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Woman Finds Missing Cat 6 Months After Deadly Valley Fire

MIDDLETOWN (KCBS) – Six months after the Valley Fire tore through Lake County, a woman has been reunited with her missing cat. The heartwarming story is offering hope for other pet owners, whose animals have yet to come home.

Nancy, a woman from Middletown, hadn't seen her cat "Muscat" since evacuations were ordered in Middletown last September.

"She found her cat missing since the Valley Fire, and we were just so excited," Teresa Axthelm of the Middletown Animal Hospital told KCBS in a phone interview.

Axthelm said Nancy saw Muscat while driving close to her house. She stopped and called the cat, who came to her.

"So I said, at no charge, get Muscat in here, get him examined, get him vaccinated," Axthelm recalled.

The services werer courtesy of a fire fund set up to help victims of the fire.

"She was very excited to have him back," Axthelm said. "So many people are still looking for their pets, we have a bulletin board here, you know. Missing pets, dogs and cats. To give anybody some hope, it's obviously a great thing."

The Valley Fire killed four people are burned more than 76,000 acres last September; one of the worst wildfires in California history.

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