A Letter From Home!

Probably one of the hardest thing to do is to let your cats, that you raised from a young age, move to a new home--especially if that home is a few thousand miles across country.  Often times, previous owners release their animals to us and never visit our facility to see how they are adjusting to their new environment. 

 

So when we learned that Connie and Joe planned on making a trip to see Mr. Kibo and Shira in their new home, we were thrilled!  We hoped this trip would give the couple an opportunity to see what type of diet and enrichment we provide all the cats.  And watching our staff and volunteers caring for the animals, hopefully eased any "mommy" separation concerns they may have had prior to their arrival. 

 

So, last week we had the honor of meeting Mr. Kibo and Shira's parents!  The flew all the way from Virginia to spend the weekend (plus Monday morning) with the servals. 

Connie was most kind to write a letter providing us a little bit more insight into our servals' past life.  It is rare for us to receive any personal information about our new residents, such as their likes or dislikes; now, thanks to Connie, we have an idea of what kind of special treats to provide Mr. Kibo and Shira!  So Connie, without further ado, please take it away!

Hello Everyone, 

African Servals…Mr. Kibo and Shira’s mom, Connie here J 

Thank you for the kind words and love sent our way.  Joe and I arrived at In-Sync Exotics on Saturday, October 13^th--one week after Mr. Kibo and Shira’s arrival, so we could help with the cats’ emotional transition to their new home.  

 

We arrived at In-Sync Exotics on Saturday night shortly after we arrived in Dallas.  Since we live in Virginia, we decided to fly out so we could spend more time with the cats.  Vicki was especially welcoming to us and let us watch them feed all of the cats in her care.  We saw the love that all the members of In-Sync Exotics have for the cats under their care.  They talked to the cats in a very friendly and soothing voice.  They provide appropriate portions of meat tailored to each cat’s need – you have to be careful not to give too little or too much, and sometimes you have to separate some cats from others during feeding so that they will not steal food from other cats in the same enclosure.  We saw them call each cat by name during feeding, and they paid close attention to how the cat was behaving.  

 

On Sunday night, they call it “Bone” night.  They gave each cat bones with meat on them.  The cats really enjoy their bones, and they carried these bones away to a private spot where they cradled them while gnawing on them.   We watched Mr. Kibo tear into his bone like a kid discovering his first trick or treat bag..lol J…  The only items the servals tore into were my Crocs—who knew they would enjoy them as  chew toys!  Shira licked her and suckled on her new piece of meat...what a joy to watch!  What you may not know is that Mr. Kibo and Shira actually enjoy vegetables…but more on that later… 

Appearance differences…  How to tell the two apart! 

Shira is a little larger than Kibo even though she is the female.   Kibo was born with a distinctive crook at the end of his tail.   

Personality differences….  

Kibo:  “Hidey cat” likes to sleep under blankets and sheets, enjoys playing with small red potatoes.  He especially likes to lay on top of a refrigerator for the warmth. 

Shira:  Outgoing, inquisitive, alpha cat sister of Kibo likes to sun herself, and sit atop a refrigerator in the darker and warmer part of a room…I believe enjoying the natural warmth of the top of the refrigerator. 

Kibo and Shira are most active between 5:30am – 8:30am, but they can be pretty active earlier in the morning.  They begin shutting down for sleep by 9:00am, if they are not being engaged in some sort of activity.  They signal their interest in playing by “chirping” and head butting you.  Occasionally, they will walk past you several times in-display to signal an interest in you—that is your cue to reciprocate.  At night, they get very active and jump around the house. 

Interests… 

Kibo:  The “adventure” cat (yes, he’s also a “hidey” cat) likes to run away as he did on two occasions and the last time for 6 hours, he enjoys climbing ladders, fences, and up into the rafters of the house.  Loves to hide under a table draped with a quilt and stick his paws out to play with a horse crop.  He likes to eat flip flops, or more accurately, he enjoys chewing and eating rubbery items – he was not able to break off pieces of a pair of Mommy’s Crocs, but he did “air condition” those slip-ons by chewing on them.  He loves to sit nearby and stare at Joe’s Crocs when he’s sitting in the recliner to watch the TV, but he’s never tried to take a bite out of them while he’s wearing them – we think it’s an unfulfilled fantasy to bite those Crocs.  He ate industrial strength “tennis balls” from a pet store, and he ate the flip flops of a house guest for which he required surgery to remove the intestinal blockage.   

 

Food interests… 

Kibo:  Likes to eat primarily at night.  Loves little red potatoes, and brussel sprouts, and it may be due to these food items also being used as a toy before eating them.  Roll them to Kibo, and he’ll bat it back to you a few times before entertaining himself with them prior to eating them. 

Shira:  Likes to eat a little throughout the day and night.  She loves spinach!  Don’t forget to limit the spinach to 5 or 6 leaves per day as a treat or her stool will be pretty soft.  She will patiently stand by while I try to feed spinach to Kibo, but she stays very close to get additional spinach if Kibo declines.  Kibo would usually take his spinach while sitting beneath some stairs, but occasionally takes it directly from one’s hand.   

While I love Mr. Kibo and Shira dearly, I know they now have the best home and looking forward to a long lasting relationship with Vicky, In-Sync Exotics and volunteers…and perhaps meeting some of you, personally along the way when we visit. 

Best Wishes, 

Connie & Joe

We'd like Connie and Joe to know that they are now part of the In-Sync Exotics' family and we hope they will continue to be a part of Mr. Kibo and Shira's lives.  After all, a few thousand miles should keep loved ones apart...

To read about Mr. Kibo and Shira's big move from Virginia to Texas, click HERE!

Here are a few pictures of Mr. Kibo and Shira!  Enjoy all -

Hello Shira!
 

Hello Mr. Kibo!

Looking good Mr. Kibo (front) and Shira (back)!

Hmmm... So where's Neffie? 

Don't worry, Neffie is doing just fine.  She is slowly getting used to the brother-sister pair and has now taken to sharing the serval house with her new house mates!

And now for our commercial announcement!

Pumpkins Bash Fun!

In just 5 days we will be hosting our Fall Festive & Pumpkin Bash--and you are invited! Our Fall Festival will be held on October 28th from 11:00am - 4:00pm at In-Sync Exotics. This is another fabulous In-Sync Exotics special event as our cats just LOVE to play with their pumpkins; your kids (the human kind) will enjoy great games & prizes, get lost in a maze; have their faces painted; bounce around in the bounce house; participate in our raffle; and much, much more!

To share this information with your friends, family, and co-workers, we have created a printable flier;  all you have to do is click HERE to see and print our beautiful flier!

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

>^..^<

A Special Day of Remembrance

It was one year ago, when we announced with great sadness that Raja, our beautiful 19-year old tiger had passed away.

 Despite the passing of time, we miss Raja just as much today as we did the day he left us. Sometimes, it’s hard to believe we won’t see him again, waiting to greet us at the playground or in his quarters. He was filled with so much exuberant love for life that it was such a joy just to watch him play with Jasmine or his favorite ball in his swimming pool. His absence from our lives truly leaves a hole in our hearts.

For those of you who are new to our blog, beloved Raja and his sister Jasmine, arrived at In-Sync Exotics on February 3, 2003, and for the next 8+ years, both cats flourished under our care. Raja is survived, not only by Jasmine, his sister, but his offspring, Samu and Tyjar. Raja, Jasmine, Tyjar and Samu came from the same drive-thru animal park that was subsequently closed years later due to inhumane living conditions for its animals. Raja was also the father of Vicky's beloved Kenya (her first tiger) and Midas—both whom were obtained from the same animal park—and lived with us for many years before they crossed the rainbow bridge.

The first time Vicky met Raja and Jasmine was about four months after she lost Kenya.  Since Kenya was such a special tiger, she wanted to meet Kenya’s parents.  As it turned out, Kenya looked just like her mom, and since she was a real sucker for “daddy’s” girl, she fell completely in love with Raja.  After spending time with Raja and Jasmine, Vicky learned where Kenya got her personality.  From her mom, Kenya got the aggressive, “do what I tell you” behavior; while the sweet “I’ll do anything you want me to do” side came from her daddy!



Jasmine (left) and Raja (right)

We were devastated to learn in December 2010 that Raja was dying from renal failure. Even though there is no known cure for this progressive disease, we were able to keep Raja comfortable by giving him subcutaneous fluid treatments every four days for about 10 months. 

Raja was such a determined tiger, never objecting to his subcutaneous fluid treatments, that we hoped we would be with us for many more months. Sadly, his body slowly started to shut down and Raja finally “told” us that his time with us was coming to an end. A week prior to his passing, Raja stopped eating and he refused to move around his quarters, signaling to us that he was ready to move on to the next part of his journey.

One of the hardest decisions we ever have to make is whether or not it’s time to let an animal quietly slip away from us or to continue administering treatments in the hope that the animal will resume eating, drinking and playing. With the help of our veterinarian’s diagnosis, our own intuition, and our loving understanding of Raja’s wishes, the decision to let him go peacefully was made that Sunday afternoon on October 23, 2012. Before he left us, he spent some wonderful quality time with his Jasmine. We think Jasmine knew what was happening to Raja, but we don’t think she was prepared to lose him so quickly. Before he passed away, we shared with him our final words of love and admiration for this beautiful tiger as he gradually slipped away from us—Raja was truly at peace. 

A special rose bush was planted in front of Raja and Jasmine’s quarters, signifying the beauty and importance of life, never-ending love, and despite the loss of our beloved Raja, life still goes on. 

Today, Jasmine shares an adjacent quarters with her son, Tyjar. While Tyjar cannot replace her brother Raja, he does provide her the comfort that only family can provide when in mourning.  

May God walk with Raja, Midas, and Kenya as they explore their wonderful new home together, on this side of Heaven, called the Rainbow Bridge.

Eagle Scout Honors Raja 

Hello Eagle Scout Trevor!

Eagle Scout Trevor Stubblefield approached us earlier this year needing to do an eagle scout project. Although we have a long list of projects that we need to have done he choose this one—he wanted to create a memorial garden for Raja.  Recognizing that Raja memorial means a lot to of all of us, he took it upon himself to design and implement his plan on improving the memorial site for our beloved tiger. 

We were thrilled that Trevor wanted to take on this project for us.  So often, we are so focused on the minutia of the day-to-day animal care tasks that we fail to take the time to truly appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.  Raja’s memorial garden will always be a wonderful reminder as to why we are here for the cats, like Raja and Jasmine, and will serve as a source of inspiration as we remember all the great times we had with our beloved tiger.  Even our visitors were impressed with our new memorial garden—all built by volunteer hands!

Needless to say, Jasmine and Tyjar were fascinated with all the activity in front of Jasmine’s quarters.  The tigers watched every person very intently, trying to figure out what exactly the Eagle Scout and his helpers were building near Raja’s rose bush.  You’ve never seen two excited tigers—especially Tyjar, as he kept a constant eye on everyone! 

Congratulations Eagle Scout Trevor and his hard working crew for a job well done!  We love our new Raja Memorial Garden!   

Trevor, you certainly earned your badge on this project! 

Let’s give a round of applause to Trevor, his Mom Diana, his younger brother Austin and his aunt Denise Klapp for sticking with the project until the end!  We’d also like to give a hug “paws waiving in the air” of approval to Brent Rudzinski, Harrison Binger, Pierce Portorfield, Brandon, Ross, Debbie, Ashley Stanton, Dane William, Nathan Holly, Evan Campbell, and William King for making this project such a success! We just can’t thank everyone enough for the tiger-ific work and team spirit!

What a vast improvement!  Thank you everyone!

Raja's yellow rose bush...

Beautiful tiger display

Raja's memorial

The memorial garden looks like it has been in place for years!
It fits perfectly with the landscaping...

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

♡♥

Candle Lights, Bobcats, and Pumpkins! Oh My!

Those we honor on this day

Welcome back for more In-Sync Exotics news!  Last week we announced we were having our 1st Annual Exotic Animal Awareness Candle Light Vigil at In-Sync Exotics. We would like to thank everyone who came out to pay special tribute to the animals that lost their lives one year ago plus all the exotic cats that lost their lives while in captivity; we truly appreciate your support and solidarity.

Honored representatives

On Friday, about 50 people attended our special vigil; coming out to honor the animals' lives lost at Zanesville, Ohio, just one year ago.  Lisa Williams, our Media Director, gave a beautiful presentation on what happened that fateful day, described the current conditions of captive exotics, the laws regarding the ownership of exotics, the important role of  exotic animal sanctuaries, plus a special remembrance of our special animals that sadly passed away over the years.  

Afterwards, everyone observed a moment of silence to honor the slain Zanesville animals.

So, what do get when you mix about 30 animal-loving volunteers with tigers, tents, and fun? A camp-out at In-Sync Exotics, of course!  Every year, our volunteers come out to In-Sync Exotics for a Fall pot luck dinner and then stay overnight, listening to the sounds of the lions roaring and cats catterwalling.

Earlier in the evening, after everyone pitched their tents, and placed their tasty food in the visitor’s center, our volunteers and guests gathered for the candle light vigil.  After the vigil, it was time to enjoy some volunteer camaraderie; sampling the great food dishes brought especially for the big potluck dinner.  Once the mouth watering food had been consumed, everyone retired to the camping area where volunteers shared funny stories of the cats until lights out.  As usual, the campers were serenaded by the sounds of lions roaring and the cats’ playing with their enrichment toys all through the night into the wee hours of the morning.  What an amazing experience--especially for our new volunteers!

Bobcat House Renovation Project!

Our staff and volunteers have been very busy renovating the bobcat house with new platforms for the little exotic cats' convenience and comfort! Check out the great job everyone did!

Now all we need are some pictures of the bobcats enjoying the fruits of our labor! Please stay tuned for some great pictures coming your way soon!.

Pumpkins Bash Fun!

In just 6 days we will be hosting our Fall Festive & Pumpkin Bash--and you are invited!  Our Fall Festival will be held on October 28th from 11:00am - 4:00pm at In-Sync Exotics. This is another  fabulous In-Sync Exotics special event as our cats just LOVE to play with their pumpkins; your kids (the human kind) will enjoy great games & prizes, get lost in a maze; have their faces painted; bounce around in the bounce house; participate in our raffle; and much, much more!

Here are a few pictures of our cats enjoying their pumpkins from last year's event:

And who could forget Aramis tackling his pumpkin!

So be sure to place this special Fall event on your calendar so you don't miss out on all the great pumpkin fun!  Click here to read last year's great pumpkin bash review!

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

>^..^<

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