Three Special Animals and More News For You!

Today's blog focuses on three special animals:  Okemo, Keenan, and Wobbles.

At the beginning of last month, we received Okemo's culture results, and sadly, our beautiful Okemo, who has been through so much already, was diagnosed as having squamous cell carcinoma that spread to his jaw bone--it's literally eating away most of his jaw bone.

Normally, tigers with this type of condition may have up to six months to live. Unfortunately, we don't know when Okemo became ill.  Our vet believes he may have been sick for quite awhile prior to his arrival at our sanctuary, so we have no idea how much "time" he might have with us.

Okemo's diet changed slightly, so we do not cause his jaw to fracture prematurely.  We now cut up his eat and we cannot offer him bones for fear they will cause him irreversible harm.  Our special tiger is in good spirits and he is eating well.  Sadly, there is nothing we can do for him other than to monitor his progress and make sure he is comfortable as possible. 

Okemo loves to explore his playground and continues to perform his usual ritual of self grooming. There are times when we forget how sick he truly is as he chuffs and greets us each day.  Several of us have bonded with Okemo and so he receives lots of one-on-one attention.  Even Jasmine warmed up to Okemo, often trying to catch his eye or nip his ears.  We will continue to keep you appraised of Okemo's health condition.  In the meantime, please keep him in your prayers.   


Here is Okemo today:

About a month and a half ago, Keenan, who will be 17 years old in May, was diagnosed as having a devastating disease--chronic renal failure.  Chronic renal failure is a progressive, irreversible deterioration of kidney function.  

We've been monitoring the progression of this disease by drawing blood from Keenan so the BUN (blood urea nitrogen) as well as other components of the blood could be examined.  An elevated BUN is a certain sign of loss of kidney function.  Sadly, last week's test results showed his BUN level increased once again.

Keenan's health has been teetering back and forth from good to okay back to good again.  He still receives subcutaneous fluids each week and we closely monitor his food intake.  Keenan likes to sun himself on the raised platforms, now that we are having great weather.  We will continue to keep you appraised of Keenan's health condition.  In the meantime, please keep Keenan in your prayers.   

Finally, we have little Wobbles, an adorable kitten with special needs.  On March 22, 2012, little Wobbles became the newest member of the In-Sync Exotics' family.  We soon learned lour little girl had a very serious problem--terrible multiple seizures each day.  We're not sure why she is having so many seizures, but we are learning towards an injury involving a dog.  

Wobbles has round the clock kitten "sitters" who watches over her throughout the day.  On March 30th, little Wobbles had 12 seizures.  However, for the last two days, she has been seizure-free.  We pray that these seizures will eventually subside so she can live a normal "kitten" life.

Here is little Wobbles today: 

Okemo, Keenan, and Wobbles continually reminds us all--that no matter how big or small, old or young, sick or healthy--they are truly miracles and we are eternally grateful for the opportunity to be part of their lives.  We love them like family!


“Cold-EEZE ®  Share Your Cause, Not Your Cold” Contest


We'd like to extend a HUGE thank you to everyone who supported us in the "Cold-EEZE Share Your Case, Not Your Cold" Contest!  It looks like we may have secured the top spot of this contest!!!  We could not have done this without your help.  As more develops, we will definitely share the good news with you.  Again, thank you "voters" and a huge thanks to "Cold-EEZE" for allowing us to share our cause with more people who may never of heard of us otherwise!

Who Am I with a Twist!

Folks, we have a winner!  On Friday, Sheila Frazier, submitted her response to the Who Am I with a Twist contest.  After reflecting upon her initial response, Sheila changed her answer based on the clues given in the blog posting.  We received several brave responses, and for the most part, everyone accurately guessed the identity 80-90% of the time!  This is outstanding! 

So without further ado, here are the names of the cats in rank order:

1. Kshama
2. Aasha
3. Samu
4. Sabu
5. Kahn
6. Lydia
7. Shazam
8. Sheila
9. Chance
10. Smuggler

And of course, Franklin as the bonus cat!

Oh!  Almost forgot to tell you!  In response to many readers' requests, we have added more t-shirts and tank tops to the on-line gift shop!  Several of you took advantage of the 35% sale over the weekend--we hope you love and enjoy your gifts!


If you were not able to take advantage of the discount savings, we'll keep an eye out for additional discounts and let you know when we see another exciting sale.   Throughout the month of April we'll be adding some more exciting stuff, so check back regularly!

Let us know what your reaction was to this posting by clicking on one of the reaction buttons below and don’t forget to share it with your family, friends, and co-workers by using the share buttons below. 

Thank you everyone for your support of In-Sync Exotics—you are truly a blessing to us!

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