Cat alerts sleeping owner to New York state apartment fire

Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A New York state woman credited her cat with saving her life when it alerted her to a fire in her apartment.

Danielle Schafer said Kitty, the feline she rescued off the street as a kitten about five years ago, jumped on her while she was sleeping in her home at University Park Apartments in Lansing, alerting her to the flames spreading through the walls and the smoke filling the residence.

Schafer said Kitty vanished into the smoke before she fled the apartment, but was reunited with her pet when a firefighter found her the next day.

Kitty was treated for smoke inhalation and corneal abrasions at Cornell's Companion Animal Hospital.

The fire, which completely destroyed nine apartments and displaced 12 residents, was found to have included multiple propane tank explosions. The blaze is under investigation.