October 13 2017

Big Cat Updates

All the cats who recently had dentals are doing well.  They are eating well and taking their meds.

Zabu is doing well.  We have not reunited her and Cameron yet as she is a little grumpy at times.  She also has not been allowed into the open topped section because that is where her pool is and we are not ready for her to be back in water, yet.

Zeus has adjusted well to one eye and finds his way around his set of cages without bumping into things.  He certainly knows where the keeper with treats is at!

Missed Questions:

Carole’s Wednesday evening walkabout video had some missed questions.  Sorry, everyone.  By the way, when we miss questions, please let us know.

• Deb Quimby -Did your mosquito band work?  Yes
• Tonia O’Connor – Does Amazon offer bigger sizes?  No

 Facebook Live Video Replays

Zucari Goes on FunCation (22,000 sq ft of fun)

Gift Shop Part 1:  Honey, our gift shop manager, shows you our new gift shop space.

Gift Shop Part 2:  Honey, our gift shop manager, shows you our new gift shop space.

The shirt Carole was wearing: https://catrescue.myshopify.com/search?type=product&q=Tut

Evening Walkabout

Cats: Hoover, Arthur, Amanda, Cameron, Kali, Priya, Andy’s tail and feet, Seth

Carole Talks about:

• Why Zabu has not been released back in the open air section.
• Witness Protection cats, good news.

 Keeper Corner

Keeper Sharon Henry: Zeus is doing really well after the emergency surgery to remove his eye. He’s back to his sweet, chuffing self. Good boy Zeus! Love this big guy so much! ♡

 A Touching Story

I was in tears by the time I finished reading this.

Hi Carole,

I have been wanting to write this to you for about a month or so, but you have been so busy and I didn’t want to send it at a bad time. I just wanted to tell you a little personal story, that in a round about way, you are a part of. I don’t know if you remember, but a while back you were selling some little cat toy fish that swim in water, in your Cat Rescue store. You had a special sell on them that I couldn’t pass up, so I purchased a pink one for my cat Grace. She loves it! I put a BIG bowl of water on the coffee table and let her play with the fish in it. She loved that big bowl so much, that I left it there for her. She loved to just lounge by it and drink from it. I use past tense, because I had to change the bowl to a small bowl so I can monitor her water intake, but I still have it on the coffee table for her to lounge by and drink from. Anyway, after the big bowl had been there a few weeks, I started noticing that she was drinking A LOT of water. She would drink and drink. My husband has always scooped Grace’s cat litter and every so often I will ask him how everything deposited in the litter looks. He always says, normal.

When I saw how much she was drinking I asked him if she had been urinating a lot and he said yes, but he just thought it was because of the big bowl that she likes to drink out of. She had been urinating a lot for a couple of weeks, before I noticed the excessive drinking. My husband just thought it was because she was drinking a lot, which it was, but he didn’t realize that it wasn’t normal for her to drink that much. (He did a great job at scooping her litter, but I now do the scooping, lol.) I know that drinking a lot and urinating a lot is a sign of Diabetes, so we took Grace to her Vet and after a bunch of blood work, sure enough she has Diabetes. At first I was devastated, because I lost my Dad at the age of 58 to complications from Diabetes.

But this was a different situation, we caught Grace’s early and would go full force to get her regulated with insulin injections. I had to change her entire diet, eating times, everything. She SO wanted her Temptation treats back and it was so hard for me to not give them to her, but I couldn’t…… I had to give her injections and was so fearful of hurting her. We were suppose to take her blood sugar readings 3 times a day, but it absolutely traumatized her, so we couldn’t do it.  The Vet said that it was okay, lots of people can’t take their cats readings and they will do A1c tests. I was SO overwhelmed, but at least I knew that it could be treated. As I was sitting there sobbing, I thought about the fact that this is treatable, she will get better. I thought to myself, thank goodness I caught it so early and I know the signs………

Then it dawned on me…….I wouldn’t have noticed her drinking so much, if the water bowl wasn’t on the coffee table and the water bowl wouldn’t have been on the coffee table if I hadn’t bought Grace the toy fish and I wouldn’t have bought the the toy fish if Carole hadn’t sold it in her store…

I tell you all of this because…… we never know how we touch other peoples lives, with even the littlest things, the littlest gestures. I wanted you to know how big you touched my life, even in a round about way, with a little toy fish. We just never know how one little thing we do, will affect someone else along life’s path.

Because we caught Grace’s Diabetes early, this is the outcome: she was on her insulin injections for a month and then had an A1c test. Normal A1c test range should be 300-400, Graces was 589 and now it is 250! They think she may be in remission! She has been off of insulin for two weeks now and next week she has another A1c test to see how regulated she is without insulin. We have managed to get two blood sugar readings in the last two weeks and so far her blood sugar looks great! The Vet said that the remission may not last forever, but that’s okay…..I know now, that her Diabetes can be managed.

Plus we have prayed for her and prayer is a powerful thing. She is playing again, drinking and urinating normal, and is a happy girl. That makes my heart happy!

THANK YOU for selling those cute little toy fish…….that toy fish was the reason we caught it so early. I just thought you should know, that simply listing a small item in your store, made a huge difference for Grace… and me.

THANK YOU for all you do for big and small cats, wild and domestic! I know that you have made a tremendous difference in your cats lives and are making a tremendous difference for them out in the wild, with the Big Cat Act. The difference you made by selling the toy fish may seem so small….but it isn’t small to me, at all.

Standing with you, to be a voice for the cats!

Love and Hugs, Kristine and Grace =^..^=

Here is the toy Kristine had gotten for her precious kitty, Grace.  https://catrescue.myshopify.com/products/led-light-swimming-fish-toy-for-cats It comes in a variety of colors.

 Facebook Cover Photos

Cindy from Art By Cindy has created some fun Facebook Covers for YOU!  You can grab them from here and use on your Facebook pages, if you’d like to.  Today’s theme is Halloween 7 Birthday.

Be sure to drop by Cindy’s art page and “Like” it as a THANK YOU for the wonderful art she shares with the cats.

 Art By Cindy

Cindy from Art By Cindy has created a beautiful piece of art featuring King Tut, the Savannah cat.  Let her know what you think of the amazing work of art on her Facebook page.

Cindy has allowed us to use her art to raise funds for the sanctuary.  Here is a shirt using this amazing art work of King Tut, the Savannah Cat.  This shirt is available is a variety of colors and sizes.

King Tut Savannah Tee Shirt

 Foster Kittens

Big cat friend, Lee Durbin got a cute snapshot of Keeper Afton getting a little “Kitten Time” in between her big cat duties.

Watch the foster kitten playing every day, streaming live from the Kitten Cabana.  Find the link for all the cats’ web cams at BigCatCams.com

Rescued foster kittens play and heal while they wait for their forever homes.

 BCR Website Updates

Updated Pages

• Big Cat Bans Enacted
• Places to eat, stay, & gold in Tampa Bay
• Go Free
• Breeding Kills

 News & Articles

ONE: A half-starved lion cub was found in an empty apartment in a gritty Paris suburb after being abandoned by a man who hired the creature to show off, investigators said on Wednesday. Police began hunting for the cub after noticing selfies on social media of the 24-year-old man posing with his tawny pet. The man was taken into custody on charges of illegally keeping a wild animal.