MOUNTAIN HOME -- Carolyn Farmer was walking in the burnt ashes near Airbase road when she spotted the tiny, weak kitten. She says it was curled up alongside a home that miraculously hadn't burned during Monday's tragic brush fire.
"I was walking where the fire was with a friend of mine, and we just found it there," Farmer told KTVB.
Friends told Farmer the little animal was probably wild, and had been meowing throughout the night. No one had been able to catch it.
Farmer, who works as clerk at the Mountain Home AFB hospital, was able to capture the frazzled feline. She immediately saw it had been severely burned, and was growing weak.
She knew she had to help, so she took it home.
Smokey
"I had to feed him with an eyedropper," Farmer said, explaining that the kitten couldn't feed itself, because its little whiskers had been burned off in the flames.
"The eyelashes were completely gone; the whiskers were completely gone; the hair was matted and burnt to the skin," she said.
Farmer says he's a lucky cat. She named him "Smokey."
Fast forward to Wednesday morning, and Farmer knew more medical attention was required for brave young Smokey. So she brought him to the Mountain Home Animal Shelter.
"I think he's going to come through -- I think he has a good chance," shelter supervisor Danile Ratigan told KTVB.
Rhatigan said the shelter's vet had evaluated Smokey, and it now appears the little black and white cat will be able to heal from its injuries.
"He's pretty perky now, and he meows," Rhatigan said.
Unfortunately, the future is less certain for two other kittens injured in Monday's fire.
"We have two others, and they're probably not in the same shape as smokey is," Rhatigan told KTVB, explaining that one kitten was probably from the same litter, while another appeared slightly older.
Shelter staff say they encourage folks who might find other animals injured by Monday's fire to bring the creatures to immediate veterinary attention. In the meantime, they plan to continue tring the injuries of Smokey and his friends.
Anyone with information about whom the cats may belong to -- if anyone -- is asked to call the Mountain Home Animal Shelter at 208-587-2111.
