Common Questions

These are some of the most commonly asked questions we are asked on tour:

Q: Does anyone ever go in with the cats?

A: No. No one EVER goes in with the cats. They are still wild animals with all of their instincts. They may seem friendly, which they can be, but crossing into their territory would probably change their mind. Also it puts our lives at risk which in return puts their lives at risk. If something happened to us, something bad would happen to the cat. These animals were abused and you never know what sight, sound or smell could trigger a bad memory.

Q: Do you have a vet on staff?

A: We do have a vet in St. Louis that comes down about every five weeks or so to visually check up on the cats. Usually we can tell when the cats are not feeling well and can do something ourselves. If Mohan is limping we can put him a flatter yard or if he is bad enough we can give him some medication in his chicken. Izzy is prone to blisters on his paw pads. We can usually tell Izzy isn't feeling well if he doesn't move from the same spot all day. We have trained him to put his paws on the fence so we can spray some medication on the blisters. Since there are only a few animals, we know their behavior so well that we usually know when something is wrong and we can usually fix it before it gets to the point that we need to call the vet.

Q: How do the cats do in the snow?

A: All the cats, even Alexis (who would normally live in Africa), do very well in the winter. They are more active in cooler weather and tend to like to play in the snow. We do provide hay beds for the indoor and outdoor enclosures to help keep them warm. Also we do give them access to indoors with heaters so if they get too cold they can just go inside. Izzy is a Siberian tiger (who live in colder climates) and he has no problem with the cold. He will actually break the ice to get in the pool!

Q: Can you put more than one cat in an enclosure?

A: No, but with the expectation of Gracie and Thor. Tigers are solitary animals in the wild so we try to keep it as natural as possible by keeping them in seperate enclosures. This way they can each have their own "territory" and we do not have to worry about them fighting. Gracie and Thor have always been together and because of Gracie's disability we have chosen to keep them together. Many people ask if we could put the mother (Raja) and father (Mohan) or Gracie and Thor together, but the answer is still no. In the wild tigers only come together to mate, then the male goes off and the female is the sole caretaker of the cubs. Cubs will stay with their mother until their first kill which is anywhere from 18 months to 2 years.

Q: How do you keep the cats from climbing out of the enclosures?

A: Only Izzy and Alexis have their front claws, so they would be the only ones capable of climbing. Neither of them have tried to climb, but Izzy is most likely too heavy to climb anything. We also have an electric wire running the top of each enclosure. We also keep tree branches high so that they cannot jump onto them.

Q: Have any of the cats ever escaped?

A: No, we have NEVER had any escapes. We triple check everything we do to prevent this from ever happening.