» Rescue Stories

This is the Beginning a Better Life for This Wonderful Serval.

We were called to help with a Serval that the owners could no longer care for. This little girl,  was being kept in a back yard in a busy crowded neighborhood.  Her enclosure was a very unsecured small pen, put together with small zip ties and wild bird netting. The owner told us that this cat probably had an abscess and that they had done nothing to treat it. When we first set eyes on her, she was huddled in a corner gnawing on a growth on her leg. It was obvious that it was not an abscess, but a very large tumor.

Prepping for surgery

She had not received any medical care for this very painful,  long-time growth.  This owner knew it was illegal to own this type of exotic cat in the State of Washington without a USDA license.  Probably one of the reasons that he did  not seek medical help for her.

When we picked this serval up, we immediately took her to our vet and had her health issues assessed. The tumor was removed the next day and the pathology report came back. This is a very aggressive form of cancer.  Although she is in no pain now, we will have to wait to see if she will be able to keep the leg, or even survive this cancer. Because this tumor was left for such a long time, it might have already metastasized to her lungs.

The tumor is finally out!

She is a very happy kitty now! She is experiencing things everyday that are new and exciting – especially with the other animals around her.  Only a few days after surgery, she is climbing on platforms, to levels of 15′.  She want’s to pounce on her prey and she is getting the diet that she  has needed all these years.  Jess is already a different serval compared to when we first met her. These cats so deserve to live in the wild, not  be somone’s pet in their powder room or garage.

Charlie

Charlie is the perfect example of why Sara’s Sanctuary was created and what we strive to achieve with all the animals that find their way to our door.  With patience, persistence and a lot of love, almost every one of them can have a very happy story, too!

Charlie came to us from a wonderful, caring rescuer in California who had been trying to raise him in his kitchen for over a year. Although, he obviously loved this crow, he knew Charlie needed more specialized care than he would be able to provide. So, he brought him to here to our Sanctuary.  Charlie had no tail or wing feathers. We called him “Bumble Bee” because he and would fly straight up and drop back down, he couldn’t balance himself upright on a perch.  We needed to build a cage that would help to keep him from continually falling on his back. We added different sized ladders for him to learn to balance himself and to eventually be able to walk down onto the grass when he was strong enough and finally conquered his fear of open spaces.  (more…)