Cheryl Tuller

Svengali (2024)

Svengali (2024)

You’re finally free, Sven – September 2024

SvengaliIt is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Svengali.

Sven arrived in July of 2023. He was one of the last tigers to be housed at Siegfried & Roy’s facility at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.

From the moment he arrived, Sven’s vibrant personality filled the sanctuary. He was the most outspoken and interactive of the Vegas tigers. He wasted no time in letting his keepers know what he would tolerate (full pools, early breakfasts, and snacks) and what he would not tolerate (late breakfasts, ball toys, and snack-less keepers interrupting his naps).

Sven transitioned well from a life in the public eye to the quiet peace of the sanctuary. Here, he soaked in his pool and stretched out beneath the sun, finding moments of contentment that we cherished alongside him.

Yet, behind his boldness, there were shadows. Though Sven was a classic orange tiger, his lineage was from the white tiger bloodline — marked by the burden of genetic inbreeding. His intake exam revealed severe intervertebral disc degeneration and osteoarthritis in his spine. Pain medication and anti-inflammatories became part of his daily life, though you’d never know it from the way he still greeted us with that unmistakable Sven attitude.

Sven continued to do well until one morning his keepers noted hind end weakness. Over the next 36 hours the weakness progressed and imaging revealed the devastating truth: his disc degeneration had advanced to the point where walking would soon become impossible.

With great sadness, we made the decision no one ever wants to face. Sven, who had commanded so much attention, left this world with the grace and dignity that he deserved. At the end he was surrounded by the WCR keepers that fell in love with him.

You’re finally free, Sven. The sanctuary is a quieter place without you.

Svengali’s History:
In the fall of 2022, the Compound Manager at S&R Productions got news that the Secret Garden in Las Vegas was closing. The Mirage had been sold and all animals had to be re-homed. This was unexpected and heartbreaking for the keepers who had cared for the cats their entire lives.

After an extensive search and recommendations from the Compound Manager, the Sarmoti Foundation selected WildCat Ridge Sanctuary to provide lifetime care for six tigers: Svengali, Cosmo, Indira, Rajiv, Hirah and Maharani. We were thrilled and humbled for the opportunity and have worked closely with the original keepers to make the tigers’ adjustment as easy as possible.

Svengali, brother to Cosmo, is very confident and was the quickest to settle in at the Sanctuary. Brave and bold he has been playing with toys, cooling off in his pool, and napping under the tree. It’s so much fun to watch him play!

The tigers have been very well taken care of before arriving at the sanctuary and we count their former keepers as part of the WCR family!

Posted by Cheryl Tuller in Memorials
Indira Tiger (2024)

Indira Tiger (2024)

A sudden and heartbreaking goodbye – June 2024

Indira

Every loss is difficult and heartbreaking, even more so when unexpected. We are heartbroken to share that we have lost Indira. She and Svengali were the parents of Hirah and Maharani. With the arrival of the six Mirage tigers last year, she clearly established herself as the matriarch. At sixteen years old, she exuded elegance and grace, carrying herself with the poise of royalty. She commanded respect and made it known that it was her way no matter what. We got to experience her playful side as she settled into her new home. She would spend hours playing in her pool, simply soaking or dragging her toys in the water to destroy. Her favorite toy was a huge ball she would roll around or lay on top of.  Indira enjoyed enrichment, especially watermelons she carried proudly as ‘prey’ until she demolished them.

A few weeks ago, we noticed that she wasn’t feeling well. We kept a close eye on her, but on the third day with no change, we took her to Oregon State University for a CT and complete exam. What they found was completely shocking and devastating. Indira had a massive degenerative disc rupture that was severely crushing her spine, likely caused by genetics, and surgery was not an option. After an intense consultation with our veterinarian, the team at Oregon State University, and our staff, we made the heartbreaking decision to let her go.

Losing Indira was a shock, and we are still reeling from it. She was an amazing tiger, and we can’t believe she’s gone. Although she was with us for such a short time, her presence left an indelible mark on our hearts . . .

Indira’s History:
In the fall of 2022, the Compound Manager at S&R Productions got news that the Secret Garden in Las Vegas was closing. The Mirage had been sold and all animals had to be re-homed. This was unexpected and heartbreaking for the keepers who had cared for the cats their entire lives.

After an extensive search and recommendations from the Compound Manager, the Sarmoti Foundation selected WildCat Ridge Sanctuary to provide lifetime care for six tigers: Svengali, Cosmo, Indira, Rajiv, Hirah and Maharani. We were thrilled and humbled for the opportunity and have worked closely with the original keepers to make the tigers’ adjustment as easy as possible.

Indira, sister to Rajiv, is curious about everything around her and so determined! We see her wheels turning as she works out the problems to get where she wants to go. We love hearing her welcome chuffs letting us know she’s doing well.

The tigers have been very well taken care of before arriving at the sanctuary and we count their former keepers as part of the WCR family!

Posted by Cheryl Tuller in Memorials
Azreal Cheetah (2020)

Azreal Cheetah (2020)

Farewell sweet boy – 2020

Azreal

In the summer of 2019 we were thrilled to announce our first-ever Cheetah resident, Azreal. He was part of the Survival Species Program and came from Texas. When it came time for him to retire at nine years old, we were excited to provide him with a forever home. He was a beautiful boy, very laid back, and seemed to be doing well. However one morning he didn’t want to eat. On the second day our vet team came out, pulled blood, urine, gave fluids, treated with cerenia, omeprazole, convenia, famotidine and did an ultrsound to see why he wasn’t eating. Nothing showed up with the ultrasound, so they woke him up and we waited to hear back about his bloodwork. We checked on him every two hours and at 3am I found him gone 🙁 A necropsy showed chronic gastritis and esophagitis and he had passed from septic shock.

Losing him was completely unexpected and we’re still trying to deal with it. Bringing him to WildCat Ridge Sanctuary was a very long process and we were so excited to be able to care for him. Everyone involved assured us that sometimes these things happen and we never find the reason why, but it gutted us. We wanted to thank all the folks who worked so hard to get him here, he was a wonderful boy and to lose him has been one of the hardest things we’ve had to face.

Posted by Cheryl Tuller in Cheetahs, Memorials

Nala – The heartbreaking story of a pet serval

Nala

The heartbreaking story of a 'pet' serval

Nala Serval Instagram In early February of 2023, the owner of a serval in Canada passed away. A friend of the owner contacted us to see if we could give the cat a home. We said yes and excitedly prepared for her arrival while all the import paperwork was being done. We learned that this little serval was even an
Instagram star with her own account and followers! The videos were supposed to show what a great “pet” she was. When we watched the videos, we saw something very different – and very heartbreaking.

We’re sharing Nala’s story so we can show everyone the hard truth about keeping servals – or any wildcats – as “pets.” We are adamant that all breeding and selling of wildcats as “pets” must stop now.

The following is the email we received from the woman caring for Nala in Canada in preparation for her coming to WCR. This is what she said:

"Dear Cheryl,

Good morning

Nala went for her vet appointment this morning and while her general health is good, she is the poster child for Metabolic Bone Disease. Her weight is 8.5kg, so smaller than we all thought and she has a very small ulcer on her left eye but other than that, generally, she's okay.  My vet has some students, so for educational purposes and because the physical exam raised a lot of questions, he did some x-rays at no cost to me.  To say I'm angry is an understatement and I feel sick to my stomach at what this cat has endured since the day she was born. As you can see in the x-rays, this poor cat has suffered hugely. Her scapulae have folded, there is a kink/break of some kind in her spine, I think one leg doesn't have a bend in it, and her pelvis, while it doesn't appear to have been broken the femur heads have obviously had to compensate or the pelvis compensate for the mess the bones have become. I'm not a vet, nor do I have any expertise in reviewing x-rays but it is so obvious anyone can see it.  I'll try and get some video of her moving so you can see how bad she is.

I had a discussion with my vet about quality of life and I think that's something that needs to be seriously considered.  - While she's been with us, she has been active, she has 'run' after a ball, plays in the water, and will crawl/half jump onto a chair or window ledge but she definitely cannot act like a normal Serval, nor will she ever be able to.She eats well, poops and pees, and seems to be doing well and appears happy.  But, we all know how well animals can mask pain, and given Nala has lived like this her entire life, whatever she's feeling is normal for her. I want to give her a chance but I also don't want her to suffer.  She's only two years old and that could potentially be a long life of living on pain meds. 

Cheryl, I know you are ready to take her on but I'm asking you to consider if moving her to the sanctuary is the right decision for Nala.  You and Dr. Connolly know better than I do if this is something we should be doing. Just to note - we gave her 300mg of Gabapentin and it barely made any difference in her behaviour - she was just as spicy and mobile.  I do know that animals in pain react differently to meds so I'm wondering if that may have happened in this case.

I'm sorry the news isn't better and I just want to make the right decision for Nala, she deserves it after everything she's been through."

Carla

When I sent the radiographs to Dr. Connolly for her opinion, this was her response:

‘Hi, Cheryl,

That poor cat!

She’ll never be comfortable unless she’s heavily medicated. She has severe metabolic bone disease. We don’t know how her organs are, but she may not be able to handle the stress of a move. All of her long bones are weak and bowed. Her scapulae are folded. Her spine has at least two major defects.

I cannot tell how healthy her jawbones are from these views. I am concerned about her heart, based on obvious nutritional disease. I am sorry, but my recommendation is humane euthanasia.’

Dr. Cheri Connolly

All of this information came to us the same day that Rajah, another serval in our care, passed away due to health issues stemming from his previous care.

It was overwhelming to deal with another tragic story of a serval we were trying to save and can’t.  - When is this going to end? What we see on Instagram does not convey what is truly happening to these animals. They are NOT pets and more often than not, they’re being sold to people who have NO idea how to care for them but LOVE to post images of how cool they are with their wildcat. Seeing the videos of Nala on her page, you could clearly see how damaged she was. But not her owner. She just saw a wildcat she could pose with and get more “likes” and followers.

Nala was euthanized in Canada. We knew it was the only humane option left to her, but it broke our
hearts to know that she never had a chance to live a happy, pain-free life.

It’s frustrating, tragic and we are simply sick of it. It’s too late for Nala and for Rajah, but how many more small cats will we and our fellow sanctuaries try to save before this ends? The Big Cat Public Safety Act has been passed; - it’s time to come together and stop the breeding and selling of ALL wildcats.

Posted by Cheryl Tuller in Blog
Winston Fishing Cat (2023)

Winston Fishing Cat (2023)

Run wild and free, beautiful boy! – 2023

Winston Fishing CatWinston was a ten-year-old Fishing Cat that was privately owned. When his owner had to move and couldn’t take him, they contacted us to see if we had space. He arrived at the Sanctuary in February 2023 and we very sadly and unexpectedly lost him only two months later.

It was unexpected and heartbreaking. He had not been eating well for the past two days so our animal care director, Natasha, reached out to Dr. Penny Jacobs at Berry Hill Veterinary Center. The veterinary team made time for Winston right away, and he was examined on Sunday at 3pm. This is what Natasha wrote:

“Upon suspicion of a possible foreign body, we rushed Winston to the vet on Sunday. After initial diagnostics (X-rays, ultrasound, bloodwork, and manual palpation) Dr. Jacobs decided that the best course of action would be to do surgery.  

In surgery, we found that he did not have a foreign body, however, his intestines looked extremely unhealthy. His liver was quite fatty and he also had an enlarged mesenteric lymph node. We moved forward by taking a biopsy of his intestines to submit to a pathologist. We also aspirated his lymph node. Unfortunately, the intestinal tissue was so degraded and compromised that it would not hold together with sutures when Dr. Jacobs tried to close up the biopsy site. Furthermore, upon examining the lymph node aspirate under a microscope, we found that Winston had lymphoma. The diagnosis was confirmed by three other vets in addition to Dr. Jacobs. We elected not to wake Winston up from anesthesia, but to let him go.”

For Winston the cancer wasn’t triggered by a specific reason such as poor diet or environmental causes. His former owners had taken very good care of him. Lymphoma is unpredictable and can present itself in many ways, including damage to the intestines. We have no way of knowing for sure how long Winston had cancer, we think it must have been there for some time.

We are heartbroken about this sudden loss of Winston. He was such a fun and fierce cat, and we all have been falling in love with him.

Run wild and free, beautiful boy! 💔

Posted by Cheryl Tuller in Fishing Cat, Memorials

Surviving Joe Exotic

Most people have heard of Joe Exotic or if not are at least aware of the Netflix show, Tiger King, Murder, Mayhem, and Madness that aired this year.

Unfortunately, instead of showing the constant abuse of the animals in his care, it sensationalized Joe's life and all the chaos surrounding him.

Read More

Posted by Cheryl Tuller in Blog
Sam Serval (2020)

Sam Serval (2020)

Safe travels beautiful boy – June 2020

Sam

Sam

It’s been said bad things happen in threes 😔 Losing our residents is always painful but three in the last month have been very hard to process. Sadly, we lost Sam, another one of the servals at WildCat Ridge Sanctuary 😢

Sam had been showing signs of renal failure over the past year and we were monitoring it. He’d been in for an exam this past April, however last week when we took him in again to see Dr. Connolly at Compass Vet Clinic the change was so dramatic that we had no choice but to let him go. He was eighteen years old and had been with us since 2011 😢

Sam was a beautiful boy who originally came from a woman who had purchased him to use as a breeder. He was declawed on all four feet and lived in a 200 square foot cage. That was his life for nine years until his owner contacted us. She was in failing health and could no longer care for him. We made arrangements immediately to go pick him up. Sam was a very sweet and social cat who was one of the most talkative servals. He lived with Rasta and I know she misses him as much as we do.

The thought of never hearing him talk to us again is so sad but knowing that he’s no longer in pain eases the sadness at least a little. Safe travels beautiful boy, we miss you very much and thinking about you will always make us smile through the tears 😢

Posted by Cheryl Tuller in Memorials, Servals
Morocco Serval (2020)

Morocco Serval (2020)

Safe travels beautiful boy – June 2020

MoroccoOnce again we have to share the sad news that we lost one of our precious wildcats 😔
Morocco, a thirteen-year-old serval had been slowing down and becoming less mobile over the past few months, and with only three legs, it was a big concern. We increased his medication but when that didn’t make much difference we scheduled a visit to Compass Vet Clinic. Dr. Connolly did an exam and when we saw the X-rays it showed debilitating arthritis on all three legs. There was nothing more we could do for his pain so we made the tough decision not to wake him up.

We picked up Morocco and his sister from a private owner in Nevada. They were approximately two years old and had been sold from a roadside zoo. When the new owner went to pick the cats up they were already in crates and when she got home and let them out she saw that Morocco had a broken back leg 😡

Upset, she contacted the Zoo director and he said it would heal on its own. When we picked them up two years later in 2009 Morocco had never had any type of vet care and his leg had healed four inches shorter than the other. We scheduled orthopedic surgery as soon as we got back and despite the difficult surgery and a long tough recovery, we managed to save his leg. He was doing great until four years later when he snapped his Achilles’s tendon and we had to amputate it. However this time the recovery was much easier and he could run and play on three legs with no problem.

He and his sister Tanzi lived together the entire time at WildCat Ridge Sanctuary and Morocco let her run the show. They were very bonded and spent most of their time playing and napping together. We know that Tanzi feels the loss even more than we do, but as time goes by, we hope she will adjust. Morocco was such a calm, quiet boy, who enjoyed boxes, different scents for enrichment, and living his life with Tanzi. Although it was the right thing to do, we’re still so sad to have lost him. Safe travels beautiful boy, we miss you so much and will take good care of Tanzi for you ❤️

Posted by Cheryl Tuller in Memorials, Servals
Jett Serval (2020)

Jett Serval (2020)

Farewell, sweet Jett – June 2020

Jett

Jett

Every loss is difficult and heartbreaking, made even more so when it’s unexpected. I’m so sad to share that we lost sweet Jett, one of the newest servals to come to WildCat Ridge Sanctuary. Jett wasn’t eating very well so after two days we did an exam, gave him fluids, medication and brought him inside to watch. He perked up the next morning had a great breakfast and we thought we were on the road to recovery. The following day he crashed and despite doing all we could we had to let him go.

It happened so quickly and out of the blue that we’re still reeling from it. A necropsy showed a bacterial infection that had gone into his bloodstream. Jett was a young serval and to lose him after such a short period of time is so difficult to come to peace with.

Safe travels sweet boy, your time with us was much too short.

Posted by Cheryl Tuller in Memorials, Servals

Cairo Serval – Saved By A Good Samaritan

On May 9th I received a message from a friend who was worried about wild cats escaping from a home in his area. The photo he sent was one of a Savannah Cat. The owner's number was posted and I called to ask if they ever wanted to place him we would be happy to take him. He politely declined said the cat had been caught. When I asked how he had gotten out so many times he said the cat could open doors. We talked a bit more and he shared that they still have a serval on the loose.

Read More

Posted by Cheryl Tuller in Blog