I was at work last night when my neighbor called, telling me that there was smoke coming from the vents on my house and that she had already called the fire department. She was heading over there to meet them, because she has a key to the back door. We have a key to each others house because when one of us is away, the other looks in on the critters.
When I got home, the house will still standing, but smoke was everywhere. The cats had all come out the cat door and were in the outdoor enclosure, except for Trace. My neighbor, bless her heart, had already gotten the pet carriers out of the shed and was in the enclosure rounding everyone up. Thats when we noticed that Trace wasn't there....
At the exact moment I was going to tell one of the firemen/women (fire persons???) that one of the cats was in the house, one of them walked out carrying Trace. He'd been hiding in the back bathroom, probably because of all the noise that the smoke detectors was making.
His eyes were wide as saucers, and his breathing was almost a rasp. We took him to the neighbors house and called an emergency vet. While we were on the phone, his breathing got better, then a little better,....finally he was breathing pretty much normal, but was still scared to death. The vet told us to keep an eye on him and bring him right in if it seemed to get worse..and if it didn't, still get an appointment for chest x-rays ASAP.
Trace is fine now, but he probably couldn't have lasted too much longer, the smoke was that nasty ozone stuff from burning electric wires and relays and stuff. The central AC unit had a relay either short out or get stuck, whichever it was, it got superheated and started to burn. We were all just lucky that my neighbor was out and about when she was.
I just finished putting in 2 big window unit AC's. I'm not sure if I'll even get that one fixed, I don't think I trust it anymore.
When I got home, the house will still standing, but smoke was everywhere. The cats had all come out the cat door and were in the outdoor enclosure, except for Trace. My neighbor, bless her heart, had already gotten the pet carriers out of the shed and was in the enclosure rounding everyone up. Thats when we noticed that Trace wasn't there....
At the exact moment I was going to tell one of the firemen/women (fire persons???) that one of the cats was in the house, one of them walked out carrying Trace. He'd been hiding in the back bathroom, probably because of all the noise that the smoke detectors was making.
His eyes were wide as saucers, and his breathing was almost a rasp. We took him to the neighbors house and called an emergency vet. While we were on the phone, his breathing got better, then a little better,....finally he was breathing pretty much normal, but was still scared to death. The vet told us to keep an eye on him and bring him right in if it seemed to get worse..and if it didn't, still get an appointment for chest x-rays ASAP.
Trace is fine now, but he probably couldn't have lasted too much longer, the smoke was that nasty ozone stuff from burning electric wires and relays and stuff. The central AC unit had a relay either short out or get stuck, whichever it was, it got superheated and started to burn. We were all just lucky that my neighbor was out and about when she was.
I just finished putting in 2 big window unit AC's. I'm not sure if I'll even get that one fixed, I don't think I trust it anymore.
