplied by Carolyn Kiefer her mom, Katherine Kiefer, 82, is reunited along with her cat Aggie at VCA Chatoak Animal Hospital, Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Los Angeles.
Carolyn Kiefer by way of AP
“I used to be very a lot fearful that I used to be going to get up and (uncover) it had been a dream,” she mentioned.
Kiefer was at a medical appointment the day hearth engulfed her neighborhood and her kids could not discover Aggie – who was liable 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 wildfire January.
A firefighter comforted a canine whereas additionally battling the rising inferno in Altadena.
Aggie, who’s about 5 years previous, was gifted to Katherine Kiefer by a buddy 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 every 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 mentioned.
The household will formally be reunited with Aggie when she is launched from the hospital Thursday. Kiefer mentioned she’s anxiously ready, and he or she has a message for different pet house owners: “Do not underestimate cats,” she mentioned.
The household mentioned they tried to get again to their property in Altadena to seek for her quite a few occasions, however have been denied entry attributable to gasoline leaks.
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