Fiona is a two-year-old female serval who arrived at the sanctuary in February of 2022. And what a heartbreaking story hers was.
Another young serval had been found on the loose, this time in Arizona. And she was in horrible shape, near death. Alone, emaciated, dehydrated, with multiple cactus spines embedded in her. This was Fiona’s story.
She was less than 18 pounds and described as stressed, fractious, and aggressive. We wanted to get her safely home as quickly as possible, so we sent a team of staff members to drive her home.
Since Bobcat Shrek was being rescued at the same time by another one of our teams, we decided the perfect name for her would be Fiona.
I hope you’ll use Fiona’s story, just as you have Bruno’s and so many others, as a way to help us educate that wild animals are not meant to be “pets.”
Sadly, it’s the animals who always pay the ultimate price. Let’s put an end to private ownership of dangerous exotics.
Life at the Sanctuary
Understandably, Fiona is very shy and reclusive when humans are around. But, when we set up a camera to watch over her when we’re not around, we saw how playful she can be. She was tossing a ball all over her indoor bedroom, a wonderful sight to see!
She had her intake exam, was spayed and recovered very well. Thankfully, she does not have signs of metabolic bone disease, something very common in servals bred in captivity.
While inside her bedroom, caretakers noted that Fiona really likes to hide out on a tall perch that looks out her window. And she loves her dogloo.
So, to prevent her from accidentally opening her incision by jumping too high, caretakers built an elaborate platform system for her 2-week recovery period so she could get to that area without injuring herself.
It’s taken a lot of understanding of Fiona’s former trauma and working with her on it for her to finally feel safe.
The best day for her came when she was successfully merged with another serval named Bruno. We’d recently rescued him after he was found on the loose, too. Bruno had survived his own trauma and had to have his leg amputated, but was doing well as a 3-legged serval.
It wasn’t long before they were fast friends.
With patience and watching her from afar, Fiona has become much more at ease. We provide the best kind of care for a cat who’s suffered so much trauma in the past. And it’s incredibly rewarding seeing a cat like Fiona now enjoying the simple things in life.
Caretakers know Fiona really likes to hide out on a tall perch that looks out her window. And she loves her dogloo.
So, in order to prevent her from accidentally opening her incision jumping too high, caretakers built an elaborate platform system for her 2 week recovery period so she could get to that area.
We’ll go to any lengths to ensure our cats are happy and healthy!
How You Can Help
Rescuing a young serval is an expensive commitment since it means 20+ years of care. That’s why our sponsorship program is so important. It helps provide the best life possible for those we’re able to rescue.
Sponsoring Fiona costs $300 annually or $25 monthly.
Thank you for considering becoming Fiona’s sponsor parent or even giving a one time donation toward her care. It makes such a difference for her!
