Good-bye, Sheba-Girl – January 30 2018
It’s impossible to put into words the feeling of loss that floods over us when we lose a loved one. This past week on January 30th, 2018, we lost little Sheba, a bobcat who has lived with us since 2003. This feisty girl was born in 1996 in Minnesota. She was a ‘pet’ that lived isolated in a corncrib in a backyard. When the owners decided to sell their house, our friends at The Wildcat Sanctuary stepped in to rescue her. They, in turn, asked if we could provide a home for her which we were happy to do.
Little Sheba was a tiger in a bobcat suit, and as small as she was, there was no question that we did what Sheba wanted or face the consequences! She took no prisoners and we were very respectful of her space. Howie and Casper (two bobcats) became her companions and she loved bossing them around.
While we didn’t know much about her previous life before, we learned she had very strong maternal instincts. Shortly after she arrived, we found that she loved stuffed animals. She would carry them around, groom them and sleep with them, showing a dedication to their care that was both astonishing and sweet.
She was very protective of them and the boys, Howie and Casper, knew that those were her babies, and they never crossed that line. We don’t give stuffed animals to the wildcats, but Sheba was the exception. When they become too worn out from her love we replaced them with something as close as possible.
In the past year, she had been showing signs of slowing down and when we did blood work it showed she had renal failure. We had been monitoring her very closely and in the last month, it was obvious that time was short. She was eating less and less and sleeping most of the time in her hammock with her babies. Last Wednesday morning when I checked on her, she opened her eyes and told me it was time.
We helped her cross over to her next journey even though we wished we could have had more time. We are grateful to our friends at The Wildcat Sanctuary for allowing us to care for this very special girl and things just won’t be the same without her. Safe travels little Sheba, we hold you close to our hearts, always.
