Toasty the cat, also known as Squirt, might be the pluckiest feline in Montana.

After suffering horrible burns on Oct. 2, the yellow shorthair cat underwent four rounds of surgery, losing a leg and his tail in the process. But he clung to life and yearned for human affection throughout the ordeal.

Veterinarian Jean Lindley, owner of the East Main Animal Clinic in Miles City, said Toasty, who is 10 or 11 months old and has been returned to his owners, is now “a happy, comfortable cat.”

Lindley and a lot of other people in Miles City are hoping to make things uncomfortable for whoever it was who threw Toasty into a bonfire at a fishing access east of town.

Lindley started a reward fund that has been increased to just less than $400 for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for Toasty’s injuries.

The badly burned cat was discovered by people out for a walk near the Kinsey Bridge fishing access on Oct. 3. They took him to Lindley, who wondered at first whether there was any hope for the cat.

He was badly burned on his right side and his tail, on all of his toes and foot pads and in the genital area.

But, Lindley said, even under such duress, “the amazing part was, this was all about his wanting to be petted, and purring and eating and eating like a hog.”

Lindley decided to do what she could for him, and she told him, “If you make it, we’ll call you Toasty.”

She started with lots of antibiotics, pain medicine and long soaks, followed by one minor and three major surgeries. Lindley amputated the cat’s tail and right rear leg, removed many large patches of badly burned tissue, rebuilt the area around the cat’s genitals and reconstructed his urinary tract.

At each stage of his recovery, Lindley said, “he kind of determined his fate because he never stopped purring and rubbing.”

The owners, who asked Lindley not to be identified, found out about Toasty through a story in the Miles City Star. They told Lindley that his real name was Squirt, and they took him home on Nov. 6.

Lindley said the Custer County Sheriff’s Department concluded that Toasty probably had been thrown into a bonfire, the remains of which, surrounded by beer cans, was found near where Toasty was discovered.

Lindley said she believes the cat was thrown into the fire on its right side, then suffered other burns as it scrambled to safety.

“Cats don’t fall into fires,” she said. “There’s no other way than somebody threw him in.”

After Lindley established the reward fund for Toasty, people began coming into her clinic and offered to help pay for his medical work, too. Lindley said people have already donated $2,200 toward what she estimated were medical costs of $6,000, plus the nearly $400 for the reward fund.

Lindley said she never expected to receive any compensation for her work on Toasty.

“The community response to this was absolutely, unbelievably great,” she said. “People stop me still to ask how he’s doing.”

Contact Ed Kemmick at ekemmick@billingsgazette.com or 657-1293.