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To Catlovers

My cats

Ronja was born in a catcolony and was trapped when she was 3 months old, I adopted her when she was 5 months.
She´s 11 now.

Maja was born and grew up in a big colony we took care of.
She was pregnant when she was trapped and later her kittens were stillborn.
But they were several catmothers in a room and Maja took the kittens from another cat.
That cat was young and the fur was so matted that the kittens couldn´t find the teats.
Maja took care of the kittens and defended them against all humans, she was very agressive then.
She came to me after the kittens were adopted, it will be 10 years this summer.
Last year I could began to pet her and hold her and she was purring.
Maybe it´s an award after I´ve been her servant for 10 years
She hasn´t been aggressive to me but we have had different opinions about going to the veterinarian

Larissa and Linnea came from a catcolony 9 years ago, Larissa managed to escape some years ago


Ariel came as a kitten together with her mother and brothers.
The mothercat had an owner who went on a very long vacation leaving the catfamily to fend fo themselves.
Ariel broke her leg when she was 4 months, she was sitting in a big pot and I suppose when she jumped down a paw was stuck in the houseplant.
Even if you have indoorcats accidents can happen.

Kajsa and Daisy came from a hoarder.
I wasn´t going to have more cats then but when they talked about they didn´t know what to do with Kajsa,she was too shy..then I took her.
Compared with cats I had or had had from atcolonies I didn´t consider Kajsa that shy and Daisy was quite young so I thought I could find a new home for her.
I did but she came back, she didn´t want to leave her friends

Gullan and Wille their mother hadn´t been spayed and a workmate said her husband were going to do something with them I wouldn´t like..
She promised to spay the cat but didn´t...

I´ve been a fosterhome for maybe 50 cats and kittens and I loved them all but I never said no if someone wanted to adopt them.

Besides Larissa 3 other cats escaped from me , 2 escaped from a shed the day after I got them.I think I saw one of the cats 5 years later and a neighbour saw another black and white cat.
These 3 cats are not my cats I was a fosterhome to them.
When they escaped I put food outside and I think every cat in the neighbourhood came to eat.I managed to trap another cat who had escaped.

I still put out food but I think it´s just my own cats who eats it now.
But you never know the escapees might return one day.
It could be that my cats defend their territory against other cats but they are older now .
I remember my old male cat who used to chase all the other cats who came to his garden, but when he was 13-14 he went indoors instead sitting in the window and hissed at the other cats.
Now I think of when Chess and Ronja- who was one year old then-were outside and another cat came.It seemed like Chess told Ronja..my paws are not good today..you can do it today and she started chasing the other cat.

There are many fun moments I had with cats and some sad too.
I want to help more cats but the cats I have now deserve some peace now and more attention.
I´ve been busy trapping other cats,standing on flee markets selling things for cats, working ordinary job.

There are still things I can do to help, tell other persons about homeless cats , when I ordered Xscape online I did it through a side which give some percent of the cost to a chosen charity, like this http://www.shoptogive.com/how-we-help.php
I support No kill catshelters buying things,donate things , money.

I can´t show pictures...cameras and computers..I just don´t get it.
In many of the videos I´ve posted I´ve seen cats who look similar to my darlings.
 
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Re: to catlovers

You are great Mist for fostering and working hard helping so many cats :bow:

If I win a lotto, I would donate tons of money to animal shelters etc. Those shelters are usually run by people who care of animal welfare and they receive no government funding like charities for people in need.
 
When I started to help cats 10 years ago was the estimated number of homeless cats 100.000 but noone really know exact.They talk about the same number today despite all the work catshelters and rescue groups have done.
If cats in one colony is fixed then another colony is found.
In Sweden we are quite new to Trap-Neuter-return although in some places they have done it for years and we can see it really works.

If I would win lots of money I would start mobile animal clinics-buses-where people can go and get stray cats and feral cats spayed/neutered, get needed veterinarian care for free.
Catowners can use it to but pay something for it.

Now people find cats, it can take time before catshelter/groups can help and during that time the cats get kittens.Pregnant cats ,cats with kittens and kittens use to get priority to come in but if there are many there aren´t enough places.
Sometimes people don´t ask for help until the cats had kittens several times and the first kittens are starting to get kittens.
If the first cat would get fixed it would be so much better.

More campaigns to adopt are also needed.
I think this was a good one
[video=youtube_share;S9uU1M3qDSM]http://youtu.be/S9uU1M3qDSM[/video]
 
Sometimes you can find very small kittens without mothers.
Then you have to feed them around the clock and also help them to pee and poop.
It´s hard work and I know it happens kittens don´t survive.
I´ve alway have had the mother cat with them when they are so young and that´s much easier.
I have had feral mothers but their kittens have become very friendly.

For older feral kittens it´s good to have them in a small place.
I have used a room with a door, it can be the bathroom.
In a smaller area the kittens learn to get used to be indoors,used to humans, where the litterbox is.
I used to have some hidingplaces for them where they feel safer but where I still can reach them.
I´ve tried to spend much time with them, sometimes playing with them ,feeding them, sometimes sleeping in the room , reading, just let them get used to me.

If you get social kittens it´s good to have them in a smaller room first so they learn where the litter box is.
Sometimes people on catforums complain about their new kittens who don´t use the litterbox.
The answers use to be have them in a smaller rea first and, maybe you have to have more than one litterbox.

If you have your own social cats it can be a great help too.
[video=youtube_share;mzGwkzw59MA]http://youtu.be/mzGwkzw59MA[/video]
 
MIST;3994804 said:
Sometimes you can find very small kittens without mothers.
Then you have to feed them around the clock and also help them to pee and poop.
It´s hard work and I know it happens kittens don´t survive.
I´ve alway have had the mother cat with them when they are so young and that´s much easier.
I have had feral mothers but their kittens have become very friendly.

For older feral kittens it´s good to have them in a small place.
I have used a room with a door, it can be the bathroom.
In a smaller area the kittens learn to get used to be indoors,used to humans, where the litterbox is.
I used to have some hidingplaces for them where they feel safer but where I still can reach them.
I´ve tried to spend much time with them, sometimes playing with them ,feeding them, sometimes sleeping in the room , reading, just let them get used to me.

If you get social kittens it´s good to have them in a smaller room first so they learn where the litter box is.
Sometimes people on catforums complain about their new kittens who don´t use the litterbox.
The answers use to be have them in a smaller rea first and, maybe you have to have more than one litterbox.

If you have your own social cats it can be a great help too.
[video=youtube_share;mzGwkzw59MA]http://youtu.be/mzGwkzw59MA[/video]
Click to expand...

Oh great thanks for the info :) I'm not sure how to help a kitten pee and poop? I'll keep doing research and see what I can do :) thanx again
 
Re: to catlovers

The mother cat licks her kittens in the butt to get them to pee and poo.
You try to imitate the mother tongue by taking a damp cotton ball and rub the kittens butt.
Some groups have workshops how to do and I think you can get support from the local shelter
 
Re: to catlovers

Cats on Big cat rescue have to put up with much .. and my cats too.
My male cat is a tough boy..and I call him sweetie
 
[video=youtube_share;YuIAxFOWj5w]http://youtu.be/YuIAxFOWj5w[/video]

THE WORST SHELTER IN THE WORLD?

A Hell On Earth For Dogs & Cats...

Dear Friends & Supporter of Soi Dog,

I recently visited the dog shelter at Bangkok’s Suan Kaew temple, known locally as “Dog Condo”. Kelly O’Meara, the Director of Companion Animals for the Humane Society International accompanied me and described it as the worst sheltering situation she had ever seen anywhere in the world!

The photos and video will give you some idea of the conditions here, though it is impossible to accurately get across how bad this place is using photos or video.

All the green areas you see (photo at top) are not grass, but open sewerage pits, which are filled with sludge. The green you see is floating plants thriving on the nutrients below. The waste goes nowhere.

Over 1000 dogs and 500 cats live here! The cats are kept in small cages suspended from the ceiling, dogs are seen in wire cages suspended on the side of the building.

Cats live in constant fear and many have had paws bitten off. Some of the dogs are kept in cages and are also trembling in fear. Dogs who are aggressive spend their entire lives locked in small cages, with barely enough room to turn around.

Many of the cages are inches deep in dried feces. The entire floor area is a carpet of waste. The buildings are falling to pieces, and dogs and puppies frequently fall from the upper level to their deaths or are attacked by the dogs on the lower level.

The entire “shelter” is cared for by 2 elderly ladies, who live amongst the over one thousand animals. How can such a place exist?

Why Has This Happened?...

Suan Kaew temple is famous in Thailand. It has its own foundation and the abbot Phra Payom Kallayano is rightly revered for his good works, which involve providing work and care to the poor, setting up local industries to provide work for homeless children, drug addicts, the elderly etc.. He is a great example of a religious leader providing for those in need.

Dog Condo was started with the best of intentions. Prior to the 2003 APEC conference a purge on Bangkok’s stray dogs occurred. Phra Payom ordered the construction of the shelter to save the dogs. Unfortunately, since that time many pet owners have taken advantage of the temple, and dumped their unwanted pets there. With the other human related projects taking precedence, dog condo has deteriorated into the squalid place it is today.

What Is Being Done & How Can You Help?...

Soi Dog Foundation is determined to improve the conditions for the poor dogs and cats that live there but can only do so with your help!

Improved sheltering for cats has already been built because of your support and more cat shelters are going to be built to provide accommodation where the cats can move about without fear, away from the dogs. The electricity supply, which no longer works is being replaced. New roofs are being fitted and new fencing will be installed on the upper levels to prevent dogs and puppies from falling to their deaths below. More staff are needed, as it is impossible for 2 elderly ladies to care for this place on their own. Much more needs to be done and we are in talks with the temple authorities to seek approval to make major improvements and changes.

Only with your help can this be accomplished.

It is nothing less than a disaster area! And something we cannot turn our backs on. Other organizations have come and gone without making any real improvement, leading to a sense of distrust amongst temple staff. Soi Dog Foundation does not get involved with any project where it cannot deliver. It will be expensive to make a real difference here, and we need your help to do so. Please donate generously and together we will make a difference in the lives of these dogs and cats

I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man." - Mahatma Gandhi

US Residents - Soi Dog is a registered charity in the USA and your donation is tax deductible to the full extent allowed by US law.

United Kingdom Residents - Soi Dog is a registered charity in the UK and your donation qualifies for HMRC gift aid.

http://www.soidog.org/en/newsletter-sign-up/past-newsletters/04-2014/mailingforweb.html
 
Top 10 Reasons to Adopt a Senior Cat

1. Aren’t you getting better with age? A cat does too!
A senior cat’s personality is already fully developed. That means you’ll know if a cat is a lap lover or free spirit and you’ll know if you’ve found a good fit for you and your family right away.

2. A senior cat has retired from the interior design business.
You won’t be coming home to knocked over plants, tipped over TVs, or toilet paper confetti.

3. Litter box as Zen garden.
A senior cat is most likely already house trained and will create beautiful works of art in the litter box as opposed to the living room.

4. What you see is what you get.
Because a senior cat is already full-grown, you can pick a cat in the size/weight class that suits you.

5. Crazy kitty hour is cancelled.
A senior cat is not likely to go running through your apartment in the wee hours of the night sounding like a Clydesdale.

6. A senior cat will pay attention to you.
A senior cat has a better attention span than a kitten. So, if you need to teach your new feline friend something — like how to use a scratching post (though he will most likely already know how) — your kitty is likely to pay attention and not bound off to chase that invisible dot on the wall.

7. He’s still got it!
A senior cat still has tons of playful energy and will let you know which playtime activities he prefers.

8. You can just hang with your homie in your home.
A senior cat will be happy to sit near you and take a nap while you watch TV, pay bills, read a book, or do other things. Not much can beat that feeling of companionship.

9. Remember, a cat has nine lives.
That means a senior cat most likely has some good years ahead of him — and his golden years may be his best ones yet! A cat is considered mature at age 7 and a senior at age 11. Many house cats live well into their late teens or even into their twenties. So, let the good times (and balls) roll!

10. You are doing your part for recycling.
A senior cat in a shelter knows what it’s like to be in a home and will be extremely grateful to be out of the shelter and in a home again. Senior cats are often the hardest to find homes for, so you will be literally saving a life. And, when your senior kittizen is curled up and purring, be sure to listen carefully: he just may be sharing stories of his past lives. Thanks to you, he has a future to purr about too.

http://www.animalalliancenyc.org/wordpress/2014/04/top-10-reasons-adopt-senior-cat/
 
Re: to catlovers

Hiya mist :hiya: my cats 9 yrs old :) he's the most beautifulest funniest cat :) he's gorgeous :yes::wub::huggy: he is loved by everyone in my neighbourhood :) he's the most loving playful cat , full of cuddles and full of fun :) I love him dearly :angel: xxxx
 
Re: to catlovers

My cat is 11, sweetest cat ever, very shy too.
I thought this was ADORABLE!
25ztboh.gif
 
Re: to catlovers

Here is another beauty, Jack-Jack a seniorcat born 1995 and the video was posted 2013

You can see he still got it.
 
MJJ_4 All Time;4011970 said:
Hiya Mist :hiya: awwwwwwwwwwwwwww Jack jack is the image of my cat:) gorgeous :) thanks for posting Mist :) xxxxxx
Click to expand...
You have a beautiful cat then.
It´s sad that not more people see the beauty of a seniorcat.
It doesn´t even have to be a seniorcat,some consider young cats as too old.

Happy cat sanctuary helped 50 cats who lived with a hoarder
[video=youtube_share;xqgTlL0tliM]http://youtu.be/xqgTlL0tliM[/video]

The sanctuary needs help,they have many beautiful cats for adoption.
 
Spotsylvania County's shelter to go no-kill

Another county in Virginia is going no-kill at its shelter.

In April, the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to adopt no-kill as a goal. They also voted to build a new shelter.

This fantastic turn of events wasn’t the result of some long drawn-out campaign. Instead it was an example of leadership. County staff recognized a better way to do business, and supervisors agreed.

In the animal shelter world, no-kill means re-homing at least 90 percent of the animals in the facility. No-kill shelters can put down animals for medical or behavioral issues, but they cannot euthanize to create more openings for additional animals.

Supervisor Ann Heidig said staff from the sheriff’s office and shelter drove the agenda in Spotsylvania.

The sheriff’s office oversees the shelter. Sheriff Roger Harris was quoted in The Free Lance-Star telling supervisors at a board meeting, “The people that work in this shelter, that have to kill animals, it’s a heartbreaking task.”

Heidig agrees, adding “When people have to put animals down, it’s an emotionally traumatic thing to do. I couldn’t do it.”

The staff’s desire to switch to no-kill coincided with code deficiencies at the shelter requiring upgrades. Instead of investing in an old facility, the supervisors decided to spend money on a modern shelter that will accommodate the new mission and be more accessible to the public.

The supervisors’ calculus also included expectation of additional revenue. Heidig noted charities offer grants to shelters with a no-kill mission.

Shelter Manager Toni Thomas sees another economic benefit.

“Instead of treating, housing and killing for space, we treat, house and adopt the animals. When the animal is housed to be killed, there is no return. When the animal is housed to adopt, there is a return” in economic activity by pet owners spending money on supplies, veterinarians and other animal-related expenses.

Thomas said staff researched no-kill shelters around the country, and decided the county “couldn’t kill anymore just for space. We had to change the way we think. We came to the conclusion that the animals’ to-go date doesn’t have to be an expiration date.”

The county already has taken steps toward no-kill. Thomas said Spotsylvania handles feral cats on a limited basis. The county’s website advises it “isn’t accepting healthy stray cats at this time.”

Reducing intake of feral cats automatically reduces the kill rate, since feral cats generally cannot be adopted.

The county requires shelter animals be sterilized before going to their new homes. A local non-profit runs a spay/neuter clinic at the shelter.

“We collect the money at the time of adoption,” Thomas said. “We advise the adopters if the animal is returned, it’s no refund, no exchange. We put the animal up for adoption again.”

Many local governments say “no” rather than “go” on improving their homeless pet policies. It’s refreshing to see county officials provide leadership with a commonsense approach that helps both animals and people. Well done Spotsylvania!

http://www.newsadvance.com/lifestyl...cle_541325a8-e5e6-11e3-b1cc-001a4bcf6878.html

They need a TNRM-program for feral cats too.
People spend money on them too.
Click to expand...
 
Re: to catlovers

I haven't visited this thread in awhile. . .shame on me, lol! Here's a recent picture of my furry baby, Vladimir. He usually hates the camera (and I'd have to paparazzi him or bribe him with cat snacks), but this time he sat sweetly and looked right at it when I called his name!


I love my boy :wub:


2014IntensityofVLADMay282014_zpsf8e8eb9a.jpg
 
Re: to catlovers

SkysTheLimit said:
Aww he is precious!
Click to expand...

Thanks, I agree, lol! He's quite spoiled, too. When we got hit with 2 snow storms earlier this year, I took him outside to play in the snow (after it passed). It's not normal to have snow storms in Georgia and I was surprised he liked the snow!

Here's a pic of him from late January :) He's harness and leashed trained and we go on walks a lot.


004_zps604b0e21.jpg
 
New York JnK Tiger Rescue
[video=youtube_share;1TK4MTqnG7E]http://youtu.be/1TK4MTqnG7E[/video]

DejaVu is all I can say.
It happens over and over, like a recurring nightmare for the wild animals suffering through it; only the names and places change.

Someone wants to “rescue” wild animals because that seems like glamorous work, so they buy animals (and just prolong the problem) until the really bad guys find out there is a new place to dump last year’s photo cubs, and then the “rescues” become more legitimate, in the eyes of the “rescuer” because at least they aren’t paying for animals any more.
Usually the big cats who need rescuing are the cubs who just outgrew the ridiculous 8-12 week window, in which USDA condones the use of cubs for photo and pay to play sessions.
All it takes to fix this mess is for USDA to acknowledge that it is a violation of the Animal Welfare Act to take cubs from their mothers for this inhumane, unethical, albeit lucrative exploitation… But I digress.

This video was shot in 2009 at JnK’s Call of the Wild and the dangerous conditions, lack of respect for the powerful nature of these wild animals and lack of understanding of their physical and emotional needs was evident.
The cats were thin, but not starving yet at that time.
http://bcove.me/dzogopa7

Five years go by, and citations pile up for not providing sufficient shelter, not having an attending vet, not willing to provide documentation of where the cats came from or went and having a perimeter fence that was only 2 feet above the 6 feet of snow.
This article from 2009 detailed the illegal purchase of a leopard that resulted in seizure and a fine, as well as a number of other violations, and yet the media treated it like a puff piece. http://bigcatrescue.org/lions-tigers-and-bears-find-refuge/

So, every few weeks more litters of lions, tigers, primates and bears are bred, used and discarded into these pseudo sanctuaries.
But then the animals grow up into 500 pound apex predators who require thousands of dollars in food & vet care each year and before you know it, the “sanctuaries” have collapsed under the collective weight and debt.
Then other sanctuaries, of varying financial stability, are called in to clean up the mess; but most of those are not in much better shape than the facilities they are being asked to bail out.

Big cats are bounced around from breeder, to photo booth operator, to the public as pets, who then dump them into the hands of backyard hoarders, who collapse and then the bigger sanctuaries come and move them to their fourth or fifth home, where they may stay until they die, but even then will sometimes end up in yet another rescue situation when the bigger places fail as well.

The second worst part of all of this is that the animals suffer from the time they are only a few hours or days old, when they are ripped from their mothers and thrust into this dismal cycle, and begin the years of suffering as the legal processes wind through the courts.

The worst part of this scenario is that it would be so easily avoided by a ban on public contact with cubs. Help do that here: https://www.votervoice.net/BCR/Campaigns/30111/Respond

That’s what happened at JnK’s Call of the Wild.

In 1997 Ken and Jackie Wisniewski started “rescuing” big cats, bears, wolves and a variety of other wild and domestic animals.
Before long they were in over their heads.
Feeding the animals wasn’t a problem because there is a lot of roadkill in Sinclairville, NY.
We counted half a dozen dead deer, a duck and raccoon, in just two days visiting this sleepy little town.
Maybe the locals drive too fast, or maybe it is all of the grape vineyards and farms that attract so much native wildlife.

The problem was that the rotting carcasses were just left to fester, along with the piling excrement, in the tiny, barren cages.
The lions and tigers, who are the most fastidious creatures on earth, were forced to live in these abysmal, fly infested conditions while USDA went through the tedious process of citing the facility year, after year, after year with no improvements.

Finally after many years of failing to to provide vet care or clean and safe caging, USDA revoked the license, which is a multi year task.
The state of NY had previously banned the private possession of big cats, bears and wolves, but in all but 4 states (KY, OH, WA & WV) a person could circumvent the ban if they held a USDA license.

Now JnK had lost their USDA license and the animals could have been seized years ago, but as is often the case, the violator will just have a family member or friend get a USDA license issued in their name and then the whole process starts over.
When Ken and Jackie Wisniewski lost their USDA license, they just had their daughter, Kristy Wisniewski, get one in her name.
It’s easy: a one page form, name, address and phone and $40 and you can get around any ban, just about anywhere.

So, the long legal battles had to start over again until the daughter had a falling out with her mother and decided not to renew her USDA license.
What usually happens is that there would now be no government agency checking in on the animals and conditions.
These kinds of places would then enjoy the luxury of doing as they please with no one looking over their shoulder, and that would always lead to worse conditions for the animals.

By this time Terry Thompson in Zanesville, OH had set free 56 lions, tigers and bears in 2011 and state agencies woke up to the fact that it could happen in their states too.
The NY state attorney’s office decided to send a message to all of the backyard breeders, dealers and pseudo sanctuaries that they would no longer turn a blind eye to the danger that these facilities pose to the public and launched the biggest seizure of wild animals in New York’s history.

USDA contacted the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries and asked if they could place the JnK animals.
GFAS made arrangements for all of the animals to be rescued, but then Jackie Wisniewski decided that she didn’t want to give them up and would wait and see if the NY Department of Environmental Conservation really would take action, or if they would, like they do in most places, just ignore the situation until someone was mauled or killed.

On May 27, 2014 at 7:30 am Jackie Wisniewski found out the state of NY wasn’t bluffing.

What she couldn’t know, and we couldn’t tell you, is that the International Fund for Animal Welfare, IFAW, had taken the lead and arranged for the 11 tigers, 3 lions, 3 bears, and 2 wolves to be picked up and transported to Big Cat Rescue in FL via Loving Friends, Safe Haven Wildlife Rescue Zoo in NV, Wild Animal Sanctuary in CO, In-Sync Exotics in TX, the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in IN, and Animal Lifeline would transport the wolves to a facility in PA.

We couldn’t let the cat out of the bag until after the last animal was rescued from the site for fear of starting a media circus that could propel the owner into doing something dangerous to the animals or the rescue crews.
We know that most people who will donate to help big cats want to fund a rescue, but once the cats are safe, they are off to the next exciting rescue.

We hope that you are different.

We went out on a limb because these cats were literally starving to death, and one tiger, Sasha, had died before we even arrived.
(We had agreed to take four tigers, but when we got there Sasha was no longer alive and no one seemed to know anything about why or when she died.
Some said she was alive last summer, others said she was still alive in Feb of this year and others said she had been dead for years) We had to give up the chance to involve everyone in the excitement of a rescue because these cats depended on us keeping quiet so the owner wouldn’t do anything foolish.
We were able to load our tigers by 1PM on Tues. May 27, 2014 but had to maintain silent mode until all of the animals were safely on their way to other rescue sites.

What we saw during the rescue was unimaginable suffering and conditions that clearly threatened everyone in the area.
No agency had been able to inspect the animals since December 2013 (nearly 6 months ago) and at that time they said the cats were well fed, but that the rotting carcasses, piles of feces and ramshackle cages were reason enough to seize the animals.
“Well fed” appears to be a judgement call because the 2009 video of the tigers showed them to to be far too thin 5 years ago, in our opinion.
JnK had a pile of citations for not allowing inspectors onto the property, but in many cases those are considered by the bad guys to be far less incriminating than actually answering the gate and letting inspectors see what they are doing.

The cats were starving to death!

Their ragged fur, which was missing in places from laying in their own excrement, was stretched taut over protruding bones.
Kimba the tigress, (born 8/94) seemed to have just given up and laid, unresponsive, in her den.
Former volunteers there said she had been bred to Zeus for 4-6 litters of cubs in her life) It wasn’t until she saw that there was the promise of food, in exchange for pulling her aching body up into the transport wagon, that she came to life.
Big Cat Rescue President, Jamie Boorstein, had locked Kimba in her den so that we could push the wagon up to the rickety door.
As soon as she was released and given the scent of beef on a stick, she followed it right into the foreign transport box without much hesitation.

Zeus the tiger, (born 9/96 to Kimba) has limited vision and it looks like his retina may be separated in his eye, which can be extremely painful.
Other tigers there had the same strange looking eyes, where the golden part of the iris has almost completely covered over the lens.
As soon as Zeus saw food, he RAN down the length of his cage, chasing Big Cat Rescue’s Operations Manager, Gale Ingham, who was racing (outside the cage) toward the beast wagon that had been affixed to a hole that was cut into the side of his cage.
Zeus was the largest tiger and the hole wasn’t really big enough, but metal piping made it impossible to make the hole any larger.
Zeus didn’t care. He wanted that life giving morsel of food so bad that he squeezed, like liquid tiger, through the opening into the circus wagon.
Jamie dropped the door and Zeus was on his way to a life of luxury that he couldn’t possibly imagine.


The cages were rotted to the point of falling apart. Rusty screws held ragged sheets of plywood together for the dens and doors. If the tigers had any strength left in them, they could have burst through. This made for some tense moments, especially when it came to loading Keisha the tigress. (born 5/00 to Kimba and Zeus)


Apparently, the way cats had been fed, back when they were being fed, was they were locked out of their dens, the food tossed into the dens via a back door, and then they were let back into the den.

The part that has to be explained here is that the dens were made of crumbling plywood.
Citations went back to 2012 for these unsafe conditions.
The doors had deteriorated over time to the point where a makeshift system was rigged to keep the tigers from just pushing the doors out of their rotted frames.
It was made of curtain hooks that were shaped in a semicircle and screwed with tiny, and now rusted screws; one on either side of the door opening.
Then 2 pipes were passed through the hooks to hold the doors shut.
Jamie took a handful of the material and it turned to shards and dust in her hand.

The first attempt at capturing Keisha was to shut her in the den, then hook up the transport to a hole that was hastily cut into the side of her prison cell.
With the other cats, Rescuers had been able to shut them out of their dens and lead them into the wagons, but Keisha still had life enough left in her to be frantic to eat, so as soon as her den door shut her out into the yard, she began clawing frantically to get back into the den where she thought the food would be.
When a cat is focused on something, there isn’t much you can do to get their attention.
Gale was waving the chicken and beef chunks on a stick and trying to get Keisha to forget about getting back into the den for food.
It wasn’t working.

The area where Rescuers were working was so tight that the rope holding the transport door open had to be threaded into a vacant, nearby cage and operated from there by Big Cat Rescue’s CEO and Founder, Carole Baskin.
Jamie decided to pull the den door open and hold it open so that Keisha could see for herself that there wasn’t any food in there, but Keisha was afraid to climb into the hay filled beast wagon and sensed it was a trap.

In typical cat style, she would stretch her neck and one paw as far toward the juicy meat as she could, without committing her back legs.
Gale let her come in and get a piece or two, to see that nothing would happen, and on the third offering Keisha was emboldened to climb all the way in.


Keisha only has half an ear and a little bobbed tail. We think she lost them to the lions next door.

All over this compound the bears and big cats shared common walls of a material never witnessed by Big Cat Rescuers for housing big cats.
The openings in the metal cattle panels were 8 inches wide and 6 inches high.
It is incomprehensible that no human ever lost their life or limbs working so close to such dangerous wild animals, with nothing to prevent the animals from reaching the full length of their arms out to grab the passerby.

In the 2009 video above Jackie Wisniewski reaches her arm, all the way up to her armpit, to pet the cats and talks about how her staff and volunteers have to earn the cat’s trust to pet them this way, but then admits that the cats are always looking for a way to pull you into the cage.

In some places a new barricade fence had been erected (where previously there had been none) and it was so tight against the cage that there was NO safe way to walk around the enclosure.
All of the animals had shared walls which must have led to some intensive fights and quite possibly the deaths of animals along the way.
No one seemed to know exactly when or how Sacha the tigress had died.

The only cage to have a double wall (one with a space of about 3 feet between the walls) was the one between Keisha and 2 lionesses.
Keisha and the lionesses both had common walls with Zeus, but it would appear that after Keisha lost her ear and tail, someone finally installed a double wall between the lions and Keisha. That one small measure has probably saved her life, but her tail healed in such a scarred and unusual way that it’s doubtful she had a vet attend to her wounds.
In the video you can see that her tail was missing as far back as 2009.

As each of the cats were loaded into their transport wagons they were rolled up into Loving Friend’s transport vehicle where they probably experienced air conditioning for the first time ever.
Even though they loaded quite easily, they were all stressed out by the move and the chaos of the day, so the lower temp helped take some of the edge off.
Within minutes Kimba was sound asleep in the deep, soft hay.

If anyone wouldn’t survive this trip, it would be Kimba.
She just had so little spirit left in her.
I checked on her several times to be sure she was still breathing, and seemed blissfully asleep.

Zeus gulped down water before laying down in his big fluffy hay bed.
These cats, like so many others across the country, were kept on rocks. There was no place for them to feel the soft earth, nor roll in the grass, nor enjoy the shade of trees or bushes. The only shade, or escape from the sharp edged rocks, was in their smelly dens and on a small table in each cage, but these cats didn’t look fit to jump up onto them. Zeus had been a big and powerful male tiger at some point in his life, but now you could see the remains of his wasted muscles and protrusion of his ribs and hips.

Big Cat Rescuers loaded tigers for 2 hours and the officer in charge commented that we worked together like a well oiled machine.
Despite the rush to load the tigers and move out of the way for the next rescue group, there were some heart breaking moments.
The worst for cat lovers was the owner said her cat had died, so she had thrown the cat into the cage that housed the 4 youngest tigers, who appear to have been born at JnK in 2004 and were probably considered favorites.

As hungry as those tigers must have been; something must have registered in their heads that this was just too awful to consider.
Time may have finally caused them to overcome their disgust at being fed another cat, had they not been rescued today, so the bloated body of the domestic cat laid there in a haze of flies.

As soon as the tigers were all loaded and their transport cages were strapped down for the 22 hour trip, Big Cat Rescuers and JT and Laura Taylor of Loving Friends were on their way back to Tampa.

The cost of the transport and rescue was approximately $7,000, but that is just the beginning. Getting these tigers back on the road to health will mean vet care, and specialists for the eyes. It means a lot of high quality food, vitamins, joint supplements and probably a good deal of pain management. Just one healthy tiger costs Big Cat Rescue $10,000 per year, just for food and vet care and these neglected tigers will need much more intensive care. Even though they are safe and will never go hungry again, it is only because people like you will open your hearts to these precious creatures. Please let them know that you are there for them, for now and forever, with a monthly gift of whatever you can afford.

Please donate here: http://www.razoo.com/story/Nytigers/ You can make a one time gift or the much more needed monthly gift at that link.

See the photos here. Video to come.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1s8s8pelynafw6t/AAACsyg5IKLM_sFxnxO3CohPa


http://bigcatrescue.org/jnk/
 
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