Former Leona 6 Tigers Love Their New Pool!

It was another scorching day at In-Sync Exotics this last weekend; with temperatures hovering above the century mark once again.  And wouldn’t you know it, it turned out to be a perfect day for the tigers to enjoy the cool, refreshing tiger pool!

A small crowd that braved the summer heat over the weekend had the opportunity to watch the cats’ reactions as they tested out the pool for the first time. 

We had hoped Grumpy would be the first one to shoot out of his quarters to check out the pool, but unfortunately, Grump decided to cat nap instead.

So we turned to Kazuri for his reaction to the pool.  As soon as the gate opened, Kazuri ran straight for the pool.  Interesting enough, this large tiger seemed a little intimated by the water at first.  He sniffed the pool, he walked around the pool, and then he sniffed it some more.

We were finally able to entice Kazuri into the pool with some chicken drumsticks that were placed on the pool’s edge.  When Kazuri “accidently” knocked one of the drumsticks into the pool, he bravely jumped in to retrieve the item. Did Kazuri recapture the elusive chicken leg? 

You’ll have to watch the videos to find out!

Next to test the pool was Abrams. 

When Abrams first entered the playground, we thought for sure he would run straight to the pool.  Instead, Abrams checked everything (and I mean everything) out before approaching the pool.   Once Abrams’ painfully long examination of the new “item” on the playground was completed, he finally decided to enter the pool.

Bravely he walked around in the water, hissing and splashing around in the deep end until his wet tail smacked the water, causing him to quickly vacant the pool.  Silly tiger!  Thinking the waterfall looked a little safer; Abrams decided to climb up to the top of the waterfall and posed for pictures. What a handsome tiger!

As to Apollo, well, he simply ignored the pool for about an hour until he decided it was time to cool off.  He slowly walked into the pool and simply laid down in the shallow end.  Apollo used to live in In-Sync Exotic’s “Tiger Country” and so his former playground had a pool; needless to say, his reaction to the new pool was considerably low-key in comparison to the other tigers.

Interesting enough, Stryker loves water from the hose, but was terrified of the pool!  This big cat would not even approach the pool until he was enticed to check it out.  After staring at the pool for a few moments, Stryker decided to back away slowly from the water’s edge, just in case it decided to jump out at him!  We figure he will eventually learn to love the pool as much as Abrams does now.  Baby steps, Stryker, baby steps.

Grump continued to nap through the entire event…

Well, that concludes the description of the tigers’ adventure with their new pool.  We would like to thank everyone who contributed towards the Leona 6’s pool, honored for Brooks who passed away earlier this year.  We believe Brooks is still looking after the former Leona cats, as they enjoy their new pool that was built especially for them!

Later:

On July 29, 2011, Apollo was spotted enjoying the pool!

Who Am I?

It's time to test your knowledge of In-Sync Exotic residents!

First person to identify and answer one question about me wins a small prize and 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? 

Can you identify me yet?

Once you have put  my picture together, visit http://www.insyncexotics.org/ to find my matching photograph and biography.

Now for the Questions:

Question #1:  Who am I?

Question #2:  What is my nickname?

Employees and long time volunteers are not eligible for prizes since you see me all the time!

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

Good luck everyone!

Poetry Cats Need Your Help More Than Ever!

Now that homes have been found for the 20 big cats, In-Sync Exotics is faced with a new challenge – mounting medical bills.

Kane, the cougar whom upon arrival, couldn't even get up to walk, required immediate medical care.  This poor baby arrived heat exhausted, dehydrated and vitamin deficient. We believe that sometime before Kane arrived, he suffered a small seizure or stroke resulting in facial and leg movement changes on the left side of his body.  The vet believes that 10 days after he arrived Kane experienced another stroke or seizure during the night, that may have resulted in him aspirating on undigested food or saliva and the fluid entered Kane’s lungs causing him to develop pneumonia.  And if that wasn’t enough for this poor cat to endure, we learned last week, during a full body exam at the veterinarian’s that approximately six months ago, something terrible happened to Kane resulting in his right leg to be completely shattered.  Unfortunately, Kane did not receive medical attention after this devastating event, so his bones were left to mend themselves.  A large calcium callous grew between the bones. Kane can walk with little or no pain; however, he will always walk with a limp.

Upon his arrival to In-Sync Exotics, Howard was seen by his new veterinarian, whom diagnosed him as being emaciated.  It was extremely hard for Howard to eat his food without vomiting.  When Howard was unable to defecate he was taken to the vet for a more thorough examination.  X-rays and blood work results revealed that Howard’s intestines dried up due to extreme dehydration.  Hard balls of fecal matter had to be removed by the veterinarian and Howard endured two enemas, a procedure of introducing liquids into his rectum and colon.  The very next night Howard had to return to the vet for even more assistance. Howard was released to In-Sync Exotics once again so he could be closely monitored by staff to ensure he received plenty of fluids and medications to help his bowel move properly. 

Four days later, Howard finally ate a small meal consisting of one pound of ground beef with mineral oil.  It was slow going for Howard, but he was able to eat and later expel out a small amount of fecal matter.  He is currently taking two types of antibiotic pills each day along with steroids for the pain and potassium gel shots in his mouth.  It will take some time before his intestines function properly again, but we are hopeful that he will make a full recovery.

Lance, a cougar who recently relocated to Popcorn Park Zoo Animal Rescue and Sanctuary located in New Jersey, was also in poor shape when we first arrived in Poetry. The vet determined that both of his back legs were broken at one time and he was not given medical treatment to mend his fragile bones.  Lance also suffered a past big cat bite on his front right paw that never healed correctly.  Like Kane, Lance will walk with a pronounced limp, but we believe he is not in pain at this time.   

All three cougars came up positive for toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease caused by a protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, which is found primarily in cats.  We believe the cats may have contracted this parasitic disease by eating infected meat or by ingesting dried feces of a cat that was infected.  Filthy, unsanitary environments are breeding grounds for the toxoplasmosis bacteria, so it is possible all the cats were infected from all the waste found in the animals’ enclosures.

Therefore, all 9 cats (4 cougars, 4 lions, and Spike) received clindamycin so as to aid the cats’ immune system so they can destroy the bacteria themselves.  A one month’s supply of clindamycin used to treat all 9 cats cost our sanctuary about $1350!  Thus far, treatment for Kane, Howard, and Lance, plus vet care for of all the other poetry cats cost In-Sync Exotics over $10,500.   

Fortunately, the remaining cougars, Abel and Chloe seem to be doing just fine.

And still the medical bills continue to mount!

Layla at play!

Very soon, Layla and Eve will need to be spayed before they can join their sister Aurora (already spayed) and brother Aramis in the same enclosure.  The cost to spay each lioness is approximately $2,500—that $5,000 for both cats!

Then there is Chloe, the female cougar, needing to be spayed at a cost of $1,500 as she is currently in heat and exciting all the male cats around here.

This week, the four lions will be checked out by our veterinarian.  For obvious reasons, we pray that they are healthy animals!

Whew!  Even though the Poetry animals needs about $18,000 worth of veterinarian care, we are so grateful we were able to give them a second chance at In-Sync Exotics.

Unfortunately, with the number of big cats needing immediate homes, such as the two lions from the closed sanctuary and the cats from Poetry -- and the sad reality that more cats will need our help very soon -- our rescue budget is stretched thin due to so many demands.

Without your generous support, we will be unable to provide these cats with forever homes and give them with the personalized care they so desperately need-- will you help us continue?

Please donate whatever you can afford to help us provide a loving home for the animals that have lost so much in life.  Thank you for all you do for animals!