Today is the last day to help end the abuse of cubs!

Today is the last day to help end cub abuse by asking USDA to ban contact with all species of wild cats of every age at TigerRescue.com  The breeders, dealers, exploiters and their customers are all trying to get USDA to leave things the way they are, so USDA needs to hear from YOU!

Ms Claws Moves to Easy Street Permanently

Ms Claws was approved by the FWC to be transferred to our permanent collection.  I hate that term, “collection” but that’s the industry lingo. So she will no longer get live prey.  She will get stay out by Spirit Feather for a while, to keep her company, but if Spirit Feather shows any signs of not fearing people, then we will have to move Ms Claws out of the rehab area.  Some are worried about Spirit Feather sitting up on her shelves in the rain, but bobcats spend most of their daylight hours up in trees, so she’s doing what bobcats do.

Spirit Feather Moves to Outdoor Rehab Area

8/29/16 Spirit Feather moved outside!  Watch her LIVE at http://explore.org/live-cams/player/big-cat-rescue-bobcat-rehab-and-release  Read more about her rescue here:  http://bigcatrescue.org/spirit-feather/

Sad Goodbye to Some Beautiful Cats

Purr-sonality Serval was euthanized at the age of 21.  A month after the dental work and she never did go back to eating enough.  As her appetite continued to wain we decided to sedate her again, run blood work again and do an exploratory surgery.  We had seen something suspicious looking in her ultrasound a month ago, but weren’t sure, so we figured at the age of 21 there wasn’t much hope, but maybe we’d find something that could be fixed.  We didn’t.  Her blood work showed that her kidneys were done, as did the exploratory, and so we made the sad decision to euthanize her.

Windstar Bobcat was netted to see vet after being found “down” in his den. He seemed fine the day before, but when he didn’t come out to eat, Jamie knew something was wrong. We netted him to take him in the hospital and called the vet. We found vomited mushrooms, but both varieties turned out to be non toxic. We found a mass near his kidney and a biopsy was sent out. Watching over him through the night on a Nest cam, Jamie reported that he was awake and looking around at 5 am, so she felt he was out of the woods. About a half hour later though he passed peacefully in his sleep.  He was 18.  The necropsy determined adrenal cancer to be the cause of death.

Please help us end the trade in all wild cats as pets, props and parts by sending this easy email and making a call to your US Senators and Representatives at BigCatAct.com  Windstar would tell you, “the time has come.”

Santino Serval was “down” in his den. He went to Ehrlich Road Animal Hospital for X-rays, blood work and a sonogram.  During the ultrasound they expressed his bladder and found it to be bloody and full of crystals.  Back in 2013 we found masses in his liver but the blood work came back inconclusive on whether or not it was cancer. The X-rays and ultrasound showed the liver to be as bad or worse than before, but rather than open him up for exploratory surgery we opted to send out the urine, blood and a sample of the liver that was drawn today, to see if we can get a more conclusive report.

He’s lived w/ the liver issue for many years, and I believe we have seen similar liver tissue in his cage mates who all came from the same pet store in NY and were probably all from the same backyard breeder. Santino was 17 years old, and did not wake up from the anesthesia. He’s gone on to join Doodles, Zoul and his former cage mate who died before we were able to rescue them from the basement in NY. I am sure that Zouletta will miss him, as we all will.

Run in Paradise Santino, Windstar and Purr-Sonality.

Wildcat Walkabout 2016

Book your tickets at this link now: http://www.peek.com/purchase/activity/widget/5776cb462ddcc00bba00001f  Book now because this event sells out every year!

Get your tickets now because the Wildcat Walkabout ALWAYS sells out!  On Oct 1, 2016 you can walk about the sanctuary at your own pace, take all the photos and videos you want, and have the benefit of knowing that your admission will go to conserving exotic cats in the wild.

When: Oct 1, 2016 11AM enter parking area | Noon – 3PM enter sanctuary.
Price: $25.00 per person.  No discounts, as this is a fundraising day for conservation in the wild.

Walkabout Time Table:

11AM:  Sign in and check out the food trucks till noon and the Trading Post gift shop
Noon: Gates open to the sanctuary where you can walk about and commune with the cats at your own pace.
3PM:  Gates close and everyone must be outside.

Vote for our Cats!

Help us win prize money to support our domestic foster kitten program by voting once a day for us here: https://www.petpartners.com/animaltarian/2016/entry/big-cat-rescue

It’s a Dog VS Cat world in this contest right now and the dogs are in the lead, so we really need your help for our orphaned and abandoned kittens!

Have You Seen the 36 New Big Cat Videos?

Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a new video.  We have two channels:  YouTube.com/BigCatRescue and YouTube.com/DailyBigCat

The Master Builder of Big Cat Rescue is Gone

Yesterday we buried my dad.  Vernon Stairs built Big Cat Rescue, literally from the ground up. He turned this plot of sand and sand spurs, and rickety cages on concrete floors, into the big cat paradise it is today from 1996-2016. He died on his 75th birthday on Aug 26, 2016 and was laid to rest yesterday in a military cemetery where he was honored with a rifle salute and an American flag. He worked 6 days a week, right up to the last couple weeks, and only took one vacation in the last 20 years that I can recall. Yesterday his family and my mother’s family all gathered at the sanctuary to recall fond memories of Vern and to admire his handiwork in every cage at the sanctuary. He will live on in all of us and in the legacy that is Big Cat Rescue. More about him at BigCatRescue.org/Vernon-Stairs

The Quarterly Big Cat Times

Our printed, quarterly magazine costs us about 43 cents to print and mail, per copy, so we can’t mail it to everyone in our database. You can download the digital version here though: http://bigcatrescue.org/big-cat-times/