I lit my Afterglow candle and it was lit all of 45 seconds before I walked out of the room. I went to my fridge to grab a Diet Coke, came back, and my cat was sitting by the candle on my headboard. The flame was out, I smelled burned fur, and she was walking funny. I wet a cloth with cool water and wiped all of her paws and got the oils off. Her right front paw is...well, it's burned. Her little paw pads are kind of scorched. I mean...they feel burned, kind of scratchy and rough. She's walking around just fine now and doesn't cry out in pain when I touch her paws, but it looks and feels burned.

I tried calling my vet at home but she didn't answer. I'm just so worried and I feel HORRIBLE. I shouldn't have left her alone with a lit candle. A few years ago she tried to get her nose into a candle and her whiskers burned. She was ok. All that happened was a fizzly pop sound and then she drew her head back. Then she sat down funny and her tail caught on fire for about .8 seconds. I smelled burned fur and saw a flame in her tail. She's a long-haired cat and luckily she wasn't hurt at all. She had no idea why the hell mommy was freaking out.

I'm looking at her right now and she isn't acting out of the ordinary in any way. I fed her some lettuce and she is purring. I still feel so fucking bad. My poor baby.

Any suggestions? I really don't know what to do, or if I should do anything. I'm sorry...I just don't know where else to turn and I'm freaking out. I just want my baby to be okay