Wow! What a Week!

Wow!  What an exciting week!  Before we share the final Donor Bridge donation totals with you, we must do a quick recap of this week's events!

On Monday, we introduced you to our new "cub" reporter, Jessica Helmholtz and quizzed our readers on the identity of the tiger who primarily starred in our new video, "Swimming with Tigers" (click HERE to read this posting)!

On Tuesday, we provided a medical update on Saber and Kazuri, two tigers who had some "tummy problems" and we revealed the identify of the tiger who starred in our new video, "Swimming with Tigers." we tried, unsuccessfully, to wake up Sabu to let him know that our Fall Photo Shoot is coming up!  Click HERE to read our posting!

Wednesday's blog posting was rather challenging for some of our readers, as we posed the question -- Who Am I? x 4 (plus we included a little education on "tiger stripes, click HERE).  We had a lot of submissions, but the first person who correctly identified all  four tigers was Lynn McCarthy!  Congratulations Lynn -- if you are interested in the small prize, please let us know via email!  There were four other people who correctly guessed the tigers identities  (Kelli, Lark (she took the pictures), Sara, and Keri), so next time we'll have to step up the Who Am I? and make it even more challenging!

So let's take a look at our mystery tigers once more!



Hello Apollo!

Top of the morning to you, Stryker!

Looking good, Iona!

Greetings Abrams!

Yesterday, we put out an appeal (click HERE), explaining why the Donor Bridge one day donation event and the iGive Program was important to In-Sync Exotics.  Bottom line:  without the generosity of our supporters, like you, we simply could not provide a loving home for the exotic animals that need us the most. 

Within the first hour of the event, 13 donors stepped forward and donated $745 to the animals and by the end of the standard lunch hour (1:00pm) over 117 people donated $9,555!  This was absolutely amazing considering we raised only $3,308 last year!

The final donation total for 2012 came to $18,287!!!

We are overcome with gratitude to the 234 donors who contributed $18,287, so we can continue our mission of providing a safe and loving home for our animals! We don't know what the matching monies will be until Donor Bridge performs the final calculations, but as soon as we hear from them we will post the results on this blog.  The matching dollars will go towards the Big Cats Need Dental Care Too fundraiser!

This truly makes our "Happy Cat Month"!  Really!  September just happens to be "Happy Cat Month" and there's no doubt that we have a lot of happy cats at In-Sync Exotics!

We hope you enjoyed this week's blog posting and will join us again next week for more informative, funny, and interesting blog postings on our wild ones! Remember, we are open for tours Thursday - Friday until October 1st (that is when we change to our Fall/Winter weekend only hours), so we look forward to your visit!  

Once Again, Thank You Very Much 
For Your Generosity!

We Need Your Help!

Here is our direct link to our Donor Bridge page: Click HERE.

Greetings from Wylie, Texas everyone! We'd planned to share with you a powerful conservation story with you today, but decided to put it on hold for now because we really need your help today.


In-Sync Exotics exists thanks to the vision of one woman and funding support of a lot of loyal In-Sync supporters.  Without you, there would be no special place where exotic cats, like Sabu, could live out his final years in peace.  As a loyal blog reader, you know we took several cats (exotic and domestic) to the vet this year, purchased a lot of medicine (like Nugget's expensive shot treatments), and placed our cats on special diets (like our senior and geriatric cats).  When you add up all the bills together, including our normal operations costs (food, treats, enrichment, office bills, employee costs, etc.), our expenditures can be rather daunting! 

Thanks to your kind donations, we are able to accept and care for animals that had no where else to go this year, like Gideon and Jasper!  We are hoping we can count on you once more to help us raise funds for our operating costs plus a little something extra to go towards our big cats that require dental care.

Today, from 7 a.m. to midnight, In-Sync Exotics is participating in Get Up and Give! North Texas Giving Day. On this day only, every donation $25 and above will be multiplied if you donate to us through www.DonorBridgeTX.  We plan to apply the matching funds received from the Donor Bridge towards our cats' dental care.

Here is our direct link to our Donor Bridge page: Click HERE.

Last year, several folks reported having difficulty donating because the Donor Bridge site was too busy. We’ve been told this year that they have fixed the problem. But just in case, may we recommend donating early in the morning or after 5:00pm, as the site seems to be free from congestion during those times!

We cannot thank you enough for your financial sacrifice, so our cats can continue to receive the best care possible.  We truly have the wonderful supporters who help us make miracles come true for animals without hope.

We recognize that there are many supporters out there who simply cannot afford to make a donation at this time--and we totally sympathize with your financial situation.  Perhaps you'd be willing to support us in a way that would not cost you a dime?

Tomorrow is the last day for folks to participate in iGive Dog Days of Summer.  The iGive Dog Days Charity Sweepstakes is a game where participants don't pay anything to play, and participants don't win anything or receive any personal benefit. Participation is free. The winners of the game are charities or causes listed at iGive (like us!). Winners are chosen at random from the entries of participants. The more entries for a particular charity or cause, the better its chances of winning the game.  So far, we only have six participants [say it isn't so!].

Click HERE to go to the Sweepstakes page!

What is iGive?

iGive.com is a unique way to support In-Sync Exotics while you shop and buy normally online:

• Over 350,000 members choose to support their cause through their iGive membership.
• Shop at over 1,000 online retail partners - many you are familiar with already - and a percentage of your purchase goes to your cause (as much as 26%).
• The average iGive shopper raises $50 per year for her cause.

Download the iGive Button

Enhance your online shopping experience with the free iGive Button. With the iGive Button, you can be sure to:

• Raise money for the animals of In-Sync Exotics with every purchase you make from over 1,000 online retail partners.
• Save money with special offers and coupons, just for being an iGive member [cha-ching!].
• Show how you support your community by sharing the Button with friends and family.

How the iGive Button Works

It's a simple, browser add-on that you download. It works with any computer (PC or Mac) and any browser type (Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome and FireFox). When you shop at one of iGive's 1,000+ online partners, the iGive Button appears in the right corner of your browser telling the retailer you are an iGive member, and alerting them to support your cause with your purchase.  Click the iGive Button to find special offers and coupons. This is a great feature because you don’t have to go to iGive.com to see if your store is on the donation list—if your store is on the list, then the iGive Button pops up automatically!

Search using Google, Yahoo, or Bing and iGive parters will be highlighted in the search results so you know where you can shop to do the most good!

Join iGive. Get the iGive Button.
Change your world, one online purchase at a time.

If at the end of the sweepstakes period you no longer want the iGive Button, you can safely remove it from your computer system.  We hope that you elect to keep the Button so you can take advantage of shopping and comparing products as well as prices and donations by store.  You will be amazed at how much money (and time) you can save by using this handy iGive Button!

Click HERE to go to the Sweepstakes page!

We'd like to thank you for your support of animals as you are the life-blood of our organization!

Thank you!

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Tiger of a Different Stripe Challenge!

Have you ever wondered why tigers have their unusual striped coat?  Through the years zoologists have come up with numerous theories and myths to explain the pattern.  The best “guess” is that the tiger coat pattern helps the cats hide from prey and protect themselves from other predators—like humans.  Most tigers have over 100 stripes and like a human’s fingerprint, the patterns on tigers are unique to each cat and can be used to identify individual animals.  The stripped pattern is also found on the skin of a tiger, thus if one were to be shaved its’ unique camouflage pattern would remain!

 

Tigers tend to prefer areas of denser vegetation, better suiting their camouflage and solo hunting style. Research indicates that animals in the wild are unable to see in color or if they do the colors are not vivid as our own.  If wild animals see in various levels of black, gray and white, the stripes on a tiger’s body probably appear as bars of shadow, allowing the big cats to hide in tall grasses. The pattern seems to help hide the tiger’s body shape and size from the animals it is stalking (yes ladies, stripes can be slimming!). 

Tigers are considered one of the best hunters in the animal world and the unique pattern of its coat may have a lot to do with this. Of course, the main factors are the tiger’s size, strength, claws, teeth and massive jaws. Add to this the speed, grace and remarkable intelligence of the cat and you have a near-perfect, deadly combination.

Let’s see if you can correctly guess the names of the tigers listed below.  To help you out, we are going to give you the names of the cats in alphabetical order.  All you have to do is assign the right name to the right picture!  This may be a tough "Who Am I" because we used pictures of tigers that look about the same, but their stripes are completely different (wouldn't it be funny if we used the same tiger in all four pictures...hmmmm).  Good luck!

 

 

 

#1 Who am I?

Abrams

Apollo

Iona

Stryker

 

 

#2 Who am I?

Abrams

Apollo

Iona

Stryker

 

#3 Who am I?

Abrams

Apollo

Iona

Stryker

  

 

#4 Who am I?

Abrams

Apollo

Iona

Stryker

 

First person to correctly identify all four tigers wins bragging rights and a small prize.  Simply send your response to our special animal email account (click HERE for the email address) and if you are the first person to correctly respond to the challenge, you win!  You'll need to include your name and address in the email so we can send you the prize!  Please do not post your guesses to Facebook or this blog posting as we don’t want to give away the answers.  We will announce the winner of this challenge on Friday! 

Donor Bridge 's"Get Up and Give!" is Tomorrow!

Tomorrow, September 13, 2012, from 7 a.m. to midnight, In-Sync Exotics is participating in Get Up and Give! North Texas Giving Day. On September 13, every donation $25 and above will be multiplied if you donate to us through www.DonorBridgeTX.org, North Texas’ online resource that connects donors with nonprofit organizations like us.  

Please visit the site anytime between 7 a.m. and midnight, search for our nonprofit and click "Donate Now." We'll also have a direct link posted on tomorrow morning's blog posting so you can make your donation without having to use the search field. Your donation will go a long way in helping us in purchase much needed food, medicine, and enrichment for the cats. Plus, gifts given that day will receive a portion of $1 million in challenge funds–making your dollar go further.  

Just remember to get up and give on September 13--whether out of bed, from your desk, or off your couch, just give!  Thank you!

 

We hope you enjoyed today's blog posting and will join us again tomorrow for another informative blog posting on our wild ones!

 

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Wake Up Sabu! It's Photo Shoot Time!

Happy Tuesday to all our readers!  It is time for an update on our two tigers, Saber and Kazuri.

Saber is a happy tiger now!

Last week, we reported that Saber and Kazuri were having some "tummy problems."  To our dismay, both tigers could not hold down their food.  So with a little Vaseline on their food and the administration of Famotidine, we hoped the problem would clear up on its own without having to take them to Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Kazuri is happy to eat meat without
the added Vaseline!

Great news!  Our tigers no longer have any problems holding down their food and resumed their normal eating habits once more!  Our cats are now eating and enjoying their meals without any problems.  Whew!  We are very happy because there is nothing worse than watching a big cat lose it's dinner!

Yesterday, we asked the question: Can you name the tiger featured in our new video called "Swimming with Tigers"?  We had quite a few brave souls who took the quiz (thank you!), and so without further ado, here are the final tallies:

Tacoma   8.1%
Mohan    10.8%
Smuggler 62.2%
Stryker    18.9%

If you guessed "Smugger", then you correctly identified our budding star!  Wasn't Smuggler terrific in the video?  Here's the video (once more) for your viewing pleasure (click HERE)!

Here's a quick keeper update: Our keepers try to weigh our big cats as often as possible.  One particular lion has been very stubborn and refused to step on the scale until last week.  Our Twitter fans received the news first that Jazz finally stepped on the scale and stood quietly in place so he could be weighed last Wednesday. We are pleased to announce that our Jazz weighed in at 577 lbs! 

Sabu is Ready for His Photo Shoot!

Pssst...Sabu!  Wake up, Sabu!  It's picture time!

Now that the weather is starting to get a bit coolers, you can expect our cats to be, dare we say, "friskier"?  You do not want to miss out on an opportunity to capture our big cats in action this fall, as we are holding our Fall Big Cat Photo Shoot scheduled for Saturday, Oct 13th from 7:30am-11:30am! 
 

In-Sync Exotics is excited to offer professional and amateur photographers the opportunity to photograph our exotics wild animals in a natural and semi-natural background. Capture those special moments as our wild ones splash in their pools, play with their toys on the playground, or just coming up to greet you, up close and personal! We cater to small groups with only 15 reservations available for the spring, summer, and fall photo shoots; however, we must have at least 10 people scheduled in order for the private photography session to take place.  
 

What to expect during your photography shoot  
 

All participants will receive an orientation prior to breaking out into small groups with two volunteer animal caretakers per group. Our goal is to allow you to photograph our animals without the double barrier hindering your view. If you have professional photo equipment you can focus past single cage wire if the cat is far enough from the side of the enclosure. If you are using amateur photo equipment, you may have single cage wire in some of your photographs. Our animals always come first—we do not force our animals to perform, but allow them to act naturally in their own environment. If one of our cats is not in the mood to be photographed (for instance hiding in her den), then the small group will have to move on to the next animal. Some of our smaller cats can be rather shy and elusive, so we cannot guarantee you will get a great shot of all our wild ones, but we will give it our best effort to quietly encourage our shy ones to come out and greet you!
 

This event is by appointment only. Please email Lynne (click HERE for email address) for info on availability, waiting list, payment options and details about the shoot. The cost for the private photo shoot tour is $100 per photographer. Prices and terms subject to change without notice. You do not want to miss this opportunity to take some fabulous photos of our animals! With the weather a little cooler in the mornings, we feel confident that you will walk away with some of the most amazing pictures of our animals waking up and playing! So sign up today and we’ll see you on October 13, 2012! To view or print our flier for this event, please click HERE!
 

We hope you enjoyed today's blog posting!  Be sure to check back tomorrow for more fun and informative information about the animals (and humans) 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!

Meet Our "Cub" Reporter!

Welcome to another exciting week of fun and informative news from In-Sync Exotics!  We have terrific news!  We have a new cub reporter who joined the In-Sync Exotics Cat Tales' Team last week!

Meet Jessica Helmholtz!  Jessica originally hailed from Illinois but relocated to Texas about 10 years ago. She is a college student aspiring to be a veterinarian. Jessica has six little kitties of her own, plus two dogs. She says can’t remember a time in her life where she didn’t have a lot of animals in her home. To the chagrin of her family, Jessica brought home any and every stray animal she found on the street. Sadly, her mom did share her dream to turn the family home into a lost animal way station, so Jessica and her mother spent many hours making sure the lost animals found their own‘furr-ever’ homes.

Out of all the years Jessica has lived in Texas, she had never heard about us [gasp]! She's says she's thrilled to be a part of the In-Sync Exotics' Team because she wants to make a difference in the lives of our animals. Just like many of our readers, Jessica has a deep love for animals. Her passion lies with cats of any and all sizes! So when she stumbled upon In-Sync Exotics, she just knew she had to be a part of our team. Any day that Jessica isn’t at school, you can find her at In-Sync Exotics looking for the next big story and taking some great pictures of our animals!

So please welcome Jessica to the In-Sync Exotics' family and don’t be surprised if you hear the click of her camera or if she asks you the all-important question—so, what’s the latest scoop at In-Sync Exotics??

Name That Tiger!

There's been a lot of speculation as to the identity of the tiger featured in "Swimming with Tigers" video.  If you haven't seen our fantastic new video yet, then you must click HERE to find out what all the buzz is about!

Did you know that more than one tiger was filmed in this video?  But...there was only one tiger predominantly seen throughout the video.  Who was that mysterious tiger?

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

We will reveal the identify of tiger in tomorrow's blog posting, so stay tuned!

Donor Bridge This Thursday!

2012 North Texas Giving Day is
September 13, 2012 ~ 7:00 a.m. to midnight

Click here to see nearly 1,000 nonprofits you can donate to on Giving Day!

$1MM in Matching Funds and Prizes!

Matching Funds

Every donation of $25 and above made 7am-Midnight through DonorBridgeTX.org on September 13, 2012 will be matched by some percentage!

$97,000 in Prizes

·       Top 2 nonprofits with an operating budget under $1 million with most donations from unique donors: 1^st: $10,000 and 2^nd: $5,000

·       Top 2 nonprofits with an operating budget over $1 million for most donations from unique donors: 1^st: $10,000 and 2^nd: $5,000

·       1,929th donation: $10,000

·        2,012th donation: $10,000

·       Nonprofit with an operating budget of under $1 million that has the largest increase in number of unique donors from 2011 (repeat participants only [that’s us!]): $10,000

·        Nonprofit with an operating budget of over $1 million that has the largest increase in number of unique donors from 2011 (repeat participants only): $10,000

·        Golden Tickets every hour: $1,000/hour drawn randomly from the nonprofits who received donations during that hour

·       Tarrant County Challenge: Every nonprofit in Tarrant County that receives 31 donations or more will be entered to win $10,000

Donations for Giving Day will be accepted through www.DonorBridgeTX.org only on September 13 from 7:00 a.m. to Midnight!

This year, we plan to apply the matching funds towards our "Big Cats Need Dental Too" Razoo project.  We hope you can count on your support again this year as monies raised by the Donor Bridge helps us pay for much needed supplies, like healthy meals, medication, enrichment, plus dental care for the cats!!  

More details on this great event will be revealed as we get closer to the BIG DAY! 

Putting for Paws!

Have you visited our Putting for Paws Golf Tournament webpage yet? Well if you haven't, then you don't know what you're missing!  Last year, we were able to raise a little over $7,000 for the animals, thanks to the golfers, kind sponsors and donors!  This year, with your help, we hope to raise over $10,000 for the animals!  

Here are the details:

WHEN: Monday, September 17.  8:30 a.m. Tee Time

WHERE:  Old American Golf Club in The Colony

FORMAT:  4 Man Scramble, Shotgun Start

The Old American pays homage to the environment on which the course was built. Preservation of the wildlife and resources surrounding the course were innate to the design.  Careful attention was paid to the conservation and utilization of water throughout the course. Native grasses, trees and plants are used in order to preserve water as well as create intentional wildlife habitats. An abundance of wildlife makes its home on the course, including wild turkeys, deer, coyotes and birds of prey, such as the Red Tail Hawk, which nests the immense oaks to the left of #13 and the right of #16.

This year, we have several exciting golf contests plus some terrific prizes from our sponsors and donors!  This should be a day of fun, whether you are an experienced golfer or just learning the game.  Team and single players are welcome! Ready to register?  Great!  Click HERE to register for this great event and remember to invite your friends to play!

Can't make the golf tournament, but you want to sponsor one of the holes? Great! Click HERE for sponsorship information!  To make a golf prize donation, click HERE!  Thank you for supporting In-Sync Exotics!

By the way, if you happen to have a story idea, be sure to either let Jessica know,  if and when you see her at In-Sync Exotics, or  send us an email (click HERE for email).  We hope you enjoyed today's blog posting and will join us again tomorrow for more news and updates on our wild ones! 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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