Often times when we accept exotic animals, there are no
accompanying medical or dental records.
The previous owner may recall the year the animal was born but not much
else. So that leaves
our cats' medical history a mystery to be solved by our vet and animal care
keepers.
Since it is difficult to guess the cats' exact birth
dates, we list the missing birth dates on the cats' biography as the same month and day the
animals arrived at In-Sync Exotics. For
example, we celebrate the following cats' birthdays (and their arrival) for the month
of July!
Aramis and Aurora, litter mates, arrived at In-Sync
Exotics on July 17, 2011:
Then we have Eve and Layla, sisters, who also arrived at In-Sync Exotics on July 17, 2012:
Jazz and Shazam arrived at In-Sync Exotics on July 10, 2009:
Our last "birthday" for this month is handsome Spike! Spike arrived at In-Sync Exotics on July 19, 2011, and was the last Poetry big cat to call our sanctuary home:
In Memory of...
This month we remember the passing of Tahoe, the first big
cat Vicky rescued on September 12, 1991. Since she never owned a cougar before,
she had a lot to learn about cougar diet, enrichment, and enclosures. Thankfully, she received a lot of help from
our vet and the Texas Parks and Wildlife, so Tahoe, and the cats who followed
after Tahoe over the years, would have a safe and loving home. Tahoe became a part of the
In-Sync Exotics’ family on March 31, 2000.
Tahoe’s story…
Tahoe was abandoned at a vet
hospital at the age of 18 months. She was brought into the vet for treatment
after a different veterinarian removed her canines, a common practice for some
owners of exotic pets. Tahoe actually had all of her front teeth removed,
leaving her with only a few teeth in the back.
She was underweight and had
trouble eating. Because she was abandoned at the clinic, her fate was to be euthanized. Not wanting to see this beautiful cougar put down for a non-medical reason, Vicky
brought her home to teach her how to eat again. For two months she blended up
chicken and fed it to her around the clock.
Tahoe graduated to bigger pieces
of meat and then the bone, and after four months, she learned she could pick up
the whole pieces of chicken with her tongue and toss them to the back of her
mouth to chew. It wasn’t long before
Tahoe was eating on her own!
Tahoe shared an enclosure with
Ranger, her long-time companion, who sadly passed away April 2006. They spent
12 years lovingly doting on each other, so his absence was hard on her. Tahoe
suffered from depression for several months after his death. Thankfully, Sahara
was there to play and snuggle up with Tahoe.
Sadly, Tahoe passed away July 30,
2008 from complications with Lymphoma, but we take comfort in knowing she's
been reunited with her beloved Ranger.
Tahoe will always hold a special
place in our hearts.
We also remember the passing of Kane, one of the former Poetry cats, on July 30, 2011.
When In-Sync was first called by a family in Poetry TX to
help relocate 20 exotic cats in need of new homes, we had no idea just how dire
the situation was until we met Kane.
Kane's story...
When we first met Kane in Poetry, we noticed he could not
walk properly. Watching Kane fall over three
times, and was then forced to crawl over to the water bowl because he was too
weak to walk, was devastating to all of us.
This poor baby arrived heat exhausted, dehydrated and vitamin deficient.
We believe that sometime before Kane arrived, he suffered a small seizure or
stroke resulting in facial and leg movement changes on the left side of his
body. The vet believes 10 days after he
arrived, Kane experienced another stroke or seizure during the night, that may
have resulted in him aspirating on undigested food or saliva causing fluid to
entered Kane’s lungs resulting to him developing pneumonia. And if that wasn’t enough for this poor cat
to endure, we learned, during his full body exam at the veterinarian’s office
that approximately six months prior to his arrival, something terrible happened
to Kane resulting in his right leg to be completely shattered. Unfortunately, Kane did not receive medical
attention after this devastating event, so his bones were left to mend
themselves.
On July 28, 2011 our vet diagnosed Kane with terminal lung
cancer. The cancer was extremely
aggressive and our vet believed he only had a few days left with us.
On July 30, 2011, around 11:00pm, Kane suffered a seizure
that lasted about two minutes. With
Kane's favorite animal caretaker and In-Sync Exotics’ director present, Kane
slipped away quietly into the night.
Kane me be gone, but he will never be forgotten...
This month we also celebrate the arrival of two special cats to In-Sync Exotics -- Sassy (cougar) and Isaac (bobcat)! In this case, their birth dates are not the same as their arrival dates!
Sassy's story...
Sassy arrived at In-Sync Exotics on July 17, 2004. Sassy's owners first contacted us in January
2004 about giving Sassy a new home. We did not have room for her at the time,
but they were willing to wait until we did. Sassy waited six months to get a
home here at In-Sync.
Since she was raised alone, she had some difficulty getting
used to being around other cats. She now
enjoys the company of her cage mates although at feeding time, she makes it
very clear that she does not share.
Sassy is a very sweet and gentle cat and purrs loudly when
we are around. She loves to climb up the
ramps to the platforms to look out into the world, so be sure to look up when
you visit our cougars at In-Sync Exotics because chances are she’s watching you
from her lofty perch!
Isaac's story...
Isaac arrived at In-Sync Exotics on July 2, 2011. One of our
volunteers, who also volunteers with a dog rescue, contacted us about a bobcat
she had seen during one of her dog rescues.
Isaac was being kept in a 2 X 3 wire dog cage for the past
two years when she called us about taking him. In the tiny wire cage, Isaac was
sitting on top of at least four inches of dried feces and decaying food parts
and bones.
There were two old plastic coffee cans that may have held
water for him but both were empty and covered in dust and debris. We first
moved him from the old cage to another cage that we could keep inside for a
couple of days, so that we could keep an eye on his health.
Needless to say Isaac was not a very friendly cat and would
stay towards the back of the cage hissing and growling at us when we tried to
care for him. We had hoped that because of this behavior we might be able to
send him to a rehabber so that he could be set free.
When the rehabber came to see him she was unsure that he
would be able to survive in the wild. We moved him to an outside enclosure to
get a better look at his mannerisms. While in his new enclosure we learned that
Isaac was not the kind of bobcat that would run from people, but he would
actually charge anyone that would get to close to the fence. This action led us
to believe that if he was in the wild and a human got to close to him, he would
attack. Isaac had learned that not only were humans bad, but also not to be
afraid of them.
It took some time, but Isaac now enjoys the company of two
other bobcats, Lydia and Chance, and no longer sees us as the “enemy,” but part
of his family.
We hope you enjoyed today's blog posting of our special July
cats. We'd love to hear from you, so
feel free comment and don't forget to click on one of the reaction buttons
below. And as always, don't forget to share your favorite blog postings with
family and friends! Thank you!
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