Luna

History

Luna is a female bobcat who arrived at The Wildcat Sanctuary in 2017. Though only three years old at the time, it was obvious, she’d lived through a lot already.

Luna’s life is one we see way too often.  As a bobcat, she should’ve been able to live wild in the woods.  But instead, Luna was born in captivity and sold to be a “pet.”

Sadly, we didn’t know much about this little girl.  It’s almost as if the past three years of her life didn’t exist.  We may not be able to see the internal scars, but during the intake exam, we definitely saw the external scars and permanent damage already done to her body.

Luna had been front paw declawed to try and make her a “safe pet.”  Two of her amputated toes already had bone regrowth protruding from them. That’s so painful!

But that wasn’t the worst of it.  We’d heard her teeth had also been filed.  We assumed she’d be missing the tips of her canines. But what we found broke our hearts. 

Her top canines had been cut off just outside of her gum line, while the bottom canines had been cut half way.  All four teeth had root pulp exposed.  The pain this poor girl must have endured is just unimaginable. 

When you have to disfigure an animal to try and keep it as a pet, it should be a clear sign the animal is not meant to be that.

The little information we have on Luna is her name and that she’s approximately 3 years old.  We were also told she was purchased by someone who had too much discretionary income and then got bored of her. 

We know she’s gone through multiple homes, but we don’t know how many or for how long.

Life at the Sanctuary

What we do know is Luna is now safe!  Luna’s at her forever home. A home that will invest in expensive dental surgery to alleviate her pain.  A home that will monitor her front paws to make sure they don’t become infected.  A home where she will finally get to be a bobcat, living wild at heart.

It was so surprising to see when Luna started expressing affection toward a serval named Sebastian. He’d lived here at the sanctuary for a long time and had never wanted companionship…until now. Luna was very persistent in showing how much she’d like to be closer to him. So, we tried playdates and the rest is history!

We watched Sebastian blossom with Luna’s love for him. They’re so bonded and so important to each other. They enjoy cuddling together outside in their habitat or inside their bungalow during colder days.

Luna is bold despite her traumatic past. But understandably, she can be hesitant when people are around. We’ve built a habitat for her that has lots of vertical space, with strategic viewing spots where she can be on the lookout for anyone approaching.

Her favorite spot is high up in her tree and that’s where we find her quite often. Luna is very cooperative with her caretakers.

To see a cat go from such a traumatic past to the life Luna lives happily today with Sebastian is the best feeling about the rescue work we do!

How You Can Help

Rescuing young wild cats is so expensive, especially when they come with so many medical issues. That’s why our sponsorship program is such a huge help! Would you consider being Luna’s sponsor parent?

Or even a one time donation towards her care would help so much. It’s easy to do using the buttons you see at the top of this page.

Thank you for your compassionate support!

 

Updates

October 17, 2017 

LUNA MAKES AN UNEXPECTED FRIEND!

We’ve tried a couple of play dates between Luna and the three orphaned bobcat kittens, Francis, Belvedere and Autumn. But it was quite apparent Francis wasn’t going to accept her into their group.

He was a little too rough with her, so we decided it was best not to move forward with the introduction for the long run. (Francis is the very curious one at the top in this photo taken during a play date. Luna’s in the carrier.)

So, for the winter, Luna’s moved into a different area of the sanctuary. She has a large indoor, temperature-controlled room with elevated platforms and hammocks.

We didn’t want her to be lonely on her first night there, so we were happy to see she liked cuddling up with a stuffed animal in her hammock. She has full access to an outdoor habitat area, too.

When we opened up the door to the outside for her, we thought she might bond with her new neighbor, bobcat Salem. But we were really surprised it was Sebastian, the serval next door, that fell in love with Luna so quickly!

He started talking to her and following her up and down their shared wall. She didn’t seem that interested, but was more excited about exploring her new habitat instead.

Sebastian continues to talk to her, hoping to convince her he’s the best thing ever, so we’ll see how this friendship blossoms.

As you probably remember, Luna is our latest bobcat rescue. She arrived 4-paw declawed and her canines had been horribly cut off. She’ll be receiving the root canals she needs this week when the Peter Emily International Veterinary Dental Foundation arrives to help. We’ll share more when she undergoes those procedures. Thank you for keeping her in your thoughts.

October 24, 2017

BOBCAT LUNA WILL NOW BE PAIN-FREE!

As most of you know, bobcat Luna has gone through a lot in her short 3-year life before coming to The Wildcat Sanctuary.

Kept as a pet, she’d been declawed and her four canines had been cut off at the gum line.  How painful this must have been for her. 

Vets, technicians, and the Peter Emily International Veterinary Dental Foundation generously donated their time to help her and Bengal cats, Tahiti and Max, this weekend. 

Originally four root canals were planned for Luna.  After an examination and radiographs by Dr. Hall, it was determined best to extract the entire roots of the broken canines. 

Luna will feel much better now, and doesn’t need the canines to chew her meat at the Sanctuary. 

Just a few hours after the procedure, she ate her first meal!  We’re very excited that she gets to settle into life now at the sanctuary and live without pain. 

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