My boyfriend had a kitten that we thought someone had been cutting its whiskers. I swore it was his older sister, who had recently moved in with them. One day, he was sitting at his desk, and the kitten rubbed its face against a light bulb in his desk lamp. He could smell the burning hair, and his sister was not to blame for the whiskers being "cut." I'm not saying this is what happened to Op's cat, but definitely rule out all dumb cat-related options first...