A Great Week in Review!

Even though this was a short blog week, we still had a lot of news to share with you!  Let's take a look at this weekend's events plus at the end of this posting we have information regarding our 2013 calendars and a printable flier for our upcoming Turkey Toss event!

On Monday, we saluted our Veterans with a special tribute poem to thank them for their service to our great country.  To read this beautiful poem, please click HERE!  

We had a lot of news to share on Tuesday's blog posting pertaining to medical updates on Gideon, Nadia, Nugget, Neffie, Sabu and Spike.  Click HERE to read our complete update on these wonderful exotic animals!

The humongous red barrels are a real big hit with our tigers! For some reason, our tigers felt the need to roll the barrels into their pools, along with other various sized balls and smaller barrels!  Now that their pools have so many toys bobbing around, it's up to our volunteers to wade into the waters and remove them.  Sounds easy right?  Well...maybe not! Click HERE for the rest of Wednesday's blog posting!

Yesterday, we posted a great story about a volunteer group who made a difference in the lives of our cheetahs.  Now that the cheetahs have settled into their new home, it was time to add a little "height" into their lives.  Building the cheetahs' mound was on our "things to do" list, but thanks to a determine Boy Scout and his "crew," we were able to scratch off this task from our list! Click HERE for the rest of this heartwarming story!

Turkey Toss!

Start an after Thanksgiving Day tradition by joining us for our annual Turkey Toss event!  Our cats love turkey and you'll love watching them enjoy their treats!  Our Turkey Toss will be Saturday, November 24, 2012, from 11am - 3pm!  So take a break from all the shopping and come out to watch the cats have a terrific time with their Thanksgiving surprises! Click HERE for a printable flier!

2013 In-Sync Exotics' Calendar!

The wildly anticipated 2013 In-Sync Exotics Calendar will be in the In-Sync Exotics' onsite store very soon!  We will accept pre-payment of the calendar so you can secure your very own copy or copies of this beautiful calendar highlighting some of our most photogenic cats! Here is just a teaser of what you can expect! 

Each calendar costs $18 if you pick it up in person from our sanctuary's gift shop.  If you'd like to have a calendar shipped to you by standard mail, then the cost of the item is $18 + $3.00 (mail cost) for a total of $21.00 a piece.  So, for example, if you purchase a calendar for yourself and friend plus have them both mailed, then the total cost would be $21.00 x 2 = $42.00.

The In-Sync Exotics' 2013 calendar makes a terrific gift...so are you ready to order your special In-Sync Exotics calendar today?  Yes?  Great!  Here's how you can order:

Click HERE to pay by credit card (MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express). Credit card payments can be made using our secure PayPal processor, so click on the "Donate" button to start the credit card transaction!

In the "purpose" box, please indicate the number of calendars purchased and where we should ship the calendar(s).  If shipping calendars to more than two destinations, you may have make separate purchases on-line so as to accommodate the text size of the addresses typed in the "purpose" box.

Remember, during the holiday season, mail takes a little longer in reaching its destination, so you'll want to order your calendars before December 16, 2012 so it will arrive before the start of 2013!

If you want to pay by check, you can mail your calendar payment to:

In-Sync Exotics

PO Box 968

Wylie, Texas 75098

Remember to include the name and shipping address of the calendar(s)' recipient(s)!

Now that the weather is cooler, our cats are more frisky! If you haven't had a chance to meet our exotic cats, Nugget and Twiggy, then this is the weekend you'll want to come out and see our animals in action!  For tour information, please click HERE! 

In the meantime, have a safe and wonderful weekend and we hope to see on Saturday for the Turkey Toss!

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Building A Cheetah Mound!

Now that the cheetahs have settled into their new home, it was time to add a little "height" into their lives.  In the wild, cheetahs live in open grassland or the Savannah in Africa.  This gives them a panoramic view of their prey before they break into a fast chase.  Cheetahs are not known for climbing trees, but they will climb small mounds to get a better view of the land.

Thank you, Zach!

Building the cheetahs' mound was on our "things to do" list, but thanks to a determine Boy Scout and his "crew," we were able to scratch off this task from our list!

After reviewing our "to-do" wish list (for volunteer groups that would like to help us by improving the grounds or animal play areas), Zachary Robbins from Boy Scout Troop #57 asked if he could design the cheetah mound, recruit volunteers, and build Sam and Kodi's new habitat feature as part of his Eagle Scout Project. We reviewed his plan and gave him the green light to build!

Last Saturday, Zachary, his father and mother, Mark and Nancy Robbins, and his "crew" of about 20 people came out prepared to make a difference in the lives of our cheetahs.  We hope you enjoy this short video of their hard work, rendered for a great cause, to the satisfaction of the cheetahs!  We are thrilled with their work too!

Thank you very much Zach and "crew" for your hard work! No doubt we'll be seeing Sam and Kodi  enjoying their new "height" while sunning themselves on the new cheetah mound for many years to come!

And the Suspense Continues!

Please be patient a little longer as we should be announcing, very soon, the cost and pre-ordering procedures for our beautiful new calendars.  Our apologies for the delay...please stand by for more details!

Big Cats Need Dental Care Too!

Please up Tyjar receive his dental
treatment!  Thank you!

First of all, we want to thank the 24 donors who graciously contributed towards our cats' dental work, raising thus far, $1,955! Unfortunately, it seems we've reached another plateau on our Razoo project "Big Cats Need Dental Too!" We still need to raise about $8,045 so that four tigers and one lion can receive root canal therapies and one tiger can receive root canal therapy and a tooth extraction. We hoped to schedule all the dental surgeries, ideally before the big cats "Turkey Toss" event, but it looks like it may be a bit longer.

Can we count on you to help us with the cost of the big cats' dental surgeries? $10 or more will make an impact on the dental health and well-being of our animals. By making a tax-deductible gift, you are making a positive difference in the lives of our beautiful cats! Please click HERE to make a charitable contribution today.  Thank you very much for your kind donation!

We hope you enjoyed today's blog posting! Be sure to check back tomorrow for more fun and informative information about our exotic cats and their friends of In-Sync Exotics! Don't forget to let us know your reaction to this posting by clicking on one of the reaction buttons below--and share this blog posting with others please ~ Thank you!

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Moving the Humongous Red Barrel!

The humongous red barrels are a real big hit with our tigers! For some reason, our tigers felt the need to roll the barrels into their pools, along with other various sized balls and smaller barrels!  Now that their pools have so many toys bobbing around, it's up to our volunteers to wade into the waters and remove them.  Sounds easy right?  Well...maybe not!

Will the red humongous barrels be banned from the swimming pools now that the weather has gotten a bit colder?  I'm sure our four brave (and super strong) gentlemen who removed the red humongous barrel from the swimming pool sure hope so!

They Will Be Here Soon!

The wildly anticipated 2013 In-Sync Exotics Calendar will be in the In-Sync Exotics' onsite store very soon! We will accept pre-payment of the calendar so you can secure your very own copy or copies of this beautiful calendar highlighting some of our most photogenic cats! Here is just a teaser of what you can expect!  

Details regarding the sale of our calendar will be posted on tomorrow's blog, so be sure to check back with us for instructions on how you can pre-order this beautiful calendar!  Wouldn't this calendar make a terrific Christmas present for your family and friends?  Just saying!

We hope you enjoyed today's blog posting! Be sure to check back tomorrow for more fun and informative information about our exotic cats and their friends of In-Sync Exotics! Don't forget to let us know your reaction to this posting by clicking on one of the reaction buttons below--and share this blog posting with others please ~ Thank you!

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Lots of News to Share!

Welcome back everyone!  We hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and Veteran's Day.  Since we have a short blog week, and lots of information to share, let's get right to the In-Sync Exotics' blog news:

Gideon Update:  Last Wednesday we reported on Gideon's health challenges and the hope that a drug called Phenobarbital would help control his seizures.  Phenobarbital is the number one choice of anti-convulsants for recurrent and uncontrolled feline seizures. It functions as a muscle relaxant and a depressant, thus effectively quelling seizures and helping to stabilize our little Gideon. Well, we have some great news! Our veterinarian tested Gideon's phenobarbital level in his system and it appears to be at the perfect maintenance level (10 - 40). Since Gideon's maintenance level is at a low end of the range at 17.2, we have lots of room to adjust his medication upwards if necessary. We are hoping that Gideon grow out his need for the medication, but until that day comes, we will continue to administer the drug and watch for any uncontrolled seizures. Huge thank you's to all who sent healing thoughts and prayers to our little boy--it just goes to show prayers do work!

Nadia Update:  More good news! You may recall our concern for Nadia, our beautiful tigress  with a small hole that refuses to heal on her face. Well, last week we took Nadia to the veterinarian clinic where her vet conducted a thorough exam of the wound.

We were worried that Nadia might have cancer in her mouth, so you can imagine our relief when we learn that she was cancer-free.  Turns out there's a small bone chip that keeps the facial wound from healing.  Since the bone chip is not causing any damage to her face, she doesn't appear to be in any pain, and it's not life threatening, we are going to let her rest a bit before we take her to Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine to have the chip extracted.

Nugget Update:  Just when we thought Nugget's rash was gone for good, like a bad penny, the rash came back again!  When we noticed the re-emergence of this pesky inflammation, we hoped to stop it in its tracks by administering steroids. Unfortunately, steroids did not work, so little Nugget is back on antibiotics.  We will keep you updated on Nugget's progress as he continues to battle this rash.

Neffie Update:  On Friday, Neffie will travel to the veterinarian's office to be spayed.  Stay tuned for a "Neffie update" on Monday.  In the meantime, please keep Neffie in your prayers for Friday's spay surgery--that it goes smoothly and without any complications. Knowing Neffie, she'll come out of surgery with flying serval colors!

Sabu Update:  At the beginning of this month, Vicky and Mak drew blood from Sabu (as demonstrated in Sabu's "how to video" shown on this blog two weeks ago), so it could be sent off for testing. Every three months we check Sabu's Vitamin A level, kidney and liver functions.  When Sabu first arrived in May 2011, Sabu's Vitamin A level was at 15.  A normal level is between 200 and 500.  We've been trying to get Sabu vitamin level closer to 200.  His last two tests were at 136, so we were very happy to learn that his number went up a bit to 141.  Great job, Sabu!

Spike Update:   On May 3, 2012, we took one of the former Poetry cougars, Spike, to Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine to learn why he was having difficulty walking.  At first, we thought he might be having some age-related issues seeing how he is 17 years old. While Spike had no problems running and playing, we noticed that he did have problems walking at a normal pace, sort of like he had inebriated hind legs.

MRI images showed us that Spike had two ruptured discs, one found on his neck and the other on his upper spine.  We were presented at that time with two options:  bed rest and recovery or surgical treatment.  We opted  bed rest for Spike, hoping that surgery would be the last resort and recovery from this type of surgical procedure may be difficult for our senior cougar.

For months, we limited Spike's movements in the hopes that his spinal issues would resolve themselves.  Unfortunately, we have noticed Spike walking in an unusual manner once again.  Video was taken of Spike's movements and sent to Texas Texas A&M for review.  After watching the video, the veterinarian agreed to examine Spike in the hopes that there was something we can do for his back and legs.

As you read our posting this morning, Spike is already at Texas A&M and shall return later in the evening.  Please say a little prayer for Spike for a safe return home with a positive resolution to his back and leg issues.

Whew!  That's a lot of news to share in just one posting!  We will keep you posted on the cats' progress as information comes available.  In the meantime, please keep us in mind when deciding on where to make a charitable gift before the end of the year.  As you can imagine, our cats' health care bills are rather expensive and any gift, no matter or big or small will help us continue to provide them best medical care available.  If you can make a difference in the lives of our exotic cats, please click HERE.  We thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity!   

Turkey Toss!

Start an after Thanksgiving Day tradition by joining us for our annual Turkey Toss event!  Our cats love turkey and you'll love watching them enjoy their treats!  Our Turkey Toss will be Saturday, November 24, 2012, from 11am - 3pm!  So take a break from all the shopping and come out to watch the cats have a terrific time with their Thanksgiving surprises!  

We hope you enjoyed today's blog posting! Be sure to check back tomorrow for more fun and informative information about our exotic cats and their friends of In-Sync Exotics! Don't forget to let us know your reaction to this posting by clicking on one of the reaction buttons below--and share this blog posting with others please ~ Thank you!

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They Did Their Share!

Veterans Day is usually observed on November 11th. However, if it occurs on a Sunday then the following Monday is designated for holiday leave.  We wanted to make sure our blog audience had an opportunity to see our special tribute to our veterans by posting our message today!

On Veteran's Day we honor

Soldiers who protect our nation.

For their service as our warriors,

They deserve our admiration.

Some of them were drafted;

Some were volunteers;

For some it was just yesterday;

For some it's been many years;

In the jungle or the desert,

On land or on the sea,

They did whatever was assigned

To produce a victory.

Some came back; some didn't.

They defended us everywhere.

Some saw combat; some rode a desk;

All of them did their share.

No matter what the duty,

For low pay and little glory,

These soldiers gave up normal lives,

For duties mundane and gory.

Let every veteran be honored;

Don't let politics get in the way.

Without them, freedom would have died;

What they did, we can't repay.

We owe so much to them,

Who kept us safe from terror,

So when we see a uniform,

Let's say "thank you" to every wearer.

By Joanna Fuchs

From all of us at In-Sync Exotics, thank you for serving our country and defending our freedoms!

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