Raja Is At Peace

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Raja, 19 ½ year old Bengal tiger, on Sunday, October 23, 2011.

Raja is survived by Jasmine, his sister, and his offspring, Samu whom both live at In-Sync Exotics.  Jasmine and Raja came from the same drive-thru animal park that was subsequently closed years later due to inhumane living conditions for its animals.

For approximately 11 years, Raja and Jasmine were bred together at the animal park, having at least 2 litters of cubs every year for 7 years. Since both tigers carry the white recessive gene, the breeders were hoping they would produce many money-making white tigers.  Raja was also the father of Vicky's beloved Kenya (her first tiger) and Midas—both whom lived with us for many years before passing away.

Raja and Jasmine arrived at In-Sync Exotics on February 3, 2003, and for the next 9 years, both cats flourished under our care. 

Sadly, Raja was diagnosed December of last year as having renal failure.  Even though there is no known cure for this progressive disease, we were able to keep Raja comfortable by giving him subcutaneous fluid treatments every four days for about 10 months. 

Last week we noticed a change in Raja’s behavior, which was a sign to us that Raja was slowly slipping away.  He had stopped eating and refused to get up and move around his quarters.  We prayed his condition would improve, but sadly, his health condition continued to decline.

One of the hardest decisions we ever have to make is whether or not it’s time to let an animal quietly slip away from us or to continue administering treatments in the hope that the animal will resume eating, drinking and playing.  With the help of our veterinarian’s diagnosis, our own intuition, and our loving understanding of Raja’s wishes, the decision to let him go peacefully was made Sunday afternoon.  Before he left us, we shared with him our final words of love and admiration for this beautiful tiger—Raja was truly at peace. 

We will always have fond memories of Raja playing with his sister, Jasmine.  Both tigers loved their toys, and especially liked to play with their balls in their swimming pool. However, they spent most of their time cuddling or playing with each other (see video below).  We will do everything we can to ease Jasmine’s grief over the loss of her cage mate as truly she will feel the loss of Raja greater than anyone one of us here at In-Sync Exotics.  God bless Raja as he travels to this side of Heaven called the Rainbow Bridge.

Living with animals can be a wonderful experience, especially if we choose to learn the valuable lessons animals teach through their natural enthusiasm, grace, resourcefulness, affection and forgiveness.  — Richard H. Pitcairn

Lasting loving moments between Jasmine and Raja

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