Dr. Ronald Li, a critical care veterinarian at UC Davis, treated 23 cats that were rescued from the devastating Tubbs fire that scorched Northern California for more than three weeks in October 2017. They had the kinds of traumatic injuries he expected to see: first- to third-degree burns, exposed skin and scar tissue.
But there was something else about these feline patients that caught Li's attention: life-threatening blood clots.
"In heart scans, we noticed clots forming within their hearts," he said. "But at that time, we didn't know why."
