Moment cat believed dead in LA fires reunited with owner

By Ottilie Von Henning

This is the emotional moment a woman was reunited with her cat that was presumed dead in the devastating LA fires.

Katherine Kiefer, 82, lost her home of 50 years in the wildfires that tore through the city of Los Angeles nearly two months ago.

The wildfire not only took her home, but her beloved cat Aggie also disappeared in the fire.

Aggie, five, is skittish in nature and hid during the fires so when Katherine's son came around to save her three cats, he couldn't find her.

Katherine was left devastated by the loss and had begun to lose all hope until she received a voicemail on March 7 from West LA Animal Shelter saying they had Aggie.

Katherine was soon reunited with Aggie, who had been found on the same street Katherine lived on - just meters away from the burned remnants of their home.

Katherine, a retiree based in Los Angeles, California, said: "It has all felt like the biggest miracle.

"I keep wanting to pinch myself to check I'm not dreaming.

"I was in total despair over Aggie.

"It was already such a loss losing the home my husband and I brought our children up in, along with all our treasured possessions.

"But the loss of Aggie was what really upset me.

"The thought that she must have been so scared and alone, it was so terrible.

"The odds were stacked against her in such a way that I really thought I had lost her."

Katherine adopted Aggie four years ago from a friend in Maine, who could no longer look after her.

The pair share a very special bond, which made their separation during the fires even more upsetting.

Katherine said: "I had been at a medical appointment the morning that the fires really began so I wasn't at home with the cats.

"My son picked me up from that appointment and took me back to his house instead of mine.

"He then went straight to my house to grab the three cats I have in my house, two of which are my daughter's.

"Smoke was already pouring into the house when my son was there, so he bundled the other two cats into carriers and grabbed some sentimental items but he had to get out before it got much worse.

Katherine returned to the area the following day to look for Aggie and found her house had been completely destroyed in the fire.

She said: "A bigger group of us, including myself, returned at 5:30 am the next morning and we didn't even recognize the area we were driving through.

"There were no houses for reference and we saw ours had been burned to the ground.

"At this point, I just felt sick.

"I was sure she must be under the rubble somewhere, but there was no refuge for her.

"I worried about coyotes coming for her or my daughter finding a cat skeleton when she went looking weeks later.

"Really though, I was just so scared I would never know what happened to her."

Aggie was found on March 6 in a state of starvation and was so weak that she couldn't barely stand, walk or eat.

She had remained very close to the family home but nobody had been allowed into the area due to the fires, so she had been completely alone for two months.

Katherine said: "The people at the animal hospital said when they found her they gave her a one out of nine chance of survival.

"She was initially taken to a hospital all the way out in the valley, where they gave her a blood transfusion and watched her overnight.

"Luckily, she started to get better so the next day I was able to come and see her.

"I almost couldn't believe it when I saw the nurse come in cradling her."

Aggie is continuing her recovery at an animal hospital closer to Katherine in Pasadena, where medical professionals say she has a "good chance" of making it.

Katherine said: "I am just beyond grateful to these rescue services.

"Without them, there is no way she would have survived.

"I will always remember that miracle voicemail I received."