Big Cat Health Updates

Hoover Tiger is eating well. TJ, Cameron and Joseph, no so much. 5- 7 lbs each, but I’d really like to see them eat more.

Jumanji Leopard was bright and alert and perched up on his top shelf, so he’s not scaring us so much now. Drinking a lot, but that’s to be expected in these old cats with failing kidneys.

Nirvana Ocelot is still being fussy, as is Artemis Cougar. Orion and Ares Cougars aren’t eating well either, but they just moved and haven’t settled in yet to their new digs.

Zouletta Serval only eating about 5 oz a day, despite being offered several things to choose from at different times during the day.

Nala Serval is healing nicely, hating the cone on her head, and can be watched from the live webcams in the Recovery Hospital at BigCatRescue.org/cams

Cat News Elsewhere

People ask us all the time why we don’t have our cats living in pairs and groups like so many other places. In this story the Tiger’s leg had to be amputated. Tigers are solitary. They don’t want to share space, walls or anything else. This is why our cats are giving their own space unless there is a friend they grew up with and won’t kill. http://www.ky3.com/content/news/petra-tiger-leg-amputated-393781111.html

Big Cat Rescue’s Letter to the Zoo

Big Cat Rescue is willing to give Petra a permanent retirement home in sunny Florida.

I was saddened to hear that Petra lost a limb during an attempt to introduce her to a male. The news article quoted Jackson Thompson as saying, “the exhibit requires a shared fence line” and that’s clearly inappropriate for big cats. They should never have a shared fence line that would allow them to lose an ear, a tail, or limb. It happens a lot, in back yard collections and over the years we have had quite a number of cats come to us missing ears, tails and limbs. (like Keisha below)

Due to our warm weather and the fact that all of our enclosures have soft, earthen floors, cats who have been debilitated, like Petra, can live out their lives in comfort. We do not lock our cats up at night in concrete floored cells, like most zoos do. We do not even attempt to introduce adult cats because we do not believe they should be bred for life in cages. Petra would have her own 1,800+ square foot space, with dens, a spring fed pool and daily room service at Big Cat Rescue.

We do require that anyone who sends a cat to us must agree not to possess exotic cats in the future. Our offer to take Petra would not demand that you send all of your cats to us, or to accredited sanctuaries, but it would require that you contract with us to never buy, breed or bring in more exotic cats for life in the zoo. If you are willing to do that, we are willing to come get Petra right away, at no cost to you, and provide her a peaceful retirement.

I know the zoo will not want her on display any more, as she will be a constant reminder of the poor zoo policies and practices that allowed her to be harmed. I fear she will just disappear now, either through euthanasia, once the media has turned away their attention, or to some tiny, barren holding cell, or to some backyard collector. We often find that when people have misused these magnificent animals they will then send them to places that are ill equipped to provide care, because those operators are not actively trying to change the laws to protect wild cats from being bred for life in cages. You can be a leader in your industry by doing the right thing for Petra now.

Notes from the Universe

No one ever regrets raising the bar, Carole, ever, ever, ever. Scare yourself, The Universe

ROAR!! NEW SEPTEMBER CONTEST TO RAISE FUNDS AND POSSIBLY A $5000 PRIZE FOR OUR CATS!!

Big Cat Rescue is excited to announce that we are purr-ticipating in a contest from GoodWorld throughout the month of September!

Every new person (those who have not previously donated via GoodWorld) who signs up at https://gdw.io/b21167 to donate to Big Cat Rescue will receive $10 in GoodWorld Credit to donate right back to us! That’s right, GoodWorld will GIVE YOU $10 in credit to donate to Big Cat Rescue!

Here are the easy instructions:

1. Sign up for GoodWorld here: https://gdw.io/b21167 and you’ll see you have $10 of GoodWorld Credit available in your GoodWorld Donor Dashboard.
2. #donate $10 to us on our Facebook pagewww.facebook.com/bigcatrescue by commenting #donate $10 on any of our posts to use your GoodWorld Credit. You can also donate more than $10 if you choose.
3. Refer your friends from your dashboard to get even more free donations! For each friend who signs up, you both get $5 to donate to Big Cat Rescue.

Big Cat Rescue will also receive one point for each new person who signs up during September. The nonprofit with the most points at the end of September will receive a $5000 prize! That would feed one of our tigers for 6 months!

Thank you for helping to feed our cats!