Skip navigation

Mouth to meow-th: Mass. firefighter revives cat

Asked what it was like to save the cat, firefighter says it tasted 'like fur'

Special feature
Tales of survival
A gator victim who got a new high-tech hand; a mom who woke from a coma; a police officer who flatlined twice. Learn how all these people and others came through life-threatening situations.
Slideshow
Image: Girls stand in the mouth of a cat sculpture in central Kiev
  The Week in Pictures
A starry night, cat’s mouth, a lighthouse stands tall, bear attack, a sea of balloons, H1N1 reaction and more news and feature photos from around the globe.

more photos

updated 9:32 a.m. ET Sept. 11, 2008

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - A lucky cat owes one of its nine lives to a firefighter who revived it with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Al Machado rescued the cat from a burning apartment Tuesday, telling The Standard Times of New Bedford that he saw immediately that it needed air.

Machado began performing mouth to mouth on the animal as he carried it outside.

Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here

Video shot at the scene shows Machado bent over, breathing into the cat's mouth several times. The cat, a tiger angora, was revived and resting comfortably soon after.

No humans were injured in the fire. A man and woman whose last known address was the building that burned were arrested and charged with arson, authorities said.

Two other cats died in the second-floor apartment, but two dogs there were saved with the help of oxygen from paramedics and animal rescue personnel. Pets on the other two floors — including a ferret and even some frogs on the first floor — were all saved.

Asked what it tasted like to give mouth-to-mouth to a cat, Machado laughed, grimaced and said: "Like fur."

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sponsored links

Resource guide