Our Beautiful Cats!

So what do you think folks?  Did we have a busy week or what?  As you can imagine, we are still recovering from our amazing Easter Celebration!  We finally removed all the shredded paper from the festive balls and egg shells from the egg bags left in the cats' quarters!  Just seeing the happy looks on the cats' face says it all as they are continue playing with their enrichment balls.  We often hear the sound of the balls bouncing around their quarters and the cats chasing after them!

We hope you enjoyed celebrating Easter with us too!  Before we move on to new and exciting stories starting next week, we thought we'd share some final fun photos from the event!  We are loading as many photos of the event as possible on to our Facebook photo gallery page, so please visit our Facebook photo page for pictures of all our events and animals!

Hello Vicky!

Lots of happy people!

Putting paws!

Airborne dart

The amazing floating ball!

Worth the wait!

Adorable bunny hoppers!

Java and his egg!

Here are a few more pictures of our BEAUTIFUL cats!  Enjoy...

We need your help to make our Easter with the Cats event even better next year!  Would you mind taking about a minute or so to answer a few questions?  Your input is important to us, so thank you in advance for filling out our survey!

If you weren't able to visit us last weekend, we hope you will come out and visit us this weekend!  And don't forget, we now have nighttime feeding tours!

Join our wild cats for dinner by taking a special nighttime Feeding Tour that you'll never forget! Observe our exotic wild animal keepers feed lions, tigers, cougars, bobcats, and more from just a few feet away. Throughout the feeding process, our keepers will give you some behind the scene information about our wild cats such as diet, special care (our geriatric cats), and our animals’ favorite foods. You will also be able to have short informal and informational cat chat sessions with our keepers.

Advanced reservations are required for this special event. The feeding tour is about three (3) hours and the admission is $100 per person, with a limit of six (6) participants. No children under the age of 13 are admitted and ages 13-17 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

For reservations contact Lakshmi via email! At the time of registration, we will require a 25% donation deposit which can be made on-line or by check. Please contact Lakshmi for additional information or to schedule your tour today!

We hope you have a safe and wonderful weekend!  Please join us next week for more blog posting on the antics of our wild ones!

 

Later!

 

It's Cafepress.com's Friday the 13th t-shirt sale! Some of the In-Sync Exotic t-shirts are just $13 (single sided print) and $17 (double sided print)! No coupon necessary!

 

All you have to do is go to www.cafepress.com and type in the search field "In-Sync Exotics!" When you find the print of your favorite In-Sync Exotics' cat, click on the line and then scroll through the various shirt styles until you find the price you like and the print you adore!

 

For example, this Isaac tee costs only $13: http://www.cafepress.com/+insync_exotics_white_tshirt_isaac,633450290

 

This woman's tee shirt "Playtime" costs only $13 and the double sided print costs only $17!http://www.cafepress.com/+insync_exotics_womens_light_tshirt_playtime,633441179

 

The Okemo tee only costs $13 and double sided costs $17!

http://www.cafepress.com/+insync_exotics_white_tshirt_okemo,633129285

 

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!

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Oh To Be A Tiger At In-Sync Exotics!

As the afternoon temperatures inches closer to 80 degrees, out wild cats become more and more interested in their swimming pools.  There's nothing like a cool dip in the pool! 

Kiro loves water and it is not uncommon to see him taking an early evening swim before dinnertime...

Don't you wish you were an In-Sync Exotics tiger enjoying an evening swim with the sounds of the lions serenading you before chowing down on a hardy meat meal?   We do too!

Yesterday, one of our blog readers asked for more pictures from the Easter Celebration with the Cats!  Well, here are just a few more pictures for you to enjoy!

"Mine...all mine!!"

"Incoming eggs, Sheila!"

Sheila appears more interested in Susan Adams taking pictures of her!

Kahn seems interested in Sheila's new barrel from her namesake Shiela F.

How fickle is Kahn!  Now he's interested in Susan!

"Ahhh...my very own red egg ball!"

"How does one eat a yellow egg ball anyway?!"

"One lick, two licks, three licks...this could take some time before I get to
the chewy meaty center treat!"

"Look deep into my eyes..you are a chicken."

"Hey!  Don't make fun of my new hat!"

"Oh my goodness...this ball is as big as me!"

"Okay, so how does this work again?  Vicky!  Can you make this thing go again?"

Stay tuned for more pictures from our Easter Celebration on Friday!!

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A Tale of Many Tails

Remember the article we did on Unlocking the Secrets of Cat Communication?  In this past posting we talked about various features of a cat, touching a little bit upon the cats' tail.  Well, it's time to take a closer look at the cat's behind!

What is the purpose of a cat's tail?  Balance, rudder,communication, decorative, or no purpose at all?  Hmm...great question, let's  learn more about our exotic wild cats' tails!

Did you know that the bobcat has a black-tipped, stubby tail, from which it derives its name  This cat's tail is only 3.5 to 7.9 inches long, which is rather small in comparison to our other wild cats!  Clearly, this cat does not need a long tail for balance as it doesn't like to climb and live in tall trees or to act as a rudder to help outflank prey!  Wild bobcats prefers to keep on the move from three hours before sunset until about midnight, and then again from before dawn until three hours after sunrise, always on the prowl for food.

Next comes our servals with a tail length of only 7.9 to 15 inches long!  It's tail is a little longer than the bobcat, but not by much!  This wild cat, native to Africa, can be found in the savanna and while she can swim and climb, she prefers not to!

Here comes our big cats! Tiger tails normally are about 24-43 inches in length which is about the same size as our cougars (25 to 37 inches in length) and cheetahs (24 to 33 inches in length); while lion tails are 2 ft 11 in - 3 ft 5 in length and ends with hairy tuft.

Did you know that in some lions, the tuft conceals a hard "spine" or "spur"?  this "spur" is approximately 5 mm long, formed of the final sections of tail bone fused together. The lion is the only felid to have a tufted tail—the function of the tuft and spine are unknown.  

Cougars are not great distance runners or excellent sprinters (like our cheetahs) but ope at a fairly even, long-striding pace.  Their long tail is used to counter-balance their graceful hunting and climbing movements.

Big cats' tails are not only beautiful, but they also serve a purpose.  Did you know that a cheetah uses its tail as a rudder-like means of steering ,to allow her to make sharp turns in order to outflank the fleeing prey?  Cheetahs are not built for running long distances, but rather for short bursts of speed and so their tail aides them in capturing their prey.

Wild cats that like to climb, such as cougars and leopards, need their long tails for balance.  "Butt" other than for physical reasons, does the cat tail serve any other function?

Yes!  Cats use their tails to communicate how they are feeling towards us (their loyal keepers) and other animals. 

You may have observed that when a cat is relaxed he tends to walk with his tail horizontally behind him.  If the cat meets a friend, then the tail tends to rise up to convey friendliness.  If the meeting is friendly but cautious, the cat’s tail upright tail tip is slightly hooked, indicating a degree of uncertainty.

Have you ever been sprayed by a lion or tiger?  If so, then you already know that a spaying cat raises the tail, and with the tail a-quiver, starts treading with his hind feet, trying to raise his hind quarters up higher, projecting a spray of urine—at you!  This happens to be the way the cats conveys he is SO happy to see you!  This is also an invitation for you to sniff the spraying cats’ anal glands to confirm his relationship with you as a member his family.  Needless to say, we at In-Sync Exotics do not recommend you accept the cat's invitation!

When a cat is at rest, but readying for action, he sweeps his tail erratically from side to side.  As he becomes more alert or more emotionally charged, the tail swishes faster, wider and in a more regular manner. If the cat is lying on his side, the tail will be thumping on the floor or ground, often loudly. Though this is most often associated with anger, it may also indicate another highly charged emotion-– excitement!  A swishing or thumping tail is sometimes an invitation for another cat to join in a bout of play. So Smuggler best be careful when he swishes his tail, for clearly he is sending an open invitation to Aasha that he wants to play!

Look at those happy tails!

Here are a couple of grids that may help you in determining the mood of a feline (it did not go unnoticed that there were no complicated communication grids on the Internet for dogs...just saying...):

We hope you enjoyed this brief look at our wild cats' tails!  We shall end this "tale" with a few pictures of Aasha and Kshama's happy tails...

We hope you enjoyed today's posting! Be sure to record your reactions by clicking on one of our reaction buttons below. Don't forget to share this blog with your family, friends and co-workers. And don't forget to check us out on Twitter as we "tweet" information not found on this blog!

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Great News About Our Easter Celebration!

Great news!  Jodi Payson, our Events Coordinator, is ready to provide us with the Easter Celebration wrap-up report!

Cat Tails:  So Jodi, what's the great news?! 

Jodi:  Well, last year (including private donations) we raised about $18,000.  This year, we raised about $19,000 thus far (including private donations) and we are still waiting on checks from our food and snow cone vendor and our air brush tattoo guy!!  

Cat Tails:  Did we have a lot of people in attendance this year?

Jodi:  We sure did!  Last year we had about 946 people in attendance; this year, we believe the number is around 1,153!

Jodi:  In anticipation of a larger crowd this year, we were able to obtain about 350-400 pounds of candy!! As I was passing out the candy I actually heard a dad say, “OH MY GOD!!! Look at all that candy! This is unbelievable!”

Cat Tails:  Tell us about some of the vendors that were on-site for the festivities...

Jodi:  Sure!  Smokin Joes (http://smokinjoesinc.com/) served hot dogs, hot links, hamburgers, chips and drinks. Last year he mentioned selling 43 hamburgers so he brought 80 this year. He sold out of ALL food items, except for a few chips, within two hours. He was unbelievably shocked at the turn out. He actually called me after the event to see what the total amount of people was, because he was so shocked! He promised me that he would bring TWICE the amount of food for our next event to ensure he did run out of food!

Snowie of Texas (http://www.snowietx.com/) served snow cones to all of our visitors. They actually had a flavor called Tiger’s Blood (a mix between strawberry and coconut)!!  It was AMAZING!!! Late last year Steve, the owner, had informed me that he has another event in Deep Ellum and he was going to purchase another snow cone machine just so he could make sure and attend our event. Towards the end of the event I asked how they were doing… his response… “Better than we are doing in Deep Ellum at the art festival… I cannot believe it!” 

Blue Shark Body Art (http://bluesharkbodyart.com/) provided air brush tattoos to all of our guests! Throughout the event I noticed David’s (the owner) line did not go down! There was a consistent wait for his artwork!  At the end of the day I asked him how everything went, and he replied “It was incredible! We were consistently busy all day long. I was amazed at how many people wanted face painting and body art!!!”

Bake Sale was held by the ladies who hosted a bake sale for us in the fall of last year came out and sold Easter cookies! All of the proceeds benefited the tigers and I can testify they were AMAZING!!!! 

Balloon Artist (www.bearrycuteballoons.com) came and made balloons for all of our guests. I think the kids really enjoyed them.   She had an assistant with her, and she donated us her services for free because we had so many children who wanted balloons!

Face Painting, as always, was a HUGE success. We made $607 at this station!!! It is always a struggle to get people volunteers to face paint, but as always we were flooding with little kiddos who couldn’t resist!! Even though we had SEVEN volunteers this year (which is more than we have ever had) there was still a consistent line about 15 people long throughout the entire event!!!! We are going to need 15 volunteers next year!

Games & prize/candy table:  This year we had five games in operation. The lines seemed longer than ever so I am going to work on creating some new games for our next event to reduce the lines and make everyone happy! Even though it was hard work, our volunteers did a great job at making sure everything went smoothly!

The candy table was INSANE!!! We shoveled out handfuls of candy into the kid’s baskets as quickly as generously as possible! Gauging how much candy to give out during the first hunt (so we wouldn’t run out for the 2nd hunt) was difficult. However, I think those individuals that stuck around for the second hunt were very pleased with the amount of candy they received!

Cat Tails:  Wow!  It sounds like you set-up an amazing group of vendors that provided our visitors with lots of treats and fun!  Did you try anything different this year?

Jodi:  Well, this year a volunteer made ten "festive" Easter balls for our cats.  We added some spices and "smellies" (Obsession for Men spray and animal urine) to the balls so the cats would have something interesting to smell.  And it was amazing!  The cats loved tearing apart the balls, looking for their scents located in the middle of the balls.  Needless to say, they didn't last very long!

Cat Tails:  Lucky cats!  Was the bounce house and the craft table new this year too?

Jodi:  No, we like having the bounce house for the kids--folks love their bounce houses!  We also had a craft table where the kids draw on a mural depicting the cats as well as decorated brown paper lunch bags, which we later used to hand out eggs (3 hard boiled and 1 raw) to our cats! The children wrote just saying on the bags like “I love you Cats!” The bags were so adorable!

Cat Tails:  Anything else you'd like to add?

Jodi:  Overall, The event was a HUGE success! I am very pleased with the turn out. The weather was amazing! Hotter than expected! I saw SEVERAL sunburns, myself included!!!! We were lucky enough to have a nice, sunny day for our event. My expectations for next year will only continue to increase as we continue to grow the way we are!

Cat Tails:  Thank you, Jodi for putting on a great event!  No doubt next year will be even bigger and better--all benefiting the cats of In-Sync Exotics!


We hope you enjoy the following presentation of our exotic animals receiving their Easter presents.  Again, thank you so much for your kind donations of enrichment toys!  The animals really love playing with all the new balls, bones, and Kongs--especially with sprays of Obsession for Men and catnip on their toys!

Three volunteers went through all the toys and carefully printed on each item who the gift was from and who was to receive said gift.  You may see some of the gifts labeled in the following pictures.  Unfortunately, the animals licked off all our hard work so the labels didn't last very long!

We would also like to thank the folks who donated the horse treats.  The horses were a little skittish of the crowds, so we had to present your gifts after everyone left!  Horses love the treats!

And finally, we'd like to thank everyone who helped make this event such a success--this was truly a group effort!

And now, it's time to watch the special presentation of the animals receiving their toys.  Enjoy! (Tip:  For better viewing, you may want to expand the screen by clicking on the brackets located on the right side botton of the video)

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An Amazing Easter Celebration!

What an amazing Easter Celebration we had on Saturday! 

First off, we just have to say THANK YOU to all our "Easter bunnies" who sent the animals special Easter gifts!  The animals had such a wonderful time receiving their presents to the delight of our guests.  Every animal received a special gift and we were able to capture the excitement on film and video.  For the next couple of days, we will be showing off our very happy animals playing with their new toys.  Some of the toys lasted only a few seconds, while others will last for several weeks to come.  So again, thank you, bunnies for your kindness. 

We would also like to thank all the folks who came out and supported In-Sync Exotics!  Everywhere we looked we saw happy smiling faces; some faces were painted with tiger stripes while other faces were covered with traces of Easter treats!  Overall, we think this event was successful in introducing our animals to the public and educate the young and young at heart on the plight of wild and captive animals.

And last, but far from least, we'd like to thank all the volunteers who came out and ensured everyone had a great time while at the same time ensured our wild cats were kept calm and stress-free from all the excitement!  Everyone did a terrific job--we couldn't have held this event without your help!  THANK YOU!

It took a lot of preparation work for this event as we made festive Easter balls, sorted through the new toys, and setup booths the night before...

Volunteers were face painted and ready to greet the guests...

And the animals took a quick nap to make sure they looked great when visitors arrived...

Our Easter Rabbit took a few moments to check on the cats before the gates opened...

And then it was time for the fun to begin!

The weather couldn't be more perfect!  We held a couple of egg hunts...

Parents, don't you wish your kids would picked up their rooms this fast?

...and a bunny hop contest!

We couldn't asked for a more perfect day!

We had food, drinks, and treats on hand to refresh everyone after they hunted for eggs and hopped for fun...

Once refreshed, it was time to have faces painted and participate in MORE games!

Our Easter Bunny made some new friends...

...while everyone anxiously awaited for the BIG moment to arrive when animal gifts would be distributed!

The following photos are just a few pictures of the animals receiving gifts kindly donated by many individuals who wanted to see our cats extremely happy!


Some toys will last awhile...

Aurora playing with her donated egg ball!

Sheila loves her donated ball-n-ball!

Tyjar's first Easter Egg Ball -- he just loved licking it!

While others only lasted a few moments...

Smuggler checking out his little egg!

Sassy checking out her egg bag!

Eve tore apart her festive Easter "ball!" 

Kazuri trying to tear apart his festive Easter "ball!"

Tyjar loved tearing apart his festive Easter "ball!"

Sabu loved the "smells" coming from his festive Easter "ball!"

What a great day for everybody--people and animals alike!  Again, thank you for making this such a successful event!  And a special thank you to our Easter Bunny, Lakshmi Nathan (In-Sync Exotics' Board Director), for entertaining our guest throughout the entire warm spring day event!

Stay tuned for more celebration pictures of the animals enjoying their new toys!

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