Rest in Peace, Robert – September 21 2018
These are the posts that I dread writing and each time I have to it is heartbreaking. This year we have had so many losses that it’s been tough to process. Losing the wildcats we’ve loved and cared for over the years isn’t easy even when we know that it’s inevitable. On September 21st we lost our old man Robert. It’s taken me this long to write about it because I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
As our oldest wildcat Robert came to WCR in August 2008 from an education facility that was shutting down. Uche, a serval and Dot, an Asian Leopard cat came as well. Robert was fourteen years old at that time and had severe hair loss and itching. His allergies were extensive and it took lots of vet visits and medication to finally get it under control. He was also four paw declawed and one of the worst cases we have ever seen.
Despite all of that, he was a tough old man and we all fell in love with him.
Robert and Dot lived together until we lost Dot in 2012 to cancer and Robert seemed a little lost. We decided to see if Shambles (bobcat) might be a good companion and it was love at first sight for Shamie, but Robert liked playing hard to get.
Eventually, Robert warmed up to her and we often found them cuddling in the den box. It was so sweet to see as Robert got older Shamie was never very far away, keeping a close, loving eye on her old man. Robert loved to play with feather toys and any enrichment that included scents. He had a select few keepers that he loved and would ‘woo woo’ to them when they came with food and toys. He was very content and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to care for him.
In the past years, we started to see more and more that he was slowing down. Some days he was hungry, some days he wasn’t. Arthritis from his declawing was much worse so he was on pain management to try to keep him comfortable.
But every time we thought that we needed to make that final decision Robert did something that let us know he wasn’t ready. He would play with his toys, talk to his keepers, come up to rub on the wire and spend time grooming Shamie. We kept a very close eye and on that morning he let us know he was tired and that his time had arrived.
Robert was surrounded by the people who loved him the most when we said goodbye and helped him move on to his next journey. It’s such a sad feeling knowing he’s gone and we will never hear that wonderful, ‘woo woo’ call again. But he was happy and content for many years and it’s the most we can hope to provide for these precious souls. Safe travels old man, we miss you more than we can say 😢
