"Maybe you should have given everyone a pep talk,"

Jamie said as the last of the sad faces left Food Prep. "It was an awful way to end Thanksgiving Day."

 

I was fighting back the tears as I was trying to post on the important updates the awful news that 17 year old Simba Tiger had just died. Gale, Chris, Willow, Regina and Chelsea had left their Thanksgiving dinner to come to help us carry out her body.  

 

I countered, incredulous that Jamie could think me even capable of a "pep talk" at a time like that, but she stood firm. "They don't know how we deal with such pain.  What they hear is us talking about watching your step, don't back into Shere Khan, duck your head, make sure the duct tape secures the bags, and get a sheet to make it easier to carry her...

 

They may not know that we talk about mundane stuff to keep from breaking down and weeping when a cool head is needed to be in charge." I am guessing that you do know that it is just a coping mechanism. We all deal with grief. We all lose pets, loved ones and the cats here who have come to depend on us. I hope that you all know that when we are dealing with a loss, such as Simba, that we are doing so with the only tools in our emotional toolbox to do so.

 

Tribute to Simba Tiger

Simba Tiger  Female Siberian Tiger  6/8/94 - 11/25/11

 

Before being rescued by Big Cat Rescue in 2007, like most captive exotics, Simba had a very difficult life.  She was owned by a woman in Ohio, Diana McCourt, who had declawed her and had her large canine teeth pulled. Supposedly, this made Simba “safer” to be with people.

 

The woman would chain Simba to the ground with short chains so the tied down cat could not stand or turn to bite people.  Then, the woman would charge visitors to go in with Simba and straddle her to take photos.  After years of people being hurt, the woman finally lost her USDA license. But, she kept operating without a license because there was no enforcement.  When the woman was finally evicted from the property some years later for not paying rent, she just left, abandoning Simba and many other animals.

 

Thanks to our sanctuary's supporters, we were able to provide Simba with a a safe, peaceful permanent home at Big Cat Rescue.   With all she had gone through, Simba still had a very warm personality and would approach the side of her enclosure and greet passersby with an enthusiastic “chuff.”  

 

A beautiful tiger, with a rich cinnamon colored coat, she was probably one of the friendliest tigers at the sanctuary. Simba loved to spend the heat of the afternoon in the cool shade of her den and, just before dark, she would lounge peacefully in the grasses looking out over the lake.  Her last days were spent enjoying a 3-acre natural habitat with the constant company of her tiger friend Nikita and the keepers who loved her so.  Our heart is broken having to say goodbye on Thanksgiving Day 2011 to one of the sweetest tigers as she chose to journey on.

 

Simba the tigress died on Thanksgiving Day. She was 17 and had been in renal failure for a while but in the end it was her precious little heart that gave out.  Thanks to Big Cat Rescuers who were on site tonight we were able to remove her from her cat-a-tat. Thank you Jamie, Gale Ingham, Chris Poole, Willow Hecht, Regina Rinaldi and Chelsea Feeny for being with her when she died and helping with her afterward. I know that Simba was thankful for all of you who helped her ease from this life to the next over the past few months.

 

That said, I thought Jeff Kremer said it so well when he said that he thinks it is no coincidence that she chose Thanksgiving Day as her day to leave because we will ever remember how thankful she and the other 100+ cats here are for all that we do for them.

 

I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.