SAN DIEGO -- A Campo cat burned in the border fire is getting some much needed help.
Renee Lewis says she was at work when Cal Fire evacuated her area. She was worried about all of her cats left to fend for themselves.
It was days before she could go back and look for them. Amazingly, she found all but one of her cats hiding under the house. Most were untouched, but her cat, Minikins, suffered serious burns on all four paws and all her whiskers were singed.
“She came up to me and she put her paw up and started meowing like ‘Look at me, I’m hurt,’” Lewis said.
“But can you imagine her eyebrows and her little whiskers were burning and how do you get them out, you know?”
Lewis raced Minikins to Country Pet Hospital, who then referred her to veterinary specialty hospital in Sorrento Valley, FACE Foundation.
“They were raw and they had the fire retardant stuck to them and she needed a lot of care,” Brooke Haggerty, FACE Foundation Executive Director, said.
Lewis admits she would not be able to afford the veterinary bills, and she's grateful for FACE Foundation stepping in.
“[Minikins] would still be in pain," Lewis said. "I mean, I would have gotten Neosporin and wrapped [her paws] up but I mean that’s all I know what to do.”
“There’s nothing more devastating than losing your pet, but losing it because you couldn’t afford to save your animal is all the more heartbreaking," Haggerty said. "So it’s very special doing what we do at FACE. There’s nothing like it.”
Minikins still has several more weeks of treatment left, and the care will cost thousands of dollars. FACE Foundation has set up a link where you can make a donation to help Minikins recover.
“They’re from God," Lewis said. "They got sent to me from above because there’s no way I could have done it.”
