Beloved Cat Psycho is Rescued and Revived at Apartment Fire

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Psycho’s family lost everything but their beloved cat in a fire that destroyed their apartment on March 26, and they initially feared they’d lost her, too.

Mark Anderson put a pop tart in the toaster, pushing down the lever and forgetting about it, before he and his wife Cheryl headed off to work, leaving Psycho home alone in their apartment in a Newport, Oregon complex that day.

The toaster lever got stuck and fire broke out in the apartment shortly before 7 am, and firefighters saw smoke coming out from a roof vent and flames showing inside when they arrived.

When Mark Anderson received a call at work informing him of the fire he knew Cheryl was safe and his thoughts immediately turned to Psycho, who is the couple’s “baby.”

“She’s like one of our kids,” Mark Anderson said. “We would do anything we could to save her.”

“The first thing I thought was: Is my cat ok?” Mark said. He and Psycho share a special bond built when Mark was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer a few years ago. “I was with her 24 hours a day,” he said. “She’s family.”

Firefighters thought the cat had succumbed to the effects of the fire when they first discovered her.

“Neighbors said they saw a cat by the window,” said Assistant Fire Chief Robert Murphy with Newport Fire. “We found her but she wasn’t breathing and was not responsive at all.”

Firefighters moved Psycho around to see if she would show signs of life, but they got no response. She woke up afterward and let her voice be heard.

“When they walked away, they actually heard the cat meow,” Murphy said.

Psycho was alive, but she was in trouble and needed help. Her breathing was slow, her mouth was full of soot, and she was in distress.

“We started off with an oxygen mask device and put it over the snout,” Murphy said. “It’s one we would usually use for a child but were able to fit it over the cat’s face.”

Psycho was revived by the oxygen, even though the mask on hand was not specifically designed for small pets. Her family took her to Grove Veterinary Clinic, where she received more treatment and was said to be recovering well in the days following the fire.

The Andersons lost their home and belongings but are grateful that Psycho was rescued and revived.

“I’m definitely relieved,” Cheryl said. “I know that if anything would have happened to her, this man (Mark) would have been devastated.”

“Now that we know the cat’s okay we just have to deal with getting our lives back together,” Mark said. “Because now we’re homeless.”

The Newport Fire department took the opporutnity to remind the public of two simple yet important safety tips:

Number 1: “Make sure you have a working smoke alarm,” Murphy said. “Because in this case, it was the smoke alarm that alerted neighbors who were able to call 911.”

Number 2: “Don’t leave the kitchen [when preparing food or using appliances. Even if you’re using a toaster. They can be faulty, so we would encourage everyone to unplug them if you’re not using them.”

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Karen Harrison Binette

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