Lets Chat About Cats - Episode 17 with Special Guest Eli and Dusty The Campfire Cat

LetsChatAboutCatsPodcast

This episode is dedicated to Eli the amazing mom of Dusty who is a campfire survivor.
Dusty was caught up in the devastating campfire of 2018. At this time the campfire was one of the most destructive and deadly in the history of California and tragically killed around 85 people and unknown numbers of wildlife and many cats.
During this campfire due to the location of Paradise many people could not even make it back to their homes to find their beloved cats and animals and many cats located in this area were also feral and because of this they had no one to come looking for them at that time.
Eli gives us a great insight to the aftermath of the horrendous fire and the lengths people had to go to just to get into the area to continue the search for cats who they prayed had somehow survived. Thousands of cats were saved and many were found months after the fire was under control. How they survived this and for so long is incredible and almost unbelievable and demonstrates just how strong cats can be even under the most awful circumstances.
Dusty somehow survived and was thankfully nursed back to care. His journey however was a long and slow one and he spent 3 months in the veterinary clinic for 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree burns. With scar tissue in his sinus and lung damage caused by the smoke and fire we can only imagine how Dusty suffered. He also has no toe beans or foot pads due to the fire so you can understand through that alone just how extensive his injuries were.
Dusty also suffers from a rare condition called Feline Hyper Esthesia which may have been caused by the trauma of the fire too. Despite all of the trauma Dusty has fought to survive and is now enjoying his life with his family and he is quite a character!
Eli shares all of Dusty's story and so much more. Dusty now lives happily with his siblings Dammit and Dew and you will hear all about them too.
Please follow @fieldhaven_feline_centre or visit their website at Home - FieldHaven Feline Center
Also you can find out more about the upcoming move Fire Cats which was organised and has been created by Katherine Parsons from @ravenshoemedia and is presenting at film festivals very soon.
Thanks for listening!

Support the show