Gilligan
Male Canada lynx
Appx. 1/1/07
Rescued 5/5/13
Gilligan’s age is unknown. We were told he was purchased along with Skipper at an auction.
Gilligan had the tiniest cage measuring 5′ x 7′. It was also the dirtiest of all of the cages. The mud floor was not mud, but feces covered with a sprinkling of straw. It appeared as though Gilligan had tried to keep much of his waste confined to one area on top of his plastic dog house. He had perched atop the house day after day to defecate. The large pile of feces cascaded out of the side of his cage. It was clear that his cage had not been cleaned in several months.
Strewn about the cage were bits of meat, bones, and fur. The dog house was too small for Gilligan to fit in and other than a small child’s play picnic table he had nowhere to escape the weather. He was forced to sleep in the open and surrounded by filth.
Because Gilligan’s cage was so small there was not enough room for Big Cat Rescuers to enter it with nets and a crate. So using a wire that they had brought, they constructed a secondary enclosure to the door of his and inside placed the crate filled with soft dry hay. Gilligan was unsure about this new crate and despite its appeal of warmth and dryness, he refused to enter it. He was left to contemplate entering the crate on his own while Big Cat Rescuers moved on to try and catch Skipper.
After Skipper was captured and carried to the Big Cat Rescue trailer, Gilligan had still refused to enter the crate. With no other options, he was sedated with a blow dart. He quickly fell asleep and Dr. Justin did a full exam. After the exam, he was gently placed in the crate and given the reversal agent for the tranquilizer.
When he awoke he was in a soft bed of hay being loaded into the trailer for his long trip back to Tampa.
Gilligan seems absolutely blissful in his new enclosure. In his first days, he constantly sniffed all around soaking in the fresh air. He was also quite amazed by the wildlife that abounds at the sanctuary from cardinals to lizards, to squirrels, he is very observant and intently watches as they flit and scurry about.
Sponsor Gilligan the Canada Lynx: http://big-cat-rescue.myshopify.com/collections/sponsor-a-cat
Read more about the rescue and see photos and videos http://bigcatrescue.org/most-daring-rescue-ever/
See More About Gilligan:
Gilligan watches Skipper the Canada Lynx get caught and taken to the vet in this Wildcat Walkabout Video on May 1, 2014 – http://bigcatrescue.org/now-big-cat-rescue-may-2-2014/
Gilligan Moves to an A/C Den
2015 Gilligan Goes to the Vet
Medical Update March 3, 2020
Gilligan the Canada Lynx was reported as lethargic and being uninterested in food for a couple of days. Dr. Wynn is here to examine him in the Windsong Memorial Hospital. Gilligan weighed in at 35.2 pounds.
Gilligan’s Exam Part 1
Nothing showed up on x-rays, his teeth look good. Kidney values look pretty good, liver values look okay, calcium a little high which could be a lot of things. Some additional tests are being sent out to the lab. They are going back thru all his vet records and observations double-checking everything.
He is being given 400 CC of fluids and Dr. Wynn will do more checks. Dr. Wynn said that after flea prevention treatment before he was a little picky about eating and he received his flea prevention last week.
While sedated he had his nails trimmed. He will remain in the recovery hospital for observation.
Gilligan’s Exam Part 2
April 23, 2020
May 12, 2021
He’s handsome…and he knows it 
Gilligan a Canada lynx.
Medical Update:
June 11, 2021 Gilligan has been over grooming his tail and medication was not having an effect. We sedated him today for an exam and once we shaved away the fur on his fluffy tail we found a mass. Sadly his tail was amputated and we will be sending the mass to the lab for analysis.
UPDATE:
June 18, 2021 The mass on Gilligan’s tail was a benign sebaceous tumor. We got complete margins and amputation of the tail should be curative. It is very rare to spread.
January 15, 2022
Gilligan moved to the enclosure behind staff offices. It is the biggest space he has ever had in his life! We are excited to give him this opportunity and give his adoring fans the opportunity to see him on his Explore, Verkada and Nest cameras at BigCatCams.com
February 1, 2022
Gilligan Medical Update
Gilligan was sedated today as he has not been eating well and has been straining to poop. X-rays showed he is constipated. Dr. Justin spent a lot of time deobstipating him to loosen up and break apart the blockage. He will recover in the recovery hospital over night then move to the outdoor hospital cage until he is pooping regularly again. He will likely remain on a maintenance dose of lactulose indefinitely.
February 9, 2022
Gilligan Update
Gilligan went back outside to his new home enclosure behind staff offices. He will be in the roofed section until his next bowel movement.
June 22, 2022
September 20, 2022
Gilligan has been recovering from a UTI in the Recovery Cabana. He let us know this morning he was ready to go home and requested to be discharged 
Today after a few home improvements he was moved back outside. The ramp to his air conditioned den was topped off with more dirt making it easier for him to go in and out. A 200 square foot roofing vinyl was also installed to give him more area to be outside when it’s raining without actually being in the rain 
December 2022
Gilligan really enjoyed laying near his Christmas Tree this year!
Gilligan enjoying the sunshine!
Sponsor Gilligan the Canada Lynx!
Did you know you can sponsor/adopt Gilligan the Canada Lynx for as little as $25.00?
All kits include the following that you can download and print:
Four page color fact sheet about your chosen species
Sponsorship certificate photo with a blank to fill in your name
Financial breakdown of how your donation helps the cats
Sponsored cat profile and rescue story
If this interests you go to https://big-cat-rescue.myshopify.com/collections/sponsor-a-cat/products/download-canada-lynx-sponsorship
Gilligan the Canada Lynx Gear
You can find shirts, tote bags, mugs, necklaces, mousepads and so many more fun items featuring Gilligan the Canada Lynx in our online gift shops. Go to reach gift shop linked below and search “Gilligan.” Your PURRchases of Gilligan Gear helps us provide for all the cats at Big Cat Rescue and work toward ending the abuse and exploitation of big cats.
Donating at NO COST to YOU!!
You can donate to the cats at NO COST TO YOU when you select BCR as your charity on Amazon Smile and shop Smile.Amazon.com instead of Amazon.com. It is exactly the same as regular Amazon EXCEPT when you use the Smile URL Amazon donates .5% of your purchase to BCR. It’s added up to over $89,000 for the cats!
Please visit BigCatRescue.org/amazon-smile for how to sign up and let us know you did so we can thank you. 🙂
I remember the pictures. his awful poop cage. I am so glad he is happy and safe and in fresh air, fresh food and water is his, awesome caring people. Thank You <3
Gilligan and Skipper live in separate enclosures? I thought they were pals that came from the same place… Gilligan ♡♡♡♡☆☆☆♡♡♡♡
Big cats are solitary and these are both males. They lived separately when we rescued them and we house them separately, but next to each other.
Gilligan is a very Beautiful And Precious And Awesome And Handsome Man-Puss of a Canada Lynx ?❤️?❤️?