In-Sync Exotics' Cat Tales

An Emotional Week in Review

2012-03-02T07:00:00.000-06:00

We started the week off with a blog posting titled “Cougar Call.” Our readers learned why cougars cannot roar like our mighty lions at In-Sync Exotics. As a special treat, Cerella demonstrated what her cougar “scream” sounds like to our readers. Rest assured, no cougar was harmed in this demonstration. Cerella was only expressing her displeasure of Spike (who happens to live "next door" to her) as he walked past at the time her "song" was recorded.

On Tuesday, we introduced you to three of our cross-eyed cats, Harley, Kaiya and Freddie, who live normal lives at our sanctuary. We also discussed what causes certain cats to be cross-eyed.

Wednesday’s blog was filled with great information about our cheetah habitat plans; an update on our Razoo project (which exceeded expectations!!); Spring Break invitation: our discounted calendars; plus more hoodies and caps available in our on-site gift shop! Did you know we have a Twitter account? Well, you do now! Tweet with us at @Insync_Exotics as we update you on the latest In-Sync Exotics happenings!

On Thursday, due to popular demand, we posted the second installment of our Tiger Cam videos. Nadia, one of our curious tigers, takes a special interest in the tiger cam video camera. You have got to see what she does with the camera!

We also posted a video from our Dallas NBC affiliate. It was a great interview video showing some of the “behind the scene” production of the tiger cam videos. Vicky and Barry gave some great information why the ingenious tiger video cameras were situated throughout the tigers’ playground. A must see video!

Of course, the tiger cam videos are leading up to "The Tigers of Texas" documentary! We provided our audience with a little sneak peek. Have you seen it yet? If not, you can see the video HERE.

March 2-4: In-Sync Exotics will have a booth at the 30th anniversary of the North Texas Irish Festival located in Dallas' Fair Park. The festival is a 3-day celebration of all things Celtic: food, music, costume, history, and culture. So if you can, come out and visit us at this great event!

Okemo relaxing and grooming himself

We close this posting on a rather sad note. We received Okemo’s cultures results this week and the news is not good—Okemo, our beautiful tiger, has squamous cell carcinoma that has spread to his jaw bone.

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

Okemo is in good spirits and he is eating well. Sadly, there is nothing we can do for him since the cancer destroyed a good portion of his jaw bone. We will continue to monitor his progress and make sure he is as happy and comfortable as possible.

So, as you can see, this week has been an emotional rollercoaster for us. We are thrilled with the tiger cam videos and the media coverage they have received this week; we are very proud of our animals and we just love showing them off!

Of course, receiving the heartbreaking news of Okemo's plight highlights the reason why we exist in the first place; we provide love and comfort to animals needing our help during their most difficult life moments. We are grateful we are here for Okemo and we will work very hard to make his remaining time with us is happy and comfortable as possible. After all, he’s family.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend and don't forget, we are open on Saturday and Sunday for tours! Thank you!

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Snack Cam!

2012-03-01T16:23:00.000-06:00

We have a special treat for you! Our second tiger cam video gives you a very close-up view of one of our curious tigers, Nadia!

It's simply amazing what our tigers will do when they find a "new toy" on the playground!

"Snack Cam" from Barry Stevenson on Vimeo.

I had 3 "tiger cams" rolling this morning.

The first filmed "the babies" entering the play area and resulted inthe first video we released called, "A New Toy".

This camera (#2) was positioned facing the cement tunnel with the hope that itwould capture the tigers playing.

Boy was I wrong! ~ Barry Stevenson

Stay tuned for more exciting videos on our fabulous movie stars--the tigers of In-Sync Exotics!

If you like this video and would like to see more, let us know! Comment, share, and click on one of our "Reaction" buttons at the bottom of this posting! Thank you!

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A Sneak Preview of What's Yet To Come!

2012-03-01T10:13:00.002-06:00

For our loyal readers, here is a sneak preview of what is come!

The Tigers of Texas documentary film tease from Barry Stevenson on Vimeo.

Share the great news with your friends, family, and co-workers by using the share buttons below!

So what do you think? Let us know with your comments and/or clicking on our "What is Your Reaction" buttons!

Why is Everyone Talking About Us?

2012-03-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

For our fans living in the Dallas Fort Worth area, did you happen to see us on the news last night? If you didn't or if you live outside our viewing area, here's a recap of the story:

Documentary filmmakers working on "Tigers of Texas" put cameras in the playground of In-Sync Exotics' Tiger Country enclosure to capture the tigers in everyday life, but the tigers have reacted as if they have a new toy.

By Catherine Ross, Collin County Reporter

Looks like the tiger cam video is catching on! Be sure to pass on the our tiger cam link to your friends so they can enjoy the video too!

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Great Information for You!

2012-02-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

It’s Time for a Cheetah Home Improvement Project Update!

Very soon we shall be breaking ground on the new cheetah habitat! Below is a sneak peek at the new habitat schematics—now keep in mind as you review the plan, this habitat will be about 14,500 square feet! As you can imagine we are very excited to get this project underway. We are hoping to have the Cheetah Home Improvement project completed within 70 days or so from the day we break ground, barring any unforeseen challenges.

Razoo Update

We would like to thank the wonderful donors who contributed towards our Help Big Cats Receive Their Annual Vaccinations Razoo project! We not only met our goal of $1,025, we exceeded goal by $170! The left over dollar amount will go towards our summer deworming program! Thank you everyone for your kind support as we work hard to provide the best care possible for our exotic wild ones!

Spring Fever

So? Do you have any plans for Spring Break this year? How about a road trip to In-Sync Exotics!!

Our exotic wild ones are feeling frisky, so you'll want to come out while the weather is great!

We are All a Twitter!

By the way, did you know we have a Twitter account? Tweet with us at https://twitter.com/#!/Insync_Exotics! We will be posting updates on the animals daily so you can keep up with the latest In-Sync Exotics happenings!

Are you a loyal Cat Tales blog reader? Join us! So far, we have 25 members and we would like to grow our numbers. To join, click on the "Join this Site" button located on the right margin (above our ASA accreditation seal).

Great news if you haven't purchased an In-Sync Exotics' calendar yet!! We are selling our dwindling supply of calendars featuring our gorgeous animals at 30% off! Regular prices were: $18 (in store) or $20.50 (mailed). 30% sale prices are now: $12.60 (in store) or $14.35 (mailed).

Here's how you can order by mail:

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 indicated 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, 2011 so it will arrive before the start of 2012!

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).

Here are a few more pictures of Sam and Kodi enjoying their lounge bench!

Move over!!

Privacy please!

Last, but not least, we have a new supply of hoodies available!!

Thank you Karin for your help in showing off one of our caps and hoodies! Our incredibly warm hoodies are $55 each and our hats are $20 a piece! If you'd like to have one mailed to you, please contact Insync Exotics for shipping costs; else they are available at our on-site Gift Shop, while supplies lasts!

We hope you found this posting informative. Be sure to check in with us tomorrow for more great stuff!

Cross-Eyed Cats!

2012-02-28T07:00:00.000-06:00

Have you wondered why some cats seem to be cross-eyed? Is it because they are staring at you just a little too intensely? Or are they just checking to see if you are actually paying attention to them?

Well, it turns out cross-eyed cats actually have a medical condition known as strabismus. Strabismus describes the abnormal positioning or direction of the eyeball. Normally, the eyeball is held in place and moves from side to side and top to bottom under the influence of small muscles which attach directly to the eyeball. Occasionally one muscle may be longer or stronger than the muscle located on the opposite side. This causes the eyeball to veer off in an abnormal direction. One or both eyes may be affected. If both eyes deviate towards the nose, the cat is referred to as cross-eyed. Cross-eyed cats are just like any other cats, they just see life a little differently.

Cross-eyed cats inherit this condition, no treatment is recommended as the abnormality is generally a cosmetic problem which does not affect the quality of life.

There are a small percentage of cats that are cross-eyed as the result of nerve damage in the eye muscles. If a cat has a disease in the vestibular system, which helps the cat to retain his balance, the cat may experience a constant spinning sensation. In order to adjust to that, his eyes move abnormally. This is not a cosmetic problem and should be seen by a veterinarian.

All and all, cross-eyed cats are beautiful animals that have no outwardly difference from other cats except their cosmetic disparity.

Did you know that we have three beautiful wild cats with the cross-eyed condition? Yep, we sure do! Harley, Kaiya and Freddie are all cross-eyed and live normal lives at In-Sync Exotics!

Our white tigers are special tigers because they have several health issues they must overcome. Did you know for instance, that when stressed or confused, all white tigers cross their eyes? Now, not all of our white tigers look cross-eyed—Kazuri and Kiro have normal looking eyes.

As it turns out, the white tiger cross-eyed condition is directly linked to the white gene and is not a consequent of inbreeding. Unfortunately, white tigers cannot see as well as normal tigers and suffer from photophobia (light sensitive).

As to our cross-eyed cougar, Freddie, we have no idea whether this is a genetic issue or if he was injured prior to his arrival at In-Sync Exotics.

Bless Kiaya's heart, she is blind in one eye and cross-eyed in the other! We don't know what happened to her eye only that she has a scar that extends across her nose coming from the corner of that eye. Because her other eye is crossed it's sometimes difficult to tell what she's looking at since she seems to be looking about 10 feet to the left.

When we questioned the previous owner as to what may have happened to her, the reply was that he just didn't know.

Thankfully, Kaiya's vision problems don't seem to bother her at all.

We hope you enjoyed this posting on our cross-eyed cats. As a reminder, we only have two days left, with February 29th as our last day, to donate towards our Big Cats Need Vaccinations! Thanks to a kind donor last week, we are getting closer in meeting our goal of $1025! We are short only $160! Can you help us meet our goal today? Yes? Great! Please visit our Razoo project HERE to make a generous gift.

Thank you to everyone who contributed towards our cats' vaccinations--we really appreciate your heart and dedication towards our cats' health care needs!

We hope you enjoyed today's blog posting. Let us know what you think of our cross-eyed wild ones by clicking on the reaction buttons below and don't forget to share the blog with others by clicking on our share buttons! Thank you!

Cougar Call

2012-02-27T07:00:00.001-06:00

The cougar is the largest native cat in North America. Chances are you probably won't spot a wild cougar in the Texas hill country as this elusive cat is more afraid of humans than you of her. She would probably spot you from a great distance, turn tail, and run in the opposite direction.

Hello Cerella!

Cougars make a variety of sounds including chirps, peeps, purrs, growls, moans, whistles and screams, but they can’t roar-- only lions, leopards and jaguars can do that. Members of the Felinae group (i.e. cougar, lynx, bobcat, and ocelot) possess the ability to purr or make shrill, high-pitched sounds. So what makes cougars different from their larger counterparts?

Surprisingly, cougars are technically small cats, members of the same group as domesticated cats. Their size is comparable to leopards, with adult males weighing around 140 pounds and measuring 6-8 feet long from nose to tail. Now that’s one large “small cat,” right?

While these dimensions sound awfully large to be lumped into the same category as your pet kitty cat, biologists didn't make an error with the cougars’ classification. Although large, the cougar is most closely related to smaller felines and is closer genetically to the domestic cat than to true lions. (Get it? Mountain Lions?) Anyway, cougars received the designation because of internal anatomy rather than external good looks. Underneath a small cat's tongue is a bone called the solid hyoid which is attached to the windpipe and larynx and helps produce the animal's vocalizations.

Instead of solid hyoids, large cats have flexible cartilage that can vibrate in that oral space, allowing Sabu, Jynxie, and other lions to roar. So your domestic kitty can meow, hiss and growl all day, but that solid hyoid prevents her from roaring like the mighty MGM lion.

Cerella getting ready to "talk!"

As small cats with solid hyoids, cougars can't produce a deep roar, but females can out-scream a 2-year-old child throwing a screaming tantrum at the movie theater. The cougar scream is a rare, high-pitched noise that rips through the wilderness air and causes people to freeze in place. Are those screams warning signs for us to get out of their territory? Are we too close to the female's cubs?

Like the wolf's howl in the night, these cougar screams serve as forms of long-distance communication. Only female cougars are known to make this screeching call, when preparing to go into heat. So if you happen to hear the chilling scream of a cougar in the distance, just think of it as cougar mood music -- and take off in the opposite direction to avoid being attacked by a love-struck interested male!

It is rare to hear a cougar scream in the wild, so we have a treat for you! Cerella, one of our beautiful cougars, is going to demonstrate how a cougar scream sounds in the wild! Keep in mind, while Cerella was spayed years ago, she still has the chops to keep the other cats in their place. You may want to remove small children and animals from the room as her screams can be rather intimidating!

Want to start a conversation? How about loading Cerella's "ringtone" to your mobile devices? If you would like her "ringtone" just e-mail us HERE and we'll send you her lovely sounds!

We hope you enjoyed today's blog posting. Please let us know what you think of today's story by clicking on one of the buttons below. Thanks! Oh, and don't forget to share this posting with those who'd appreciate Cercella's sounds by using our share buttons below!

Our Weekly Recap of Events

2012-02-24T07:00:00.003-06:00

Well, it was another busy week at In-Sync Exotics—and what a week it was for us!

On Monday we celebrated President’s Day by opening our doors to the public. Amazingly, it was such a beautiful day for our guests to visit with our animals.

On Tuesday we discussed Okemo and Nadia’s upcoming medical procedures. You may recall last week Vicky noticed Okemo had a swollen jaw on the right side of his face and the staff discovered Nadia had a circular wound on her face. An appointment was made for our vet to come out and examine our animals while they were under sedation. Needless to say, we were a little concerned with the effect sedation may have on our wild cats because…click HERE for the rest of the story.

On Wednesday, we introduced everyone to our two adorable African Servals, Jasi and Nefertiti (affectionately known to us as Nefie). Both servals were well-kept former pets, brought to us by their former owners—but that is where their similarities end! To learn more about our servals, click HERE.

Thursday was a big day for our two tigers, Okemo and Nadia, as they were seen by their vet. They were sedated, treated, blood and cultures taken, and then revived without any serious complications. Read all about our tigers’ day with the vet HERE.

Update on Nadia: Nadia’s x-rays revealed she has a tooth (T-3) on the right side of her face that needs to be pulled. She has an appointment to have the tooth extracted on March 14, 2012. We will keep you updated on her progress!

Okemo day after his procedure resting

Update on Okemo: The x-rays did reveal a problem with Okemo’s jaw; however, until the cultures results come back, we are hesitant to announce what is definitely wrong with Okemo. We will keep you posted of Okemo’s progress as soon as we receive his lab test results.

Yesterday we released our first “tiger cam” video featuring Saber (Saber was the one who knocked over the camera), Nadia, Luca, and Mohan. Emma was a little shy and was not seen on this particular video. Stay tuned for more videos by Barry Stevenson to be released in the near future. If you haven't seen the video yet, then click HERE -- be prepared to be amazed!

Razoo Big Cats Need Their Vaccination Project Reminder! We are only short $290 towards our new goal of $1025! Can you help us reach our goal by February 29, 2012?

If you are enjoying our blog postings, be sure to pass on them on to your friends, family, and co-workers by using our share buttons below, Thank you!

Well, this concludes another busy week at In-Sync Exotics. Be sure to check back in next week for more updates. And don't forget--we are open on the weekends!

So until next week, we hope you have a safe and happy weekend!

A New Toy on the Playground!

2012-02-23T09:27:00.010-06:00

You have got to see this wonderful video creation of our tigers -- it gives the words "Tiger Cam" a whole new meaning!

A New Toy from Barry Stevenson. Click on four arrows next to HD for full screen.

It's play time for "the babies" at In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Education Center in Wylie, Texas.

During morning recess the five tigers find something new in the playground - a special hi-definition video camera hidden safely inside a log to record a "tigers-eye" view of their world.

For more information about In-Sync Exotics visit insyncexotics.org.

Music courtesy Jon Schmidt. "Love Story Meets Love Story" from the Bonus Tracks CD. jonschmidt.com.

Thank you Barry for this fanstastic video of our tigers!

If you liked this video, let us know by clicking on one of the boxes below! And remember to share the smile with others using our share buttons (Facebook, Twitter, etc) below! Thank you!

Nadia and Okemo's Afternoon with the Vet

2012-02-23T06:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was certainly an emotional roller coaster for all of us at In-Sync Exotics. Nothing is quite as concerning as being told that one of our cats or coatimundi needs to be sedated or anesthetized seeing that both procedures come with certain risks.

Surprisingly, most people don't know the difference between the two procedures. So in order to put this story in its proper context, let's review quickly the differences between the two procedures, hmm?

Sedation and anesthesia are used by veterinarians to perform certain diagnostics and treatments in older cats. Sedation refers to the administration of a drug designed to alleviate distress, irritation, excitement, and/or pain in the patient. Its primary use in cats is to enable diagnostic procedures such as x-rays or endoscopy to be performed without struggle. Sedatives are also used as restraining drugs for minor surgical and/or therapeutic procedures not associated with intense pain.

Anesthesia, on the other hand, refers to the bringing about the unconsciousness in a patient using an injectable drug or inhaled gas. Cats in a surgical plane of anesthesia are immune to pain, thereby allowing for more invasive and extensive surgical and therapeutic procedures. In many instances, sedatives are used in conjunction with general anesthetic drugs to allow for easier administration of the latter.

There is no doubt that for a geriatric tiger, like Okemo, the risk of sedation and anesthesia is greater than that of a younger, healthier tiger, like Nadia. However, with the advent of new, state-of-the-art sedative drugs, combined with new diagnostic technology (like portable x-ray equipment) now available to veterinarians, this risk can be reduced significantly.

Yesterday afternoon Nadia was sedated at In-Sync Exotics so the vet could perform a visual inspection and take x-rays of her circular wound. The good news is—Nadia does not have a tumor!

Our vet shaved the infected area took x-rays and blood, and thoroughly cleaned her wound. Luckily, she did not require sutures, so she will not have to be watched over by our volunteers 24 hours a day for the next 7 days. Her prognosis looks really good.

Okemo was sedated later in the afternoon without any problems. Our vet decided that since his sedation went very well, it would be best to conduct his examination at In-Sync Exotics too. This would proclude our tiger from being sedated at In-Sync Exotics and then anesthetized at the vet clinic--we are reserving this option in case his test results warrants additional treatements.

Once Okemo was sedated, we were able to go into his enclosure and prepare him for his examination. His swollen jaw was cleaned and shaved so our vet could see the swollen sac found on the right side of his chin. Since the sac was filled with fluid, our vet lanced the sac allowing the accumulated blood, pus, and bone shavings to drain from his wound. Once the wound stopped draining, our vet thorough cleaned the area and took x-rays of Okemo’s jaw. We also drew blood from Okemo and both his blood and culture samples were sent off to be tested for any abnormalities. We are very concerned about Okemo's prognosis.

Both tigers were given reversal drugs shortly after their individual procedures were completed and they regained consciousness without any serious complications. Both tigers were a little nausea, vomiting three times before their stomachs settled. This is a normal reaction to the sedative drugs and both cats are feeling much better now.

Tomorrow we should receive news on the tigers’ x-rays; Okemo’s cultures and the tigers' blood results should be ready in about 14 days.

In the meantime, we will keep you posted of our tigers' progress. Please pray that our tigers' health conditions are not serious and that they heal very soon. Thank you!

Honestly--Have You Met Jasi and Nefie?

2012-02-22T07:00:00.003-06:00

Our servals caught playing at night!

Have you met our African Servals yet? No? Well then, introductions are long overdue! Meet Jasi (male serval coming up on his ninth birthday) and Nefertiti, aka “Nefie” (female serval who just had her third birthday last October). Both servals were well-kept former pets, brought to us by their former owners.

Jasi’s former owner came to Wylie, Texas looking for a fresh start. Shortly after her arrival, Jasi decided to explore his new neighborhood by letting himself out the front door. This clever wild cat was able to manipulate the door lever and push it open to the dismay of the owner. For about a week, Jasi explored his world until he was finally picked up by animal control and returned to his owner. The owner had all the required paperwork to maintain the serval and intended on keeping little Jasi with her for as long as possible, so animal control returned the cat to his rightful owner after keeping him for about a week. Unexpectedly, about six months later, Jasi’s former owner’s financial situation dramatically changed and she was unable to keep Jasi with her. Fortunately, the owner lived closed to In-Sync Exotics and was able to bring the boy to our facility.

Meet Jasi!

We were aware at the time of Jasi’s arrival that he had a heart murmur. A heart murmur is caused by turbulent blood flow within the heart or the large vessels exiting the heart. This results in an abnormal noise which was detected years ago by his former vet during examination.

Our vet examined Jasi and recommended that he take Enalapril so as to dilate his blood vessels, helping his heart to work more efficiently. Thankfully, Jasi’s heart murmur is unchanged so he only requires periodic examinations.

Living at In-Sync Exotics was a big transition for Jasi as he was used to living in a house and not outdoors. To help him get used to his new home, we placed pillows on his den’s platforms to mimic the look and feel of his old sofa. It took a while for Jasi to acclimate to his outdoor environment, but thanks to Nefie, his cagemate, he is now enjoying his new life. Jasi’s former owner used to visit the boy for quite often until she accepted a job out of state. It is our hope she will return someday soon and see how well Jasi is doing.

Nefie relaxing!

Nefie, the younger of the two servals, likes to keeps Jasi on his toes. Nefie was voluntarily relinquished to us by her previous owners, who bought her from a breeder when she was only 2 pounds. She lived with them in the house for 15 months and only ventured outside when on a leash for walks.

Like Jasi, Nefie's owners took very good care of her, keeping her up-to-date on all shots and medical care; she was also microchipped at an early age. At 10 months old Nefie suffered from a broken leg, which was repaired at Texas A&M and is declawed on her front paws.

Nefie's owners decided to give her up when they realized they just didn't have time for her anymore.

Poor little Nefie was terrified of her new living arrangements! She shook with fear any time someone walked near her. Since she was not used to being outside we decided to keep her in an indoor enclosure for a few days. Sadly, the previous owners have never returned to see how Nefie fared at her new home—they dropped her off and never looked back.

It was two years ago, yesterday, when Nefie arrived at In-Sync Exotics, and today she is a completely different cat. She loves to play with her puppet toy, teasing Jasi, and keeping volunteers who care for her on their toes! Nafie is no longer scared of people! She has truly matured into a beautiful young serval.

So, does anyone happen to know what “serval” means? Well, the name Serval is derived from a Portuguese word meaning "wolf-deer." Interesting, huh?

Serval Range Map

Wild adult servals weight between 20-45 lbs. and stand about 21-26" tall at the shoulders with males larger than females. They are about 25 - 40" long, with a 8 - 18" tail. Servals are a medium-sized cat with golden coats containing bold black rosettes. They have big ears with distinct white oceli (white spots on the back of the ear just like tigers do) and long, slender legs. Servals are found through the middle and southern parts of Africa and they are almost always centered near water, which is why the range does not include the driest areas of the continent including parts of the Sahara desert. Their typical diet consists of rodents, insects and small birds caught in mid-air.

The serval's long and disc-like ears are used to detect the sound of movement. The cat has extraordinarily good hearing, and can pick up the ultrasonic high frequencies emitted by rodents and other small creatures. They can easily hone in on prey with their tall ears. Once they pin point the position, from where the sound is emanating, they can easily spot their prey. Prey is stalked and then pounced upon in a leap. Their long legs allows them to see just over the top of the grass, then leap straight up into the air to pounce on a rodent, mole rat, ground squirrel, or maybe a bird.

The serval is not known for attacking anything larger than a bird and will definitely not harm livestock. Even though they are sometimes blamed for sheep and poultry losses, jackals or other wild cats are more likely the culprits. Therefore, they are able to coexist with humans in the farmland areas of Africa.

Sadly,people are the main threat to servals. They are hunted for their tawny coats and in some areas for their meat. Servals are losing their fight for survival in the wild, and have now dwindled down in numbers due to human over-population taking over their habitat and hunting them for their pelts. They are also preyed upon by the bigger cats and wild dogs.

The serval is listed in CITES Appendix 2 (valid from December 22, 2011), indicating that cat is "not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled.”

We hope you enjoyed this article on our African Servals. Jasi and Nefie are waiting for you to come and see them, so please make plans to see them soon!

If you enjoyed this blog posting, please let us know by clicking on one of the boxes below! We thank you!

Okemo and Nadia's Planned Trip to the Vet

2012-02-21T07:00:00.020-06:00

We simply love our wild ones! We make sure they receive lots of attention, quality food, treats, and bones, plus we make sure they have a safe and secure place to live. So, when one of our cats is feeling poorly, it affects us all—doubly so, when two cats need medical attention.

Okemo's swollen jaw

Last Thursday evening Vicky noticed Okemo had a swollen jaw on the right side of his face. His appetite was good and he did not show any behavioral changes. Like always, Okemo was happy to see Vicky, chuffing to her with affection.

The vet was called the next morning and he came out to see Okemo. We are not sure why he has a swollen jaw—perhaps an impacted tooth or worst case scenario, bone cancer. Thankfully, the swelling has not increased since it was first discovered and Okemo does not appear to be in any pain. He is eating his meals and enjoying his treats and bones. What concerns us is how fast his face swelled up in such a short period of time. He was fine during the day on Thursday; however, by dinner time his face was noticeably swollen.

Another view of Okemo's swollen jaw

Tomorrow, Okemo will be sedated and taken to the vet’s office so a thorough examination of his jaw can be made in a controlled environment. We will also do a full blood work up to make sure there is nothing else going on with our precious tiger.

Needless to say, we are a concerned with the effect anesthesia may have upon Okemo’s body since he is about 18 years old (considered geriatric). Often geriatric animals may have health conditions associated with the aging process, so they carry a higher risk than younger patients.

Now for our second patient—Nadia, an eleven year old female tiger, will also be going to the vet with Okemo.

This is what the would looked like 2 weeks ago

Two weeks ago, we noticed a small puncture wound on the side of her face. We prayed this small wound would heal on its own, but unfortunately, two weeks later, she still has the same wound—it is not any larger, nor is it any smaller than when it was first discovered. Her vet recommended she travel to his office so she can be thoroughly examined. We are anticipating the wound will be excised in its entirety, tissue approximately one half inch around the wound will probably be removed and then the skin stitched closed with dissolvable stitches.

This is how the wound looked on Sunday

Nadia will have round the clock “watchers” who will make sure she does not claw at her face for seven days, ensuing that her wound does not become infected.

Like Okemo, Nadia is eating well and her behavior has not changed since the discovery of the facial wound.

We’d like to extend huge two paws up with a mighty roar of approval to our “watchers” who will keep a close eye on our convalescing tigress. Our tiger’s health and well-being is truly in your “paws!”

Please keep Okemo and Nadia in your prayers tomorrow and we will keep you posted on their health progress. Hopefully we will have some good news to share with you very soon.

Happy President's Day!

2012-02-19T21:52:00.000-06:00

The blog writer is taking President's Day off; however, In-Sync Exotics is OPEN today from 11am - 5pm! For tour information, click HERE.

Blog postings will resume Tuesday morning, so stay tuned for more informative and entertaining news about the animals of In-Sync Exotics...

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Our Week in Review!

2012-02-17T07:00:00.003-06:00

Goodness, this week has just flown by! Let’s recap the event of this week:

On Monday, we learned that cats are the undisputed sleep champions of the animal world! Thanks to our viewing audience, we were able to put together a short video of domestic and wild cats sleeping styles. Due to the large number of photos, we were unable to include the wonderful captions submitted with the photos—however, the photos truly speak for themselves! Whether it’s a cat finding comfort on a man’s shoulders, stealing our favorite blankets, curling up in our sinks when we need to get ready for work or taking over the doggies’s bed; cats have the unique way of taking over our lives—even when they are sleeping!

So click HERE to view the video and remember, even if your cat is sleeping, he's probably dreaming of you…

Tuesday was Valentine’s Day—a perfect day to celebrate Kenya’s life, the tiger who inspired the formation of In-Sync Exotics. To read more about Vicky’s love for this amazing tiger that was once dubbed as an “ugly” cub by his former owner, click HERE.

Wednesday: What happens when the sun sets, the bones are distributed to the cats, and all animals are fed every Sunday evening? It’s “Bone Race” time! Several years ago, we started a “bone race” where five tigers raced through an empty adjacent enclosure looking for one hidden bone.

Mohan, Saber, Lucca, Nadia, and Emma have gotten pretty good at finding the bone, no doubt because we have limited places where we can hide the tasty treat; it’s just a matter of time before one tiger finds the bone first!

Below is a bonus video of last week’s race, from a different prospective!

We also welcomed a new Intern to In-Sync Exotics! So put your two paws together in welcoming Sascha Myrthue to Team In-Sync!

On Thursday we covered Nugget’s trip to the vet. Why did he need so see his doc? Well, a few weeks ago, we noticed that Nugget had what looked like a rash on his “hind quarters.” Concerned that this might be a bacterial infection….(read more HERE)

Well, we hope you enjoyed this week's blog and will return next week for more fun, entertaining and informative updates on the animals of In-Sync Exotics! Have a fun and safe weekend -- and don't forget to visit the animals if you happen to be in vicinity of In-Sync Exotics!

All of us at In-Sync Exotics hope you have a roaring great weekend!

Nugget's Afternoon With The Vet

2012-02-16T07:00:00.053-06:00

Nugget, our adorable coatimundi, had quite a day yesterday as he had a scheduled appointment with his veterinarian. Why did he need to see his doc? Well, a few weeks ago, we noticed that Nugget had what looked like a rash on his “hind quarters.” Concerned that this might be a bacterial infection, Nugget’s living quarters were thoroughly cleaned, top to bottom, with a disinfectant, and he was administered Clindamycin. This type of medication is used to treat certain types of bacterial infections and we hoped this would resolve the issue.

When it appeared that the rash was not going to go away, we decided it was time Nugget went on a road trip.

Road trip!

So we enticed our coatimundi in his transporter, with the assistance of some dog food tossed inside the cage, and whisked him away to the vet’s office.

Up to this point, Nugget was very cooperative...until he entered the examination room.

In order for the vet to examine Nugget, he had to be sedated since coatimundis have very sharp teeth and they can move very fast in small quarters. Sedating the little coati turned out to be rather challenging. Who knew this little guy could move so fast, dodging the tranquilizer needle at every turn of his tail!

Time to bring in the comforter!

After several attempts to sedate the little guy failed, a large comforter was brought in to fill in the transporter’s “extra space,” essentially trapping Nugget in one corner of the cage.

Success! Nugget was sedated and his examination began shortly thereafter.

Not knowing what type of bacterial infection Nugget may have, a biopsy and culture was taken and sent off for testing.

Meanwhile, the vet thoroughly cleaned the infected area and we were directed to continue giving Nugget his Clindamycin.

While Nugget was fast asleep, the vet administered his annual vaccinations and drew blood to run chemistry and CBC profiles, just to make sure there was nothing else going on with our little coati. Plus he received a thorough brushing and had his nails trimmed--he looks so handsome!

Hopefully, we will learn what type of infection he acquired very soon, but until then, the vet ordered a change in Nugget’s sleeping quarters.

Nugget sleeping in his modified "house"
with his favorite blanket

He wanted to make sure that Nugget did not sleep on a hard surface where his “hind quarters” were not properly ventilated. Instead, he recommended that a flat elevated board with ventilation holes be placed in his “house” so air would continue to circulate around his body while he slept.

Nugget happy to be home again!

Last night, Nugget was feeling a little sleepy from his trip to the vet, but over all he seems happy to be at home again.

We will keep you posted on Nugget’s recovery and pray that whatever ails our little coati goes away real soon!

If you would like to make a donation towards Nugget's health care, we thank you! Donations can be made HERE.

New Intern and Old Traditions Do Mix!

2012-02-15T07:00:00.117-06:00

Once the sun sets, the bones given out, and the animals fed, it is time for the late night Sunday tradition to begin! Several years ago, we started a “bone race” where five tigers raced through an empty adjacent enclosure looking for one hidden bone.

Our five tigers usually mind their manners as they search for their bone—no fighting allowed; however secretly spiriting away the treasure from one another is allowed!

Poor Mohan! He worked so hard to find the bone, but before he could enjoy it, Emma spirited it away! Next time, Mohan, next time... While the bone is the ultimate prize, the other four tigers get to enjoy a few tasty meat pieces as consolation prizes!

Our tigers enjoy using their natural talents to find the hidden treasure since it keeps them on their tiger toes. Fortunately, we have really great staff, interns, and volunteers working hard to keep our tigers in tip-top shape everyday!
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Velkommen til In-Sync Exotics, Sascha!

Please welcome our new Intern, Sascha Myrthue! Sascha traveled all the way from Taastrup, Denmark to intern at In-Sync Exotics; no doubt about it, Sascha traveled the furthest to get to In-Sync! Thanks to the World Wide Web, Sascha found our website and was intrigued with our exotic wild animal programs. She is pursuing a zoology degree and one of the school requirements is she must intern at an exotic wild animal facility, putting her newly acquired knowledge to the test. Since she is fascinated by big cats, Sascha decided In-Sync Exotics would be the perfect place to intern.

We've already put Sascha to work!

Sascha comes to us with zoo animal experience as she worked for the Lintrup Safari Zoo Park for a year. Sadly, the zoo she worked at did not have any large exotic wild cats—just the small cat variety, such as Lynxes and Servals -- she even worked with Hyenas and Dingoes! So needless to say, our large tigers are quite fascinating to Sascha! She doesn’t have a favorite exotic cat yet, but we figure by the time she returns home next month, she have several big cats she’ll be following for years to come by way of our blog and Facebook pages, all courtesy of the World Wide Web!

Welcome to In-Sync Exotics, Sascha!

Interested in our Internship Program? Click HERE for more information!

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Forever Love

2012-02-14T07:00:00.025-06:00

In everyone's life time there is someone—whether it be a person or animal—that impacts one’s life so profoundly and in such a way that it could only be described as “forever life changing.” For Vicky Keahey, the being that made a tremendous impact on her life was a little tiny screaming five week old tiger cub named “Kenya.”

Kenya was born April 28, 1998 at an exotic-animal menagerie, petting zoo, and wildlife drive-through, located near the Central Texas town of Bastrop (the facility eventually closed in the early 2000s due to its troubling past). Vicky often checked on the animals living there as she was concerned for their health and welfare.

When Vicky first saw the little tiny cub at three weeks of age, she screamed on the top of her lungs in distress and had begun to lose her hair. For two weeks, Vicky looked for ways to help the small, tiger cub, but to no avail.

When Vicky laid eyes on a little tiny screaming baby cub described as “ugly” by the wildlife manager a second time two weeks later, she just knew she had to save her—this poor tiger’s health was getting worse, not better. As Vicky examined the tiny cub, the manager said with disgust in her voice, “No one is going to buy this baby cub because she is so ugly—I don’t know what to do with her.” After looking over the screaming almost hairless cub Vicky responded “I’ll take her—I’ll fix her up.” So Vicky bought the tiny “ugly” cub from the wildlife facility and proceeded to drive home with her new little charge.

At this time, In-Sync Exotics didn’t even exist and Vicky had no experience with wildlife facilities or sanctuaries. She just knew, as she drove away from the wildlife facility, that she could do much better at rescuing animals than the place she just left. It was during the ride home, Vicky seriously considered starting her own wildlife sanctuary—a place where animals like the “little ugly cub” could find solace and healing.

The idea of starting a sanctuary was very appealing, but first, it would need a name—what to call this new sanctuary? Vicky wanted the sanctuary to be harmonious and safe place for animals in need, but what name could appropriately describe this new sanctuary? As she was pondering over what to call the new sanctuary, she happened to see a manufacturing warehouse on the left side of the road with the word “InSync” emblazed on the side of the building. That’s when it hit her – “I’ll call it In-Sync Exotics! That’s what I want—that sounds like a good name for the new sanctuary!”

Now what to name the cub? Well, as it turned out, Vicky planned to go to Africa to observe wild cats in their natural environment. Needless to say, with a very sick baby cub covered in fleas needing constant care, her plans to visit Africa were cancelled. “Kenya” needed her more. For the next three months, Vicky tended to a cub that was infected with parasites, worms, and suffered from various stomach ailments. Kenya constantly screamed in discomfort until the medicine finally got rid of the parasites and worms; and she was able to hold food down. Vicky worked tireless with Kenya to get her to eat her food, often resorting to spoon feeding before the stubborn little girl finally learned to eat and hold food down on her own.

It wasn’t long before Vicky had a little “shadow” following her wherever she went. Kenya didn’t like to have Vicky out of her sight for very long as she had built a strong bond with Vicky, and vice versa. As this little cub grew, Vicky learned very quickly that Kenya loved to play with water. She was fascinated with the water coming out of the hose—trying to “bite” the water as it shot out of the hose! Little Kenya was growing up so fast that Vicky new it was almost time for her to live outdoors.

When Kenya turned seven months old Vicky decided it was time for the little cub to live outside by herself. So a new enclosure was built and the tigress moved into her new home. As you can imagine, Kenya, living outside, was hard on both girls. On the cub’s first overnight, Vicky stayed with her, providing comfort to Kenya until she finally fell asleep. Eventually, both tiger and human adjusted to their new living arrangements.

It was about that time when Vicky learned Kenya was allergic to concrete! Her tiny little paw pads would break out in rashes every time she walked on the concrete floor within her enclosure. After giving it some thought, Vicky decided that Kenya’s floor needed to be covered with thick straw. So every week five fresh compacted bales of straw were brought in and every week 23 wheelbarrow trips were made removing the spent straw. It was a lot of hard work, but Vicky saw it as a labor of love.

Kenya and Vicky were almost inseparable. All throughout the day and night, Kenya and Vicky “chuffed” to one another. With Kenya in her enclosure and Vicky on the outside, they played hide and seek, tiger-style. Kenya would chase Vicky, jump in her pool and splash her. Kenya loved all the toys Vicky provided her. She would entertain Vicky by playing with her toys. Kenya had a funny way of hugging her tree and turning somersaults when she wanted to show off. Sometimes, Vicky would sing to Kenya or just sit with her, admiring her beauty. At night, Vicky would sit with Kenya while she ate because Kenya hated eating alone.

For the next two years, Vicky established “In-Sync Exotics,” taking in animals needing help from the same wildlife facility where Kenya was born. Like Kenya, they too required a safe place to heal and grow. But the newcomers could not hold a candle to precious Kenya as she held a very special place in Vicky’s heart. Kenya was growing up so fast into a beautiful 283 pound tigeress.

Tragically, Kenya’s life was cut short. A few weeks before her third birthday, on February 13, 2001, Kenya passed away on her veterinarian’s surgical table during a routine spay surgery.

Kenya brightened the lives of all that met her during her short life, and her spirit and legacy live on as the inspiration for In-Sync Exotics.

As we celebrate her life today, Vicky knows that Kenya is sitting in Heaven with our Lord, watching and guiding the staff and volunteers in the right direction. Looking back at Kenya’s life, Vicky simply stated, “Everything I do now, I know Kenya is looking down on me—I will always do my best for God and for Kenya. She was bigger than life -- she was the love of my life."

Beautiful Memories of Kenya

Baby Kenya loved the water!

Young Kenya playing!

Vicky with a yawning Kenya

28-month old Kenya grooming herself

Kenya's stinky face!

Kenya playing with her stuffed tiger toy!

Kenya enjoying a summer breeze

Beautiful Kenya!

On Kenya's Day, we celebrate her life, and the lives of the cats that passed away after her, by releasing mylar and one special teddy bear balloons, just for Kenya, into the sky.

You'll Be In My Heart

Lyrics: Phil Collins

Come stop your crying

It will be all right

Just take my hand

Hold it tight

I will protect you

from all around you

I will be here

Don't you cry

For one so small,

you seem so strong

My arms will hold you,

keep you safe and warm

This bond between us

can't be broken

I will be here

Don't you cry

'Cause you'll be in my heart

Yes, you'll be in my heart

From this day on

Now and forever more

You'll be in my heart

No matter what they say

You'll be here

in my heart always

Always

Cat Naps!

2012-02-13T07:00:00.005-06:00

Cats are the undisputed sleep champions of the animal world. Only one animal out-sleeps the cat, and that would be the slow-footed sloth, which sleeps an estimated 80 percent of its life. Although the number of hours a cat spends sleeping can vary considerably among individual felines, the average time spent in slumber is about 16 hours per day.

No one is quite sure why, but the solitary cat's lifestyle, punctuated by energy-draining bursts of hunting and playing, is thought to necessitate this form of energy conservation. It is believed that wild cats consume so much energy in taking down large prey, they tend to need more sleep than domestic cats. Female lions, the primary hunters of the species, have been known to rest or sleep as much as 20 hours a day!

So why do cats sleep so much? Well, it is thought that the cat's diet is a contributing factor to its ability to sleep so much. Large grazing prey need to feed for hours on end to get enough nutrition to survive and generally only have time to sleep four or five hours a day. The protein-rich meat diet of the feline, on the other hand, requires no such investment of time for daily sustenance. Instead of eating all day, the cat can stock up on sleep for its short, high-energy chases.

One thing all cats have in common is their unusual, yet adorable, sleeping positions! Thanks to our viewing audience, we were able to put together a short video of domestic and wild cats sleeping styles. Due to the large number of photos, we were unable to include the wonderful captions submitted with the photos—however, the photos truly speak for themselves! Whether it’s a cat finding comfort on a man’s shoulders, stealing our favorite blankets, curling up in our sinks when we need to get ready for work or taking over the doggies’s bed; cats have the unique way of taking over our lives—even when they are sleeping!

So enjoy the video and remember, even if your cat is sleeping, he's probably dreaming of you…

On a more solemn note, today is the day we remember Kenya, Vicky's beloved first tiger, who inspired "In-Sync Exotics." Today we remember her passing with love in our hearts. Tomorrow, we will celebrate her life in our blog. So stay tuned as we tell you all about the tiger who inspired a dream to come true.

So, did you find this posting "funny, interesting, or cool?" If yes, please let us know by clicking on one of the reaction buttons below! And don’t forget to share this posting with people you know who would appreciate having their day brightened by clicking on one of our share links listed below! Thank you!

Oh, and as a reminder, don't forget to vote for us today in the Green Source DFW Environmental Awards! Voting ends tomorrow! All our napping cats thank you...

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It Was A Quiet Week at In-Sync Exotics!

2012-02-10T07:00:00.048-06:00

What a quiet week this has been for us! For the first time in a while, we have been able to catch our collective breathes, and perform routine animal preventative health care.

We started the week with a short presentation of our animals enjoying their enrichment! Enrichment at our sanctuary encompasses a variety of activities where objects, sounds and/or scents are used to encourage the natural behaviors of the animals under our care. Our animals love their enrichment! And we love that enrichment provides mental and physical stimulation which enhances the health and well-being of our animals.

On Tuesday we happily announced Merial Pharmaceuticals stepped in and help us with a donation of $1,000 towards our vaccination program. Thank you Merial for your generosity!

We'd also like to thank everyone who has thus far participated in our “Help Big Cats Receive Their Annual Vaccinations!” Razoo project; so far, we have raised $540! That leaves us with about $485 left towards our goal of $1025. We pray we can reach our goal within the next 19 days!

We spent so much time covering our larger felines that it was time to introduce our lynxes to our readers. So, on Wednesday, we shared with you our 4-Legged, 2-Eared, and 1-Eyed lynx named Trooper, and his cagemates, Duchess and Tobias.

Our lynxes are very special animals, each coming from unique backgrounds, forming a tight-knit bond with one another. If you haven’t seen Trooper, Duchess, or Tobias, you just have to come out to our sanctuary to say “hello!”

On Thursday, the blog writer shamelessly took a day off from writing, but not without leaving a few humorous Calvin & Hobbs cartoons for our faithful readers’ pleasure plus a homework assignment! We are working on a story titled "Cat Naps" and we would love our audience to participate in this blog posting. Send us your favorite photo(s) of your cat sleeping with a catchy caption to our animal email box so we can include the photo(s) in our Tuesday blog. We received quite a few photos of adorable sleeping cats (with captions), but our “Cat Nap” show would not be complete without YOUR sleeping beauty’s picture to compliment the presentation. Deadline to submit your photo(s) is this Sunday at 12:00pm CST. Thank you!

We have some new products in our on-line Gift Shop. Snuggle up to a good book while you snuggle under our new super-soft Throw Blankets featuring either Kami, Tajar, Issac, Raja & Jasmine, Jazz, Duchess, and Aasha. Our throw blankets are perfect for the couch, the car or an evening ball game, this cozy stadium blanket keeps you warm and toasty. 100% soft, warm polyester fleece, can share the warm with your special human or animal companion! These 50” x 60” double-sided blankets’ ink will not run, fade or distress, and they are machine washable!

Since a few of our products are showing up in the horizontal and not vertical position on the Gift Shop web page, we though you might appreciate how these masterpieces look facing the correct direction:

Stadium Blank featuring Issac!

Stadium Blanket featuring Kami

Stadium Blanket featuring Tyjar

Stadium Blanket featuring Aasha

Stadium Blanket featuring Jazz

Stadium Blanket featuring Duchess

Stadium Blanket featuring Raja & Jasmine

Stadium Blanket featuring Aasha

These gorgeous stadium blankets are printed front and back with the same image! If you are interested in purchasing one of our stadium blankets for yourself or as a gift, please visit our on-line Gift Shop today!

Well, we hope you enjoyed this week's blog and will return next week for more fun, entertaining and informative updates on the animals of In-Sync Exotics! Have a fun and safe weekend -- and don't forget to visit the animals if you happen to be in vicinity of In-Sync Exotics!

[Silent reminder] - Green Source DFW Environmental Awards! Voting ends on Monday, 2/13/2012. Our lynxes thank you!
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Guess Who is Playing Hooky Today?

2012-02-09T07:00:00.003-06:00

Well, your blog writter has decided to play hooky, so there will no blog story today. Now I know you are really disappointed, but don't fret, your blog writter will be back tomorrow with more fabulous infromation about In-Sync Exotics.

In the meantime, we have an assignment for our faithful readers--we are working on a story titled "Cat Naps" and we would love our audience to participate in this blog posting. Please send us your favorite photo(s) of your cat sleeping with a catchy caption to our animal email box by noon Sunday, so we can include the photo(s) in our Monday blog. So far we have received several adorable pictures and we would love to see more!

Plus we'd like to thank everyone who has thus far participated in our Help Big Cats Receive Their Annual Vaccinations! Razoo project; thus far have raised $490! That leaves us with about $535 left towards our goal of $1025. We pray we can reach our goal within the next 20 days!

Until tomorrow, we hope you enjoy a little Calvin and Hobbes humor! To see them better, please click on the cartoon and enjoy -

Please don't forget to pass on the humor--share this blog with your friends and family!

What Has 4-Legs, 2-Ears, and 1-Eye?

2012-02-08T07:00:00.011-06:00

We have written quite a bit about our lions, tigers, cougars, bobcats, but nothing about our Lynxes! That’s going to change, starting now!

Hello Trooper!

Meet Trooper, our Siberian Lynx who arrived at In-Sync Exotics on August 17, 2005! You may have noticed Trooper looks a little different than our other two lynxes. Well, Trooper, aptly named based on everything he went through during his first year of life, is one tough cookie.

For you see, Trooper was at one time a private pet who was confiscated by the local authorities in south Texas and brought to The ARK (Animal Rehabilitation Keep) to surgically treat his broken leg and perform eye surgery. Trooper remained with The ARK during the course of his rehabilitation until Dr. Tristan, volunteer veterinarian for The ARK, believed it was time for the lynx to find a new home.

When we received the call from Dr. Tristan asking us if we would take in a young Siberian Lynx with a visual disability, our immediate answer was “yes!”

Dr. Tristan told us everything this young cat had been through his first nine months of life, describing him as "a real trooper. Hearing this Vicky exclaimed “that’s it! His name will be Trooper!”

There appears to be a mystery as to what happened to Trooper’s eye. Dr. Tristan said he wasn’t sure what happened to him as The ARK was given two different stories: either his eye was poked out or Trooper’s mother severely scratched his eye. Since his eye could not be saved, the vet cleaned and stitched his eye socket closed. So how did Trooper break his leg?

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We 'paws" for this commercial announcement:

We need your help! We are writing an article on sleeping cats and we would love our audience to participate in this story by submitting their favorite picture of a domestic cat sleeping. So, if you have a picture of a cat (or two) that you would like to share with our blog audience, please email the picture(s) HERE and we will include it in our upcoming article “Cat Naps!” Please be sure to add an accompanying caption you'd like to see with the picture(s). Thank you…now back to our story…

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Turns out the reason why Trooper’s leg was broken was because the previous owner’s bookshelf fell upon him as he attempted to climb the furniture.

Thankfully, Trooper’s 4-5 month rehabilitation with The ARK helped him recover from his eye surgery and broken limb. It was time to introduce the boy to his new friend, Duchess!

Beautiful Duchess!

Duchess arrived at In-Sync Exotics on February 9, 2002, almost three years prior to Trooper’s arrival, and she too used to be a private pet. Duchess lived her owner for 8 years in Dallas Ft. Worth until a court order was issued requiring Duchess to relocate.

Someone recommended In-Sync Exotics to the owner and after a few phone calls; Duchess came here to live with us.

This was a big change for Duchess after living in the house for so long, but we felt with a lot of attention she would come to accept her new surroundings. It was also very painful for her owner to give her up.

For the first 6 weeks, Duchess didn't eat much. We tried the food her owner left for her and other red meat, but she finally decided she likes the chicken with vitamin supplements best.

Duchess is now very comfortable here at In-Sync Exotics. She loves her cagemate, Trooper, and can often be found snuggling with him inside the den, especially on cold winter days. We are happy to have this beautiful cat with us, moodiness and all.

Last to join our Lynx family was Tobias!

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We "paws" for one more commercial announcement:

Only five days left until Valentine’s Day! There is still time to shop for that special gift and/or card from our on-lineGift Shop! Or how about making a Valentine’s Day gift in someone’s name by making a contribution towards our Vaccination Program! We will be placing the names of “in honor of” or “in memory of” on our website site located HERE. Let your special someone know how much you care about the animals of In-Sync Exotic by gifting in their honor! Thank you…now back to the conclusion of our story...

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Little Tobias!!

Tobias was rescued by the USDA from a breeder in Oklahoma and brought to us on March 19, 2010. He was roughly 10 months old and suffered the effects of extreme negligence. His condition was so bad upon his arrival that we were not even 100% sure he was a lynx. He suffered severe ringworm, which left him almost entirely hairless. He was also anemic and significantly underweight at only 10.5 pounds.

Today, you can see Tobias, Duchess, and Trooper playing and snuggling up together. You may have noticed that Tobias does not have the same coloring as our other two lynxes, making it very easy for our guests to identify him out of our three small exotic wild cats.

Our Lynxes!

We hope you enjoyed this brief introduction to our three lynxes – if you liked the story, you know what to do (see boxes below) and don’t forget to share this story with your friends and family!

[Silent reminder] - Green Source DFW Environmental Awards! Our lynxes thank you!

Wild Cats Received Their Shots!

2012-02-07T07:00:00.114-06:00

Alysia preparing the vaccines
to be administered to the cats!

What??? The In-Sync Exotics’ cats received their shots already? Yes, that right! We were offered a wonderful gift we simply could not refuse. For you see, the makers of the vaccine donated $1,000 towards our vaccination program. We are so happy Merial Pharmaceuticals was able to step in and help our wild ones with their annual vaccinations. Thank you so much, Merial!

So on Wednesday, Friday and yesterday we administered a total of 51 combination doses of Rabies and RCPC (Rhinotracheitis [Feline Herpesvirus], calicivirosis, & panleucopenia) as required by Texas law to ensure the health and welfare of our animals and protect our animal keepers. Thankfully, the cats, over the years, have gotten used to receiving their shots due to our Animal Husbandry Training Program, barely registering the serum entering their bodies, making it much easier for us to administer the shots--in the two combined days it only took us 3 1/2 hours to give out 47 injections!

Apollo has complete trust in Vicky as she administers a shot

We are almost finishing giving all the cats their shots--we still have 3 big cats, 2 cheetahs, 7 small exotics, and of course the domesitc cats. One exotic wild cat in particular wasn't exactly happy to receive his shot as seen in the video below:

Jasi, who is currently not enrolled in the Animal Husbandry Training Program, promptly urinated all over the bottom of Andrea's pants as a show of wild cat displeasure after receiving his shot. Yep, Jasi needs training!

So now that the cats have been wormed and received their vaccinations right on schedule, we are left fundraising to cover the final costs of the shots! We are only short approximately $600 of our new fundraising goal of $1,025!

Can you help us raise the remaining funds on our Razoo project “Help Big Cats Receive Their Annual Vaccinations!”?

Yes? That’s great! A donation of $10 or more towards our vaccination program would be a tremendous blessing for our sanctuary. Even though this is the smallest Razoo project we've posted thus far, it is no less important than our other major fundraising projects!

Since we are a 501 (c)(3) non-profit sanctuary, gifts made to this project are tax deductible as allowed by law.

So please, won't you help us with our vaccination program today? We humbly thank you for your kind and considerate contribution towards our animals' vaccination program!

Jasmine's Birthday "Cake"

Last Friday night we celebrated Jasmine and Raja's birthday. As you may recall, our beloved Raja passed away last year. So in honor of Jasmine and Raja's birthday we prepared a special treat for Jasmine -- two helpings of our special "Birthday Cake." We also made two more pieces of "cake" for her offspring, so they could join in on the celebration. Tyjar and Shamu loved, loved, loved their tasty treats!

Just by looking at the piece of cake pictured left, can you guess what the secret ingredient was under the cool whipped topping? How about a good sized piece of top sirloin steak with cheese art decorating the outside of the plate! For tigers, this is a yummy dessert! So it was no wonder Jasmine, Tyjar, and Samu simply found their cakes simply divine...

Oh, and as a reminder, don't forget to vote for us today in the Green Source DFW Environmental Awards! Our vaccinated cats from In-Sync Exotics thank you!

Our Cats Just Love Saturdays!

2012-02-06T07:00:00.002-06:00

Did you know that every Saturday we provide enrichment to a different group of cats starting at 1:00pm? We just love watching our cats tearing into cardboard boxes or playing with “enhanced” play buckets—and the cats just love the unusual smells emanating from their special “toys.”

What is enrichment and why is it important for the In-Sync Exotic animals? Great question!

Enrichment at our sanctuary encompasses a variety of activities where objects, sounds and/or scents are used to encourage the natural behaviors of the animals under our care. This type of enrichment compels our animals to interact with their environment and with each other. We use various forms of enrichment (e.g., what an animal visualizes, smells, hears, tastes or touches) because it is important to mentally and physically stimulate the animals so as to maintain and enhance the health and well-being of all our wild ones!

Two of our volunteers, Karin and Robert Saucedo, put together an adorable short special video of last Saturday’s enrichment event. So, let’s test your knowledge of our big cats by identifying the cats featured. We’ll share the animals’ names of our “movie stars” at the bottom of this posting…

Okay, were you able to figure out which cats received enrichment last Saturday? Yes? Well, let’s see how well you did. The cats seen in the video were: Jynxie (lioness); Kahn & Sheila (lions); and lynxes Tobias, Trooper and Duchess (she was exploring the inside of the paper bag)!

So, how did you do? If you happen to be in the area, we hope you can come out and see the animals receive their enrichment! Here are the links for directions and tour information!

Did you find this posting "funny, interesting, or cool?" If yes, please let us know by clicking on one of the reaction buttons below! And don’t forget to share this posting with people you know who would appreciate having their day brightened by clicking on one of our share links listed below! Thank you!

Oh, and as a reminder, don't forget to vote for us today in the Green Source DFW Environmental Awards! Our “enriched” cats from In-Sync Exotics thank you!

Week in Review at In-Sync Exotics!

2012-02-03T07:00:00.097-06:00

We've been busy, busy, busy this week! It's time to catch you up for the week and give you updates on animals.

We started the week by giving our readers a behind the scenes look at how our staff and volunteers prepares meals for our wild ones. Preparing healthy meals for our animals is a very important job and we truly appreciate our volunteers that come out and work in the commissary each day! Thank you for your hard work and sacrifice!!

On Tuesday, we thought we’d lighten up the blog with some humor as we contemplated cats and boxes! No matter the size of the cat, boxes will always hold a special fascination for those crazy cats! Watch Tyjar as he plays with his first box at In-Sync Exotics!

Wednesday we presented Amol and his very funny nocturnal activities! If you missed this posting, you just have to click here to see what this tiger likes to do when the sun goes down.

And of course, yesterday, we provided our readers some information about our lions' majestic manes. Do you know why lions have more “mane” than others? And why does Sabu have no mane at all? To learn the answers to these questions, you'll just have to read “Going Mane-less is Cool!”

For those following Katy’s convalesce progress, we have good news to report. Katy went to her vet this week so he could check on her progress. Her x-rays revealed that the leg is healing nicely—the joint has closed up partially and we are hoping that in about 3-6 weeks, our Katy girl will no longer be on “house arrest.” So, in three weeks, Katy will go back to the vet for another appointment to check on her healing progress.

Vicky will be very relieved once she receives the go-ahead from the vet to allow Katy the run of the sanctuary. During Katy’s convalesce; Vicky has spent a lot of time chasing after the dog because Katy implores volunteers and visitors, with her puppy dog eyes, to let her out of the office despite her mandatory confinement order. A stubborn Katy keeps Vicky very active as she is often seen chasing after dog!

On Monday, Keenan was spotted napping on his favorite 15’ off-the-ground perch. Keenan is the only cougar who has the courage to climb the 12’ spiral platform, jumping 6’ horizontally and then 3’ vertically to reach this perch! Not bad, Keenan—not bad at all! We plan to draw some more blood from Keenan in about three weeks to see how he is doing. In the meantime, if anyone knows a cardiologist willing to conduct tests on Keenan without anesthesia (due to his heart condition); please contact Vicky Keahey at In-Sync Exotics.

As you may recall, we held our first Spirit Bowling event at Strikz Bowling last Thursday night. We met a lot of wonderful people at the event, interested in learning more about In-Sync Exotics. We had a great time explaining our mission to everyone who visited our table and loved showing off pictures of our animals to the amazement of folks who never even heard of In-Sync Exotics. We are pleased to report that we raised about $167 from the event and we sold several of our beautiful calendars to boot! Thank you Strikz Bowling for allowing us to have in information table at the event--we had a great time!

There was one particular visitor to the In-Sync Exotics information table that touched Jodi Payson’s heart. A young boy, about 10 years of age, came over to the table and asked what In-Sync Exotics was all about. He asked a lot of questions before approaching Jodi to ask her how much one of our calendars cost. After looking over the calendar, the boy returned to his mother. A few minutes later, he came back to the table so he could buy the calendar. Bless his heart—as he was paying for it he asked Jodi what his money would go towards and she told him that he was helping to feed a BIG tiger! Shortly after the boy left our table, his mother came up to Jodi and told her that her son, after learning about In-Sync Exotics, asked if he could use his allowance to by a calendar to help the animals. It just amazes us how much our animals touch the lives of the young and young at heart!

~ Important Dates to Remember ~

Today is Raja and Jasmine’s 20^th birthday. Sadly, Raja passed away last year, but Jasmine is still living life to the fullest with her handsome neighbor Okemo. Happy Birthday, Jasmine!

On February 4^th it will be the one year anniversary of Brooks passing. Brokks was a very special tiger who gave us six wonderful offspring who call In-Sync Exotics' home: Kiro, Tacoma, Stryker, Abrams, Kazuri, and Harley.

~ We miss you Raja and Brooks ~

Did you hear? We are listed as #2 for the Great Nonprofits Top Rated Animal Welfare 2012 Nonprofits! Big high-five tiger paws and mighty lion roars to everyone who wrote a review about In-Sync Exotics last month!! Even though the annual challenge is over for now, please do not stop writing your reviews of our organization! Your reviews matter as contributors often refer to your comments to see how their donations can best support our sanctuary. So keep ‘em coming, please!

And finally, Valentine’s Day is in just ten days! Have you selected your Valentine card and gift for the special people in your life—your sweetie, mother, father, sister, brother, friends, co-workers, and boss (yes, boss—you cannot forget to send a special Aasha or Issac card to the boss, right?)!

Since it takes about 5-7 mail days to receive these beautiful gifts, you'll want to purchase your special cards and gifts today! We were told by satified shoppers that the cats’ Valentine cards are absolutely adorable! Visit our on-line Gift Shop today!

PS. Proceeds of all gifts goes towards the care and feeding of our beautiful animals. Thank you!

All of us at In-Sync Exotics hope you have a roaring great weekend!
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Going Mane-less is Cool!

2012-02-02T07:00:00.036-06:00

Our lions, Jazz and Shazam often receive awes and compliments on their beautiful flowing manes. While our standard colored lions, Aramis and Kahn’s manes are not as full and majestic as our White Boys, researchers believe they know why some lions have more “mane” than others. Do you know why some lions have full manes while others do not?

Then of course, there’s our mane-less Sabu, who sports no mane on his head, neck, or chest. Why is Sabu mane-less while the other male lions sport full manes?

All great questions! Let’s take a look at the lion’s mane.

We’ve all been told that the lions with the biggest “mane” gets the girls. But researchers learned several years ago that temperature may actually have an impact on the majestic lion mane. An American zoo study revealed that it’s cold temperatures that actually promotes the lion’s long and think mane, which of course is more appealing to the ladies.

In the April 2006 Journal of Mammalogy, the study showed that up to one-half of the length and fullness of the lion’s mane was attributed to temperature, rather than nutrition, social conditions, individual life history, or genes!

So, lions living in colder climates tend to have denser manes that help retard heat loss, while lions living in hot climates adapt by developing smaller, thinner manes. The mane-climate conditions are not a result of natural selection, but rather they are a sign of a flexible trait that can be matched to their local conditions.

Okay, that makes sense as our Texas climates tend to be rather warm for our big cats, so they probably would like having less mane. But there are also other advantages for lions to have less or no manes: keeping a full mane groomed takes a lot of energy; wild lions with a full mane can easily be seen by prey (which probably explains why the lioness do all the hunting—just kidding!); moving through dense plant growth can be difficult and finally dense full manes can harbor parasites. Believe it or not, there are wild lions living in Tsavo, Kenya that are mane-less!

Did you know that lions have 11 mane fields? They are: forehead, throat, upper neck, sideburns, shoulders, sternum, chest, ribs, belly, dorsal crest, and elbows. Have you ever noticed how much hair grows on these parts of the lion’s body before? Normally, the development of the lion’s mane begins at the onset of puberty. Cubs are born without manes as they normally develop around their 18^th month or so and continue to grow until he reaches about five years of age.

If you’d like to read the American Zoo study, you can find the article from the April 2006 Journal of Mammalogy here.

Lions once roamed over most of the world but are now limited to small parts of Africa and India. Only about 22,000-23,000 lions live in the wild today, down from more than 100,000 only 30 years ago. Their numbers have been decimated by human encroachment on their habitats and by conflicts with people.

Lions are currently listed as “Vulnerable” on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species; and in West and Central Africa, the species is now classified as “Endangered.”

Lions have vanished from over 80 percent of their historic range and currently exist in 28 countries in Africa and one country in Asia (India). They are extinct in 26 countries. Only 7 countries: Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe are believed to each contain more than 1,000 lions.

Now, to answer the question, why doesn’t’ Sabu have a mane? When Sabu first arrive at his former home, the Wild Animal Orphanage (WAO), Sabu did indeed sport a beautiful mane. The WAO elected to have Sabu neutered in case he was placed in an enclosure with a lioness. All of the WAO lions were mane-less because they were neutered which resulted in a severe drop to their testosterone level. Testosterone happens to be the key hormone that promotes lion body hair and mane growth. So, our handsome Sabu will always remain mane-less. Out of all the lions, Sabu is the coolest lion during the hot summer months!

We hope you enjoyed this blog posting on our lions’ manes and we look forward to your visit so you can see our lions for yourself! Mane-less or not, they are all majestic in their own ways!

Did you find this posting "funny, interesting, or cool?" If yes, please let us know by clicking on one of the reaction buttons below!

Oh, and as a reminder, don't forget to vote for us today in the Green Source DFW Environmental Awards! Amol and all of us from In-Sync Exotics says "Thank You!"

Later in the morning:

Great news! We are listed as #2 for the Great Nonprofits Top Rated Animal Welfare 2012 Nonprofits! Big high-five tiger paws and mighty lion roars to everyone who wrote a review about In-Sync Exotics last month!!
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Amol's Nocturnal Habit

2012-02-01T07:00:00.014-06:00

Shortly after feeding, just when all the cats begin to settle down for the evening, a large banging sound can be heard coming from Main Street. First it’s a bang. Then it’s a thud. And finally a loud splash emanates from Amol’s quarters.

For the next several hours joyful sounds can be heard from Amol as he engages in his nightly habit of playing with his favorite blue barrel in the tub!

Amol’s evening ritual began shortly after he arrived at In-Sync Exotics on March 22, 2009. We soon discovered our 12-year old tiger liked to sleep during the day and stay up all night playing around with his favorite toy. He would wake up right before dinner and explore his quarters, checking out any new “stuff” added to his home while he slept. Buckets are always interesting diversions, but it’s after dinner when the fun begins…

It's almost dinner time, time to wake up!

"I still have some more explore time before food arrives."

"Gotta look great for the guests!"

"I didn't think they would ever leave! Now, it's YOU and ME time."

"I've missed you my favorite blue friend..."

"It's time for your bath, you say? Yep, time to bathe my buddy..."

"Gotta get you nice and clean."

"I can't let you have all the fun my blue friend."

"Life is good when you can spend quality time with your best friend!"

"Hey! Where's my blue barrel? Who took away my blue buddy??"

(We are sad to report the demise of Amol's blue barrel)

"Hello, my new best buddy...my name is Amol. What's yours?

Amol, like all our cats have unique quirks that make them very special animals. We hope you can visit Amol on a Night Tour as he often sleeps through the day visits!

Did you find this posting "funny, interesting, or cool?" If yes, please let us know by clicking on one of the reaction buttons below!

Oh, and as a reminder, don't forget to vote for us today in the Green Source DFW Environmental Awards! Amol and all of us from In-Sync Exotics says "Thank You!"

What Is It About Cats And Boxes?

2012-01-31T07:00:00.002-06:00

Where do cats get their fascination with destroying boxes? It really doesn't matter if they are domestic cats or wild cats, boxes are excellent sources of "fun" for the animals! We hope you enjoy this week's laugh about how cats interact with their cardboard boxes!

And now a demonstration by Tyjar and he destroys his first box!

We Have a New Intern!

Please welcome our new Intern, Beth Cinadr, as she joins us from Lewisville, Texas! Beth obtained her degree in Biology and is interning at In-Sync Exotics so she can learn more about exotic wild cats. She says she has a passion for the cats and hopes to some day work as an exotic wild cat keeper or curator.

Beth is already working hard in the kitchen preparing meals for our wild one--what a great way for an Intern to get to know our cats' daily needs!

Saturday was her first official day with In-Sync Exotics, so please extend a warm welcome to our new intern when you see her working for the animals at In-Sync Exotics...

We hope you enjoyed today's comic relief. Let us know what you thought of this posting by clicking on one of the "reaction" buttons below!

By the way, today is the last day of the Great Nonprofit Animal Welfare Campaign 2012. Have you written your review of In-Sync Exotics yet? No? Well, you still have some time left! Please write your review today.

Thank you for your continued support!
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Our Wild Cats' Cuisine!

2012-01-30T07:00:00.014-06:00

One of the most important duties at In-Sync Exotics is food preparation in the commissary. We have a lot of hungry mouths to feed and so we have to start preparing their meals earlier in the day so we can start serving them shortly after the sun goes down. A lot of steps goes into food preparation. After all, we don’t have the luxury of popping a can top or tugging at string affixed to the feed bag--quite the opposite goes on behind the scenes! So, let’s take a look at what really happens shortly before sundown!

First off, we should mention, that to prepare meals for the animals, one must be able to follow feed instructions to the "letter." Not all our cats receive the same type or amount of food. Some cats require special diets and some cats require medication along with their food. So everyone must be familiar with the feed board. The feed board lists every animal at In-Sync Exotics along with his or her special dietary needs. You can see portions of the board in the background of this picture. Another important skill for our staff and volunteers is a familiarization with kitchen measurements.

We have to make sure our animals receive the right amount of food in order to prevent over or under feeding. So meats are weighed before placed in the feed bowls. In this job, one cannot be squeamish when it comes to handling different types of meats!

At In-Sync Exotics, we make sure our animals receive a variety of meats.

As the counter fills up with bowls, volunteers move the meals to the "meat mobiles" where the they are loaded up and delivered to cats. Each animal has his/her own name written on the bowl, so meals do not get mixed up.

So when the meat mobiles are fully loaded with lots of tasty meals, everyone is off to help feed the animals! It takes about 2 hours to feed and collect their empty bowls. It's a lot of hard work for the everyone involved, but the efforts are worth it when you see the excited animals lining up for their dinner.

The animals are usually very excited to receive their feed bowls. Some cat get a little too excited that they become "bowl possessive," refusing to return their empty feed bowls, so we have to give them their food on cardboard box tops. Sabu, Sheila, Shazam, Jazz, and Harley love their bowls just a little too much, so they receive their meals on cardboard!

Kaiya

Since it doesn't take the cats long to empty their dishes, the feeders remain with them until they finish and collect their dishes before moving onto the next group of cats.

Nothing makes us happier than to see empty dishes...

Kshama

...and a satisfied animals.

If preparing meals for big cats sounds like something you might be interested in doing, then join Team In-Sync! For information, click here. If you are in the area and would like to watch the exotic cats dine on their pre-dinner bones, then click here for information about our "Night Tour."

Oh, and don't forget! Our wild ones not only require quality food, but they also require vaccinations! We are off to a great start with our vaccination drive and we hope you can help us reach our goal before the end of February!

Thank you very much for helping us keep our animals well fed and healthy!

PS...if you liked this story, please let us know by clicking one of the "What's Your Reaction" buttons below. Thanks!

Later in the day:

I'd like to thank Karin Saucedo for submitting these great photos (see below) of food preparation! In a comment posting below, we were asked where the big cats' meals come from. Well, we purchase meat from Colorado (Triple A), Nebraska, and New Jersey formulated specially for exotic cats plus we also receive meat from the Wal-mart meat program.

Great meat for great cats!

Quality Triple A meat ready to be dispersed into cats' feed dishes

Meats are weighed to ensure every cat receives the right amount of food

Some of our senior and geriatric animals require
medicine to keep them in tip top shape

Visual aid for our staff and volunteers!

Bowls waiting to be washed so as to start the whole process
over again the next day!

Meet Jett and Java!

2012-01-27T07:00:00.017-06:00

No, we didn't receive two new wild cats at In-Sync Exotics! Jett and Java have lived at our sactuary for at least seven years. Unlike our lions and tigers, our spotted leopards enjoy living the quite life. You won't hear them roar and they won't try to "mark" you, but you will see two beautiful exotic cats that like to live high above your head when you come to visit them at In-Sync Exotics!

So, allow us to introduce to you Jett...

...and Java!

Jett is a yellow-spotted leopard and leopards are considered the smallest of the main big "4" wild cats (lion, tiger, and jaguar; excluding ligers and tigons). Often he is confused with Sam and Kodi, our two cheetahs, because of his coloring and spots. But if you take a closer look at these two cats, you'll see they are actually quite different.

Here are just a few physical differences between the two animals:

Leopards…

Are very large, muscular predators;
Spots are rosette in shape, covering the whole body as well as the face;
Have white eye-linings at the bottom of the eyes. The white color assists its vision at night by amplifying light which is reflected off objects around it, into the eyes; and
Claws are fully retractable, just like a "true cat.”

Cheetahs, on the other hand...

Have a tall and slender build;
Heads are quite smaller in relation to her body, when compared to leopards, making the cheetahs look more stream-lined;
Nostrils are large in size to allow maximum oxygen in-take for their muscles, while running at high speeds;
Tails are quite flat towards the end, acting as a rudder to balance it while running;
Have black "tear lines" which run from the eyes down to the sides of the mouth; and
Have semi-retractable claws.

Seeing spots yet?

In case you are wondering, black spotted leopards, often called "black panthers," have a recessive gene that makes their coat look solid black (occurs in black colored jaguars too). Although they may at first look solid black, their spotted pattern is visible from the right angle.

Did you know that:

Leopards can hear five times more sounds than humans, even the ultrasonic squeaks made by mice?
When it's time for a rest, leopards like to climb trees and sprawl out on the branches. They are the largest cats to climb trees regularly? You'll often find our leopard high up on their platforms looking down on us!
Depending on its habitat, a leopard’s coat can be short and thin or thick and warm.

Sadly, the wild leopards habitat has significantly declined due to hunting and human encrouchment. Today, the wild leopard can be found in sub-Saharan Africa; there are also fragmented populations in the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. Because of its declining range and population, the leopards are listed as a "Near Threatened" species on the IUCN Red List.

Thankfully, Jett and Java call In-Sync Exotics home, where they love to romp and play with each other! You can learn more about these two beautiful spotted leopards by visiting their web pages: Jett and Java!

Jett hugging and playing with his "toy"

Java contemplating the meaning of life by staring into
his "pool"

If you enjoyed this story about Jett and Java, please let us know by clicking one of the "What is Your Reaction" buttons below! Thank you!

The Elegance of a Cat's Tongue

2012-01-26T07:00:00.019-06:00

Have you ever considered the domestic and wild cats’ tongues before? No? Well, your consideration is well overdue! Let’s take a look at our cats’ tongues.

But first a quick pause: Can you identify the tongue in the puzzle above? If you can, let us know in the comment box below...

Okay, back to posting...

Kaiya licking a shank bone

First of all, did you know that a cat’s tongue is covered with numerous small, sharp, rear-facing projections called papillae. These are quite rigid, as they contain keratin. These papillae give the tongue its rough, rasping texture and is designed to help strip meat off of bones, as demonstrated during our bone night tours.

And, did you know the cat’s tongue is used to lick wounds clean after rough play? Wound licking can accelerate healing, so it is thought of as a form of animal self-medication. There are a number of components of saliva that have been shown by scientific research to act against infection or to promote wound healing. On the flip side, too much wound licking can cause bacterial infections or prevent wounds from healing properly. That’s why it is very important to monitor any type of open wound found on a domestic or captive wild cat.

What you may have not known is exactly how a cat drinks water. After all, our cats lap water so fast that the human eye cannot follow what is happening, which is why the trick had apparently escaped attention up until about two years ago when four highly qualified engineers and a bunch of integral equations, solved the mystery of how cats drink (yep it took engineers to solve the mystery!).

Unlike our dogs, who loudly lap up water by thrusting his tongue into the water, forming a crude cup with it and hauling the liquid back into the muzzle, cats have a much more elegant method of drinking water.

The four engineers from MIT, Virginia Tech and Princeton discovered that the cat’s lapping method depended upon its instinctive ability to calculate the point at which gravitational force would overcome inertia and cause the water to raise and fall.

In layman’s terms, what happens is that the cat darts her tongue, curving the upper side downward so that the tip lightly touches the surface of the water. The tongue is then pulled upward at high speed, drawing a column of water behind it. Just at the moment that gravity finally overcomes the rush of the water and starts to pull the column of water back down — snap! Her jaws close over the jet of water, allowing her a sweet taste of fluid, while keeping her chin nice and dry. What is truly amazing is that a domestic cat can lap four times a second—too fast for our eyes to see anything but a pink blur!

Big cats, such as tigers and lions, do not drink as fast as their smaller counterparts. Since their tongues are larger, they lap more slowly to achieve the same balance of gravity and inertia!

So there you have it—for cats, drinking water is truly a science.

So next time you see our tame and wild ones drinking water, we hope you have a new appreciation for their amazing and elegant tongues!

Good News Abound!

2012-01-25T07:00:00.025-06:00

We've been so busy with our new arrival, we haven't had a chance to catch you up on our latest news!

Exciting donation matching news! You may recall last year Corby Bryant, Janet Bryant, Kristen and Lauren Poleski, and Susan Moore baked their hearts out for us during their annual Christmas bake sale, raising $4,175 for our animals! Well, we have more exciting news to report! The company that Corby, Kristen and Lauren work for, Venable Royalty, Ltd., matched their fundraising efforts bringing their donation total to $8,350!! Thank you so much, Venable Royalty, for matching the ladies fundraising efforts 100%! We are very excited by this news and we wanted everyone to know how grateful we are for the matching donation! Yea!!

Cheetah Home Improvement Project: We are moving forward on the Cheetah “Fast Track Habitat” project! Funds were secured last year, construction plans were made, and we are now getting ready to begin construction in March 2012. We are hoping to have the cheetah’s new home completed so the cheetahs will have an early summer move-in date. We will keep you posted on the construction of Kodi and Sam’s new habitat!

Calling all bowlers (and non-bowlers alike)!! Tomorrow we have a special bowling spirit night at Strikz Bowling in Frisco (Texas). Bring in this flier tomorrow night from 6-10pm, present it at the time of you pay for bowling and In-Sync Exotics will receive 20% of the group sales! Bring your friends, your family, and your co-workers to Strikz Bowling for some group fun and excitement, with the added bonus that you are helping the animals of In-Sync Exotics! Now go on out there tomorrow night and bowl ten strikes in a row for the animals!

A Sabu Medical Update! You may recall, when Sabu first arrived at In-Sync Exotics in May of last year, his Vitamin A level was at 16. Well, we received his recent blood results, and we are happy to report his Vitamin A level continues to climb! He is now at 144, as he makes progress towards his goal of 200. Congratulations, Sabu!!

For all you Sabu fans out there--we have his Ringtone available! If you would like to add Sabu's Ringtone to your cell phone, let us know and we'll email you his soulful sounds right away!

Our Latest Razoo Project -- Big Cats Need Vaccinations! We'd like to thank everyone who has donated thus far towards this very important health care maintenance program for our animals. Even though are animals may not be looking forward to the BIG day when shots are administered, we look forward to making sure all our animals are inoculated against viruses that may potentially harm our animals. If you wish to donate towards this most worth cause, please visit our Razoo project site!

Not only do our animals receive shots, but we also administer "wormer" medication twice a year to make sure they are not infected with any internal parasites, such as roundworms or tapeworms. Again, another important health care maintenance program our animals anxiously look forward twice a year! We begin the winter "worming" this week.

Tyjar Update: Today, Tyjar spent some quality time in the playground for the first time. At first, he was a little apprehensive about venturing out to the playground, which is normal as this is unknown territory for the boy. But with a little treat encouragement, we were able to get Tyjar out of the living quarters and onto the playground. The first thing he did was sniff the tire swing, checked out the pool, and spent the remaining time sniffing every rock and blade of grass. He was curious about the den, no doubt sniffing other tigers' odors, left behind by his neighbors in Tiger Country.

Tyjar spent a lot of time chuffing with Vicky as she stood out in the rain, spending quality time with the boy. Now that's dedication!

Valentine's Day! And finally, Valentine's Day is about 19 days away and counting! Don't forget to visit our "Romance Shop" for beautiful cards and gifts! Guys, to keep your sweetie warm this winter, think Kami Pajamies or Kashma Pajamas! Ladies, we have a several mugs to choose from to keep your guys' coffee hot! So visit our on-line gift shop today so your special some one's gift will arrive on-time this Valentine's Day!

And remember...to vote for us today!

Green Source DFW Environmental Awards

Welcome Home Tyjar!

2012-01-24T07:00:00.036-06:00

Hello Tyjar!

We have some really exciting news to share with you! We'd like to introduce to you a special tiger who recently joined our happy family--a tiger who is not a stranger to us! Please welcome home, Tyjar to In-Sync Exotics!

You may be wondering why Tyjar is not a stranger to us. Well, you see, in February of 2003, In-Sync Exotics spearheaded a rescue of 33 tigers from a roadside wildlife park. At the time of the rescue, we only had room to accept three tigers—Raja, Jasmine and Midas.

The rest of the animals required placement, so we coordinated and met with various individuals, organizations, and the USDA to ensure that every cat reached his or her destination in good condition. For six weeks, we made sure the tigers were well-fed and cared for until they had all been transported to their new homes.

On February 10, 2003, we transported our beloved Midas’s brother, Tyjar, to a friend’s facility in Kaufman County, recommended by the USDA,. When we said our good-byes to Tyjar it was a bitter sweet moment for us all. We knew that Tyjar would have a good home and that he would be loved; we just hated splitting up the brothers whom had lived next to each other in their old location for the past 5 years. We asked of our friend that if, for any reason, Tyjar didn’t work out would he please give us a call so we could have the first option to house Tyjar with us.

As fate would have it, we lost Midas in April of 2011 after a long battle with skin cancer. On January 18, 2012, our friend called us and asked if we would be willing to take Tyjar on a permanent basis. Our hearts jumped with joy at the opportunity of giving Tyjar a new forever home with us!

For the past nine years, Tyjar traveled the United States as a circus star. Each time we check in on Tyjar, we saw a happy, well-adjusted tiger. Up until recently, Tyjar enjoyed working with the other performing cats. However, about a month ago that changed. Two younger females took it upon themselves to start “bullying” Tyjar during playtime. As this behavior escalated some of the older tigers joined in. As Tyjar started showing signs of stress, our friend made a difficult, loving decision. He felt a change in location where he could spend the rest of his life with his birth mother and sister, Jasmine and Samu, would be best.

Tyjar meeting his sister for the first time

On January 20, with tears of sadness and joy at both facilities, Tyjar was moved to his new home at In-Sync Exotics and reunited with his family.

We wish Midas was still with us so he could see his brother once again.

Tyjar has settled in very nicely and the other tigers readily accepted the boy without any fuss. Even Emma, who is very picky about who lives near her, has taken to the boy. The video below is a touching moment when Tyjar and his sister Samu meet for the first time!

Welcome home, Tyjar!

Samu is happy meeting her brother for the first time!

As you watch the above video, notice the tigers in the background! They look so excited to see Tyjar!

It's Vaccination Time!

2012-01-23T07:00:00.053-06:00

Well, it is that time of year again when we must vaccinate 75 animals living at In-Sync Exotics!

That means all our exotic wild ones plus our domestics require two shots each in order to be vaccinated: one for Rabies and the other for RCPC (Rhinotracheitis [Feline Herpesvirus], calicivirosis, & panleukopenia). It’s going to be a long day, when we begin vaccinating 75 animals, but it will be worth it!

For you see, it’s very important to vaccinate our exotics wild cats and domestics as a number of diseases can be passed back and forth between the two feline species.

You may be wondering why we administer RCPC combination shots to our felines. Simply put, Rhinotracheitis vaccines help prevents upper respiratory infection of cats caused by feline herpesvirus (also known as feline influenza).

Viral respiratory diseases in cats is serious because it can be passed from cat to cat quite easily as it is highly contagious. Another cause of feline respiratory disease is feline calicivirus, which is why we treat our cats with the RCPC combination shot containing calicivirosis.

Feline panleukopenia virus also known as Feline distemper, or cat plague, is a viral infection affecting cats, both domesticated and exotic wild felines. It is caused by feline parvovirus, a close relative of the type 2 canine parvovirus. Once contracted, it is highly contagious and can be fatal to the affected cat. So all our cats are also vaccinated against this virus as well.

Needless to say, the cost of vaccinating 75 animals can be rather expensive! This year, In-Sync Exotics will spend about $2,025 to vaccinate all its animals, administering 150 doses at an approximate cost of $27 per animal!

We created a special Razoo project in the hope that you will help us with our animals' vaccination program this year! Here is the link to our Help Big Cats Receive Their Annual Vaccinations Razoo project page!

Donate online to Help Big Cats Receive Their Annual Vaccinations! at Razoo

Our vaccination goal amount may be smaller than our other Razoo projects, but the need is just as great. Just $15 will cover the cost of one shot for one animal, while $30 will vaccinate the same animal for one year.

Since we are a 501 (c)(3) non-profit sanctuary, gifts made to this project are tax deductible as allowed by law. So please, won't you help us vaccinate our animals today?

We humbly thank you for your kind and considerate contribution towards our animals' vaccination program!

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Say it isn't so! We've dropped to fourth place on the GreatNonProfit Review! If you haven't had a chance to write your review, now would be an excellent time to do so! Thank you!
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In-Sync Exotics' "Other" Residents!

2012-01-20T06:15:00.001-06:00

Just when you thought you've met all the In-Sync Exotics wild ones, Cat Tales presents a few more residents for you to meet!

First off, we have Twiggy! Twiggy is about 12 years old and she joined the In-Sync Exotics family in 2009 under some rather unusual circumstances.

Prior to her arrival, Twiggy was diagnosed as having cancer on her face. Her previous owner no longer wanted to be emotionally attached to an animal with cancer, so she decided to place the horse on Craig's List.

An In-Sync Exotics volunteer saw the ad and purchased Twiggy for $500. Wanting to make sure this horse had a good, safe home, she asked us if we could accept her. After looking into this horse's beautiful eyes, we knew we had to say "yes!"

Today, Twiggy keeps Missy, Vicky's private horse, company. In the video below, you can see 34-year old Missy rolling around on the ground while Twiggy watches her companion's antics!

We not only has exotic wild cats, but we also have 13 adorable domestic cats. Here are just a few adorable pictures of cats you might see when you visit us:

Somehow Sox and bills simply do not mix well together

Sox is quite the character and is probably the most affectionate, people-oriented cat than any of our domestic cats!

Franklin spying on Sailor across the soon-to-be new home for the cheetahs!

Franklin actually belongs to Vicky and you'll often seen him accompanying his owner around the property. Sailor, seen in the background, is rather shy and is often seen strolling solo around the grounds.

Reebok is affectionately known as the office's paper weight!

"My paw is faster than your hands--stay away from the keys!"

Spirit, our oldest cat at about 16-years of age, can often be found relaxing in the office. Spirit is also known as the "keeper of the keys" and will swat unwelcome hands away from them!

Meet Obi (foreground) and Patty (background) -- both cats
are often seen patrolling the grounds.

And finally, let us introduce you to Shoes! As you can see, Shoes likes to snooze...

Shoes' doing what Shoes does best!

When not snoozing, Shoe can be found chasing butterflies, crickets, and grasshoppers--he is such a versatile animal! Shoe is our youngest domestic cat at 1 1/2 years old.

So next time you visit In-Sync Exotics, take a look around and see if you can spot our little domestic ones and our horse, Twiggy, too!

Special Alert! We Have Been Nominated for the...

2012-01-19T16:25:00.001-06:00

Green Source DFW Environmental Awards

The Green Source DFW Environmental Leadership Awards are presented by the Memnosyne Foundation to recognize people and groups in the Dallas - Fort Worth area for their exceptional leadership in the enhancement and protection of the environment. There are four categories: Grass Roots Non-Profit Group or Organization, For Profit/Business Individual, Volunteer, and Entrepreneur.

The winning grass roots organization will receive $500 and the winners in other categories will receive $250 towards the green cause of their choice. The nomination period ran through January 6. Voting began January 16th and runs until February 13th.

Please vote for one in each category. You can vote once a day.

http://greensourcedfw.org/environmentalawards

So remember to set your "tickler" to remind you to vote every day up till February 13th! Remember, every grant dollar that goes towards our green projects truly helps us all!

Thank you Kim for nominating us!!

Our First Who Am I for 2012!

2012-01-19T07:00:00.002-06:00

It's our first Who Am I of the year! Can you guess name of the animal pictured (the tiger silly, not the monkey!)?

First person to identify and answer two questions about me wins bragging rights. Simply send your response via the comment box and if you are the first person to respond to the challenge, you win! So, are you ready to figure out who I am?

Now for the Questions:

Question #1: How much did I weigh when rescued?

Question #2: Am I a male or female tiger?

Good luck everyone!

And remember, I am incomplete without you -- won't you adopt me? http://www.insyncexotics.org/Adopt-A-Cat.html

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Working With Big Cats - An Intern's Dream

2012-01-18T07:00:00.003-06:00

Being an intern at In-Sync Exotics has been one of the most rewarding and interesting experiences of my life. No other internship program I’ve participated in or researched offers the sort of hands-on, intense experience that In-Sync offers. You make such a fast connection with the animals and people that it doesn’t take long to feel like you’ve always been here.

Aramis sticking out his tongue at me!

I completed my first internship at In-sync this past summer (one of the hottest on record I hear) where I had the privilege of being part of the Poetry rescue. As heartbreaking as it was to see the animals in such poor conditions, it was uplifting to see how hard everyone worked to better their temporary situation. There was such a feel of accomplishment every time another stall was clean and ready for rehabbing. The best memory I have of Poetry was once we got Layla, Eve, Aurora, and Aramis back to In-Sync and the girls got their first taste of toys.

Eve and her toy duck!

Eve went after that decoy duck like it was the Christmas present she’d always been waiting for and most of us discovered Aurora had a “slight” ball obsession. Of course none of us can forget the look on the Poetry cougar’s faces when they touched grass for the first time.

Now in the winter months I’m gaining new experiences, like cleaning out the winter dens (oh the joy) and of course I’m learning more and more about exotic cats from everyone here. As part of the internship program we participate in animal behavioral training.

Alysia training Stryker to stand-up
and stay still for a full-body examination

Currently I’m training Stryker and Aasha, two very different cats when it comes to temperament, on how to enter the vet chute and to come to me on cue so I can conduct full body exams of the cats for potential health issues. Aasha is your excitable cub with a short attention span and Stryker wants to know the source of every noise around him (not that it cuts into their progress; they’re both very smart cats).

Alysia teaching Stryker how to lay down
and remain still while being examined

I would recommend the In-Sync Internship Program to anyone out there who is looking for experience in this field. It’s a lot of hard work and long hours, but it is by far worth all of the effort to have a true experience working with exotic cats (and one coatimundi J).

Blog Posting Written By: Alysia Lavender, In-Sync Exotics Intern

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Keenan's Heart

2012-01-17T07:00:00.011-06:00

As many of you know, we have several geriatric cougars living at In-Sync Exotics. One particular cougar, Keenan, who will be 17 years old in May, is one of our older special needs cats.

Keenan has a unique history because he is our only exotic wild cat that died on an examination table during a procedure performed by a veterinarian. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start from the beginning…

In September 2010, we noticed that Keenan was behaving oddly. He appeared lethargic, refusing to eat all his food, and play with the other cats—so we called his vet. Dr. Kerin examined Keenan without anesthesia and visually found nothing physically wrong with him, so he recommended a trip to Texas A&M, so he could be anesthetized and thoroughly examined.

A couple of days later, we took a road trip to College Station so Keenan could be examined by the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine veterinarians. Keenan was sedate so the vets could perform a sonogram.

During the sonogram, the vets observed Keenan’s heart stop beating, so they immediately initiated emergency resuscitation procedures. After about 60 very long seconds later, Keenan’s heart finally started again. Technically, Keenan died on the exam table for a very short time.

During the time Keenan’s heart stopped, his body started to shut down non-essential organs, and so when Keenan’s heart resumed beating, we discovered our cougar was blind.

Thankfully this condition was only temporary for while Keenan was recuperating at A&M, the vets were happy to report his vision returned about 36 hours later. Keenan, stayed at A&M for three days, while the vets tried to get him to eat and take his medicine because they wanted to perform one more sonogram, this time without anesthesia. Needless to say, we were very anxious about repeating this procedure after what happened the last time.

Keenan came through the second sonogram procedure without incident and the test did reveal our cougar has a heart problem known as Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

What is Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM)? Well, our cougar’s heart has four chambers: two chambers at the top, the right and left aorta; and two chambers on the bottom, the right and left ventricles. DCM is a heart disease that affects the ventricular muscle and is characterized by dilated, or enlarged heart chambers, and reduced contraction ability. That means his heart has a diminished ability to push blood out of the respective ventricle. Unfortunately, DCM causes the heart to become overloaded, and may lead to congestive heart failure. When the A&M vets made this diagnosis, they gave Keenan only six months to live.

We were determined not to give up on Keenan, so our cougar was placed on a whole host of medicines (almost including the kitchen sink) to try and correct or at least alleviate some of his recent symptoms.

We return home with our cougar with a plan to give him round the clock attention to make sure he resumed eating and took all his prescribed meds. Unfortunately, Keenan still had trouble eating, so we called his vet, once again, for a consultation.

Dr. Kerin recommended we take Keenan off most of his meds as they were causing Keenan to lose his appetite as they undoubted upset his stomach. He did continue to take two medications necessary to aid our boy, enalapril and furosemide. Enalapril is commonly given in conjuction with a diurectic, like furosemide. Because of the medications’ side effects, we monitored Keenan’s kidney parameters (BUN and Creatinine) levels periodically to make sure there were no changes to his kidney functions.

Nine days after his trip to A&M, Keenan still refused to eat his regular food, so we administered subcutaneous fluids and he was given a valium shot by his vet. As soon as the valium shot “kicked in,” Keenan resumed eating his meals once more.

For the next several weeks, Keenan’s vet visited with our cougar to check on his heart rate to make sure he heart was beating normally. During one such visit, Dr. Kerin thought he heard an irregular heartbeat.

A call to a heart specialist was made and Keenan went to his vet’s office for another sonogram and an EKG—all without anesthesia. As expected, Keenan remained calm, cool, and collected through the entire procedure—he was such a trooper! The heart specialist confirmed our vet’s diagnosis—Keenan has Cardiac Dysrhythmia (also known as arrhythmia). Our cougar was prescribed another medication called diltiavem, which is used to relax blood vessels so the heart doesn’t have to pump as hard. It also increases the supply of blood and oxygen to his heart.

Keenan playing on the playground
two months after his 1st A&M procedure

Keenan, until recently, was doing great! He ate well, he played well, he was a very happy and social cougar…until about three months ago when we noticed Keenan started turning away his food on and off. He’d eat one day, skip a day, eat 2-3 days, skip a day, and so forth.

So last Tuesday, we drew blood and our vet ran the usual blood tests. The results were not encouraging. Our geriatric cougar has renal failure. Whether it’s chronic or acute, we do not know at this time, but we are monitoring him very closely.

In the meantime, we are administering subcutaneous fluids and keeping him on his medications. Keenan’s next blood draw will be on Tuesday of next week, so we will keep you posted of his condition. We hope you will keep Keenan in your prayers.

Whew! Busy, Busy Week!

2012-01-13T07:00:00.011-06:00

Special Alert Notice! If you should receive a cancellation notice from Amazon payment processing center stating that your product is "out of stock," please call CafePress at 1-877-809-1659 to replace your order. There is a system clitch in the Amazon processing system that is causing some orders to reject! CafePress apologies for the inconvenience and we hope this does not stop you from making your on-line purchases from our on-line store that ultimately benefits our animals! Thank you!

Well, another busy, busy week comes to a close at In-Sync Exotics!

We started off the week with an update on Lassiter’s health condition. Bless his heart, Lassiter required dental surgery to remove one of his canines. A blog reader left us a comment asking if this tooth performed any function. Well, canines are primarily used to “kill” prey and to help strip meat from animal bones. So, in a sense, Lassiter may miss this right canine during bone night as there usually quite a bit of meat still attached to his tasty treats! Lassiter is recovering well and has resumed his normal activities. Thank you everyone for your kind words of encouragement and prayers for our cougar during his time of need!

On Tuesday, we reported the adventures of our interns as they took an educational trip to Fossil Rim last Friday. You have got to see the amazing photographs taken on this trip! We also congratulated Andrea Torino as she was selected as our new keeper! Monday will be her first day as an official In-Sync Exotics’ employee—so if you see Andrea on Monday, be sure to congratulate her on her “promotion” from volunteer to staff!

Wednesday’s posting was about a couple of animal moves that we made to enhance our bobcats and coatimundi's quality of life. We decided to move Chance, Lydia, and Isaac into a larger space formerly occupied by Nugget. We moved our coatimundi closer to the commissary into what used to be the former bobcat enclosure. Nugget just loves, loves, loves his new home! He spends a lot more time outside his den. He is no longer oblivious of his tiger neighbors as he is often seen mimicking their behaviors. The bobcats also seem very happy with their larger living quarters, but due to the cold weather they seem to want to spend more time in their heated dens than outside playing in their playground!

Thanks to some questions from our audience, we thought we’d officially introduce Nugget to the blog! So Thursday’s posting was all about our “honorary” wild cat, Nugget! Who knew this little critter has such a passion for shrimp!

If you haven’t noticed yet, we’ve been very busy adding new cards and gifts to the on-line gift store, just in time for Valentine’sDay! The new cards and gifts feature our animals—and if we may say so, they are absolutely stunning!!! You can find cards, key chains, journals, and mouse pads on this site.

Aasha's Journal!

We are also offering a special feature. If you see an In-Sync Exotics card that you like, and you’d like to personalize it with your special someone’s name, send us an email and we’ll create it and place it in our store. Please do not use last names on the cards or places of business. You can add limited text, but it has to be “G” rated. We will create and post the card to the store and advise you when it’s ready for purchase by return email! This will be for a limited time only, so send in your requests today!

And remember, proceedes from purchased gifts and cards benefits the animals of In-Sync Exotics! Thank you!

We hope you had a terrific week! Please join us once again next week for more interesting and educational postings on the happenings at In-Sync Exotics!
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Who Is In-Sync Exotic's Honorary Cat?

2012-01-12T07:00:00.012-06:00

Okay, just who is this “honorary cat” In-Sync Exotic mentions in various blog postings and Twitter comments? What is a coatimundi and where do they come from? Are they solitary animals or do they live in groups? Why does In-Sync Exotics have only one coatimundi?

These are all great questions!

First, meet Nugget! Isn't he just adorable?

Nugget is a 7 year old South American Coati, also known as a Ring-tailed Coati and his species is native to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela. Normally, these cuties with teeth and claws weight about 8 to 13 pounds and total length is about 3 feet or so with half of its length being its tail!

South American Coatis are diurnal animals, living both on the ground and in trees, but are often found scavenging and poking through cracks and crevices in search of tasty morsels amongst the leaves in their native forests.

Nugget loves to eat fruit, eggs, and small bugs as he is omnivorous. His favorite treat is peppermints, Jolly Ranchers and cinnamon pop-tarts, shrimp, and will devour creepy, crawly things, especially long, juicy earthworms! Yum-my!

Like most males, Nugget is a solitary animal, while the females enjoy living in large groups, called bands consisting of about 15-30 females and their offspring.

Nugget likes to make little squeaking sounds when he is happy to see us and if something frightens him, he’ll make a run for it. Please do not cough around our coati because the sound frightens him!

Nugget is protected from natural predators such as foxes and jaguars. The average lifespan of a coatimundi living in captivity is about 14 years.

Where did Nugget come from? Well, Nugget was originally purchased from a pet store in Plano. However, when the owner's neighbors complained about having an exotic pet in their neighborhood, Nugget's new owner was forced to get rid of him. He sold Nugget back to the pet store owner who decided to keep this cute, little guy himself.

Because he was in the process of building a new home, Nugget went to live with the pet store owner's father-in-law until the house was completed.

However, upon completion, Nugget was no longer wanted. Because the father-in-law didn't want this cute, little guy either, he called In-Sync to see if we had room. During Nugget's 3-4 month stay with the father-in-law, he was housed in a 2'x3' crate, which appeared as if it had never been cleaned. There were multiple food bowls filled with molded food and feces, no fresh water and inadequate shelter.

Nugget had burns on his body from wallowing in his own urine.

Before coming to us, he had never seen a veterinarian nor received any routine vaccinations. Nugget's personality won us over immediately. He is very affectionate and loves company and to have his back scratched.

Nugget is very acrobatic and loves to entertain anyone willing to watch. So, when you come out to visit, please say a special "hello" to our "honorary cat" named Nugget!

Four Happy Animals!

2012-01-11T08:34:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday we made a couple of animal moves that will enhance our bobcats and coatimundi's quality of life. We decided to move Chance, Lydia, and Isaac into a larger space formerly occupied by Nugget. We moved our coatimundi closer to the commissary into what used to be the former bobcat enclosure.

Chance checking out his
bobcat neighbors

This move allows all our bobcats to be located in once central area, giving them the opportunity to check each other out. We will continue to keep Moses and Otis separated from their three new neighbors, but they can see and hear each other through the Plexiglas window se-parating their heated dens.

Two surprised bobcats enjoying their
heated den!

All five bobcats seem very happy with this new arrangement as now Chance, Lydia, and Isaac not only have their own heated den, but they also have their very own playground to enjoy.

Isaac and Chance in their heated den

Chance seems to be doing very well living with Isaac and Lydia. Lydia, an older bobcat, likes to "mother" the youngster while Isaac has become quite buddy-buddy with his new playmate!

Nugget checking out his new "digs"

Meanwhile, Nugget also appears very happy with his new living arrangement, happily chirping and spending more time with volunteer staff when they arrive to clean out his quarters. Nugget is having a ball digging around his raised dirt-filled play area!

Tigers Kiro and Tacoma enjoy watching Nugget's antics, completely fascinated with this little furry creature playing around in his new home. Nugget, on the other hand, appears to be oblivious of the extra attention he's currently receiving from the two tigers living across the way from him!

Nugget's new quarters is only temporary. Once the new serval enclosure is built, the servals will move into their new home and Nugget will occupy their former quarters. This will give Nugget the opportunity to explore and climb around his new environment, plus scavenger around for tasty morsels to his heart's delight.

This will be an exciting year as we build new homes for our animals, so you'll want to stay tuned for the latest construction updates!
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