Fluffy

Female Serval

6/16/93 – 5/24/16

Rescued  7/20/93

Fluffy came to Big Cat Rescue from Oregon as a result of the pet trade in July of 1993. Fluffy was always been extremely affectionate until she became an adult.

Servals are great hunters and fishers and she found much more happiness in a natural enclosure filled with trees, palmetto bushes and logs to investigate.

She is quite shy and will usually retreat to the cover of foliage when her enclosure is approached by keepers. However, she is a cat and curiosity always gets the better of her causing her to come out into the open to observe nearby activity.

Fluffy Update:
Fluffy Serval was found down (barely responsive) in her enclosure 5/23/16. The vet came and removed 3 bad teeth. We were ready to euthanize her, but felt like we had to at least try removing the bad teeth and see if she rebounds.

Today she is having an extremely hard time waking up, even though she was very lightly sedated yesterday. She will get her fluids and injections this morning and if she doesn’t turn the corner by this afternoon we will probably have to let her go.

She’s 22 years old, which is twice as long as servals usually live. This photo is one of my favorites of Fluffy back in the 90s down by the lake.

Tributes to Fluffy Serval

Carole Baskin May 31, 2016
When I think of Fluffy and her siblings, Muffy and Tuffy; I’m reminded of being one of those people who didn’t know that captive wild cat breeding does nothing for conservation. It was 1993 and I wouldn’t even hear of the Internet for 3 more years. I’d been told that these were endangered species, who didn’t breed well in zoos and that only the private sector would be able to save them for future generations. I was lied to by those looking to turn a quick buck selling kittens. I remember the threesome totally destroying my home, with the sort of enthusiasm that only a wild animal knows. They were so full of energy and life and I thought I was on a path to save their kind from extinction.

When I learned better a couple years later, after access to the Internet, I began neutering and spaying cats as quickly as possible. Tuffy and Muffy passed on many years ago, but Fluffy remained a part of my life even though she was rarely seen by anyone other than her keepers. I would visit with her often, apologizing for the part I had in the exotic cat trade. I will miss our chats and her hisses.

Alyssa Weber May 31, 2016
Oh, Fruff. You were in the middle and no one ever really got to see you much i feel. I know so many of us loved you, even though you hissed violently at me everytime you saw me! You were so strong and you held on a lot longer than i thought you were going to. Rest easy, baby girl.

More Memorials at https://bigcatrescue.org/category/memorials/