So I have a random assortment of links for you guys! First off though, we have called the vet because Izzy's paws are getting worse, no matter what we do. So this Sunday the vet will be coming and take tissue samples... if I remember my camera I will post pictures next week. This is an exciting experience as intern. We will get to see his blisters up close and learn about what it takes to be a large carnivore vet. Although I do not aim to be a vet, I do aim to have my own sanctuary some day, so every experience is valuable.

On to some fun stuff. Some house cats enjoy catnip, but have you ever thought about big cats liking cat nip? Here is a video from Big Cat Rescue showing the reactions to cat nip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tklx3j7kgJY The reaction of the first tiger is very similar to what Raja does when we give her the colonge Brut. She absolutely loves it!

Researchers have estimated that in order to save wild tigers it will take $82 million a year. So far they are falling short and are not sure how well they can protect the tigers without this money. They have shown that tigers can breed easily, but need protection against poaching and habitat loss. To read the full article visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11304611.

Good book alerts! The Life of Pi starts off with interesting philosphies about animals in captivity. The second part is about a boy surviving in a boat with a tiger. I found this book very different from anything else I have read but with an open mind I enjoyed it very much. The second good book alert is Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds is a true story about a lioness raised by people and then set free. This is truly an amazing story about a bond between a lion and man. I couldn't put it down! Both of these books are available on Amazon, but before you head there go to goodsearch.com and you can goodshop at Amazon for The Scott Foundation. A percentage of your purchase will be donated to us. I have already tried it and have raised some money buy goodshopping.

Izzy's paws have blisters on them and they've started bleeding. So today he is inside with a nice straw bed. When he walks he holds a foot up because it hurts. We're calling the vet because this problem keeps coming back.

We are preparing for the Birthday Bash on October 9th. There will be a bird show from the Bird Sanctuary, tiger tours, crafts for kids, Fizzy Izzy floats, karoke, music and more!

Thor and Gracie are our two sisters at the sanctuary. They are eight years old, about to be nine. Thor and Gracie have a very special bond due to the unfortunate circumstances they came from. Gracie is about 95% blind and her sister Thor has helped take care of her. Before they came to Crown Ridge, the two sisters were only fed one turkey leg a day. Thor must have known Gracie had a disability and would give all the food to Gracie. Now they are both fed properly and can now lounge around together in their yard. Sometimes you can see them cuddling and grooming each other.

Every morning we clean the indoor holding. This morning Raja got ahold of our hose and wanted to play. She really wanted to play tug-of-war with the hose but it's quite useless to try to win against a tiger. We turned on the hose and water sprayed everywhere. Raja finally dropped the hose, only after the floor was soaked. She seemed quite proud of the mess she made and then went on with her business. We had to squeegee the all the stall floors all over again! At least the floors are evener cleaner than before! Now we have to find a way to bandage the hose where she left some teeth marks in it.

Right now the cats are enjoying the cooler weather. They are playing more and are generally more active. We have a new green ball that we use to get some of the cats up on tour and they love it! We can't actually give them this ball because they will shred it to pieces and then digest them. Alexis goes crazy when you throw it in the air or kick it back and forth. Izzy just stares it down like it was a prey animal. His feet are still hurting him a bit so he still isn't back to himself.

We had some deer meat donated this week which is very helpful to us! We were low on meat anyways, but deer is some of their favorite meat. They only get deer during deer season usually so it's kind of a treat. Alexis loves deer hides and bones! When we give her a deer hide we find deer fur ALL over her yard. Izzy doesn't like deer very much, he spits it back out. Our tigers are a little picky. So if you have extra deer meet or a whole deer that you don't want, feel free to donate! We can process an entire deer here ourselves.

The Birthday Bash is coming up quickly (October 9th). We are preparing fun activities and entertainment.  We are also brainstorming ideas for new kinds of events next year.

By clicking on this ad you are helping to save big cats. It's FREE, all you have to do is click once a day!

Also if you use goodsearch.com as your search engine and use The Scott Foundation for your charity, every time you make a search a penny is donated to us! It adds up fast so every search helps! If you are an online shopper check goodsearch for participating stores that make a donation to your charity every time you shop. Many stores are listed on there such as, Amazon, Ebay, Kohls, Walmart, Walgreens and MANY more.

Our poor Izzy has blisters on his paws again and is not feeling well. His paw pads don't callus correctly because he spends so much time in the pool so he is suspetible to blisters. The past few days he didn't move much and yesterday he didn't even go outside. We have been medicating them so today he is doing better. Right now he is sleeping on his platform but early in the morning he followed Mohan along the fence, which is a good sign.

Today a gentlemen on a tour shared some monologues about a lion with me. I found them amusing and looked them up online. http://wuff.me.uk/monologues/P10.html I found them here. One is called "The Lion and Albert" and the other is "The Return of Albert". I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

We are expecting a busy weekend with the wonderful weather! The cats are deffinetely enjoying this cooler weather and are up and playing more. Also our new smaller enclosure is almost finished! We hope that it will be done within a week or so. This will be great for whoever has to stay in because they will now have access to outside and a pool.

As I type Alexis is attacking her foot. She sticks her hind leg in the air and then pulls it down with her front paws and bites it. She almost did a whole sumersault! She's rolling around trying to get her back foot as if it were something bothering her. We shouldn't expect any less from Alexis.