Frosty

Male White Footed Serval

DOB 1/1/95

Crossed Rainbow Bridge: 1/24/2019

Frosty  was born here in 1995 and is the father of the only two white servals in the world, which were born here at the sanctuary. Big Cat Rescue stopped breeding in the mid 1990’s because there is no reason to breed an exotic cat for a life in a cage.  In 1995 there was no Internet here and we were lied to by the breeders and dealers who told us that these cats should be bred for “conservation.”  In fact, captive breeding leads to the extinction of cats in the wild.

Frosty loves when you toss him a snack and will jump as high in the air as he can to catch it before it falls. Frosty is quite acrobatic and if a keeper tosses him a treat, he will jump high into the air to try to catch it before it hits the ground. Frosty is much more stocky then the other servals and looks quite different with his pale coat and snow white socks. He loves enrichment and will get worked up into such a frenzy rubbing on a cardboard tube scented with spices that he will soon sports two thick strands of drool hanging from the corners of his mouth. Frosty also loves to mark his territory, including his keepers. He has quite a range and can spray more than three feet with exceptional accuracy. Several keepers have been “claimed” by Frosty!

Because white footed servals and white servals are rare, people will pay to see them, so breeders will inbreed to get the defective genes that produce the un natural coat color. They cannot survive in the wild because they could not hide from predators and cannot sneak up on prey even if they did manage to survive to adulthood. They do not live where it snows. There are only a handful of white footed servals in the world and only two white servals that are known to exist.

These are not albinos as they have pale blue to green eyes and some golden patches. They are born and mature approximately 20% larger than the normal colored servals. For the first year, their health is much more delicate and we have never known of white serval females to survive more than two weeks. We will not sell (although we’ve been offered $75,000.00 each) nor allow others to breed to our white servals because we do not want them to be exploited and the only way we can control that is to control their offspring. The demand for white tigers causes many of the normal colored cubs, born to these litters, to be destroyed. We will not be a part of anything that could cause the same to happen to golden colored servals. We do not
breed cats, nor sell cats at Big Cat Rescue.

Most of our servals were rescued from people who got them as pets and were not prepared for the fact that male or female, altered or not, they all spray buckets of urine when they become adults. Some were being sold at auction where taxidermists would buy them and club them to death in the parking lot, but a few were born here in the early days when we were ignorant of the truth and were being told by the breeders and dealers that these cats should be bred for “conservation.” Once we learned that there are NO captive breeding programs that actually contribute to conservation in the wild we began neutering and spaying our cats in the mid 1990’s.  Knowing what we do about the intelligence and magnificence of these creatures we do not believe that exotic cats should be bred for lives in cages. Read more about our Evolution of Thought HERE

December 21, 2016 –  Frosty was reported as having vomited on Monday and then refused food yesterday and today.  Frosty had been sneaky for the a couple days, too. He was taking his food and hiding it in his enclosures and the keepers had to hunt for it to find out whether he had eaten it or not.

He was sedated for an exam this afternoon.  Nothing abnormal was found, X-rays and and ultrasound study have been submitted to specialists for a consult.  His blood work indicated mild kidney disease and mild liver value elevations.  He will recover in the cat hospital for a few days where we can monitor his behavior and eating until the results from the consult come back.  He has been prescribed meds and fluids.  As soon as we know more you we will post it.

July 25, 2018 – Frosty Serval had to make an emergency trip to Dr Wynn’s clinic.  Doing X-rays — at Ehrlich Animal Hospital.

He refused his breakfast so keepers took food out to him more times throughout the day and he started acting like he didn’t feel well so he was rushed off-property to see Dr. Wynn as quickly as possible.

He’d peed on himself which attracted flies. Temp 104. Using cold packs and cool enema to bring down temp. Waiting on blood work.

Blood work isn’t too bad. Heart looks worse but not terrible. Giving fluids, antibiotics and vet wants him inside a while. His arthritis is getting pretty bad.

He was a bit constipated possibly because of where the arthritis is in his spine might be causing the constipation issue. Dr. Wynn’s video explains it better but I’ll try to paraphrase the best I can. Arthritis along the spine where his pelvis area is might be making it harder for him to get into the proper position for pooping making it more difficult to poop thus contributing to constipation.

While he was out they removed the constipated poop so he will feel better.  They also gave him a good grooming.

More news coming soon.  As we learn more we will post it on Frosty’s page at https://BigCatRescue.org/frosty/  When Carole gets the video clips to Afton she will compile them and upload them so you all will have a better explanation.