Just Another Day at In-Sync Exotics

Operating an exotic wild animal sanctuary is not your normal routine job.  Each day brings new challenges to resolve, such as what to do if a cougar develops a problem with her paw.

Last Saturday, Sassy, a 12-year old female cougar developed a slight limp in her front paw.  After observing Sassy for a few days, Vicky decided a trip to the vet was necessary to rule out any serious health issues.

Yesterday, the vet was able to determine that there was no break in the bone and no object embedded in the paw.  Instead, test results revealed that Sassy may be developing arthritis.  We’ll be keeping an eye on her to see if she will require further treatment or medication to relieve any discomfort she may feel in the future.  At this time, Sassy appears to be happy with all the fuss made over her—purring loudly whenever Vicky comes around to check on her!

Next challenging task is to weigh the former Poetry lions to determine if the girls were within a normal weigh range.  So how exactly does one weigh a lioness?

Well, first you ask the lioness to line up in front of the shoot, enter the shoot, and then sit down on the scale. 

Time for their weigh-ins!

Job well done!

Then the lioness backs out so the next one may enter, and so forth. 

Easy as pie, right? 

The In-Sync animal caretakers make this procedure look easy because they spend hours working the cats.   

In 2006, we instituted an Animal Husbandry Training Program, teaching the big cats commands such as down, stand-up, back, forward, open and target.  These basic commands allow us to perform simple medical procedures such as weighing the cats, drawing their blood, taking temperatures, performing skin biopsies, and examining the cats’ bodies, without having to anesthetize them.

We never know what to expect from day to day, but we do know this—we have the best jobs in the world!

"Remembering Grumpy"

A few weeks ago Karin and I were giving enrichment to Grumpy. Try as we might, we couldn't get him interested in coming out of his den to try the frozen chicken-cicle we had made for him. After several failed attempts to get his attention, Jake helped us by locking him in his den and placing the treat about 5 feet from the entrance. We opened the gate and waited for a few minutes to see if he would come out. He seemed very disinterested. In fact, he didn't even acknowledge our presence. 

We finally gave up and left.  We turned our attention to Kazuri and as we were watching him happily devour his treat, I looked over into Grumpy's enclosure. I noticed that the chicken-cicle had vanished and Grumpy was nowhere to be found. We went and looked into his den and there he was, on his side, just as he was before. The only evidence was a wet runny stain at the spot where Jake had placed the treat. "Sneaky!"  

We closed the gate and Jake dropped another treat right in the same place as before. This time Karin and I we went to the far side of the enclosure. After a few minutes we could see movement in his den. Then, out popped Grumpy's head. He looked to the left. Then he looked to the right. He licked his lips and slowly wobbled forward. He took a step, reached down and grabbed the treat with his teeth. In the same motion he reversed direction and carefully backed up. He stopped at the entrance and with his mangled paws perched on the lip of the den; he quickly adjusted the treat in this mouth. He took one step back and disappeared into his den. 

Photos and Article Written by:  Robert and Karin Saucedo, husband and wife, volunteers at In-Sync Exotics.

What A Week at In-Sync!

This week has been a very busy week for In-Sync Exotics – some days were filled with happiness, others with sadness, and yet through it all, our days were filled with love and gratitude. 

Here is a round-up as to what happened at In-Sync Exotics this week:

GreatNonprofits and Guidestar announced the launch of their second Animal Welfare Campaign.  Any organization that receives 10 or more positive reviews during the month of August will be featured as a Top-Rated Animal Welfare Nonprofit.  We are currently #1 on the recognition list with 48 positive reviews (30 reviews were written in the month of August)!

You can see where In-Sync Exotics stacks up against the competition by clicking here.

We posted a medical update on Howard, one of the Poetry cougars, on this blog.  It looks like Howard will be going in for exploratory surgery on Monday, so we are praying the surgery goes well and corrects Howard’s medical problems.

In Loving Memory Vicky Keahey remembered Kane, one of the Poetry cougars, whom passed away last week.  While we are still saddened by his loss, we know he is having fun eating grass this side of Heaven at a wonderful place just over the Rainbow Bridge.

We said goodbye to Grumpy, one of the Leona tigers, whom called In-Sync home one year ago this month.  While we were sad to say good-bye to Grumpy, we are happy he joined Brooks just this side of Heaven at a special place called the Rainbow Bridge.

Razoo extended our fundraising deadline by one day due to the last minute donations made to the project overnight!  Thank you donors!!  We pray the week will end on a positive note as we inch a little closer to our fundraising goal.

But the week isn't over yet!  We expect to post a few more "happenings" before the week is out, so keep checking back often for the latest news!!