Sabu and Jinxie are In-Sync Together!

I had a great time at In-Sync Exotics!

Here are the details...

I was awaken to the sound of my phone ringing at 4:00am -- you know, it's never good news when someone calls you at 4:00am.  Anyhoo, it was Nicole, calling to let me know that she would be unable to go on the road trip with me.  I was very disappointed, but I do understand the needs of a sick child must come first, so I made the decision to make the five hour journey alone.  At 6:25am I was on the road just as the sun started to crest the horizon.  

Starship Pegasus

I couldn't have asked for a better morning to travel.  The only traffic I encountered was near the Austin city limits. 

Since I have not traveled outside San Antonio in years, I was  like a kid trying to take in all the scenery at once.  Texas is gorgeous!    I saw so many startling things while speeding by on the highway, like the Starship Pegasus and a modular bug building right next store!  Both these structures were located in Italy--Italy, Texas that is.  Along the way I saw an amazing amount of American and Texas flags flying which made me feel proud to be a Texan!

The drive to In-Sync was beautiful--so many green trees!   I arrived refresh and ready to see Sabu and Jinxie at 11:30am.  It was already in the mid-90's when I arrived, but I was not daunted by the heat!  I was ready to see my two favorite lions...

It was my pleasure to finally meet Vicky in person!  After a brief conversation, we went out to see Jinxie and Sabu!

Jinxie posing for the camera

By the time we reached Jinxie's quarters, I was overcome with emotion.  I missed Jinxie so much and seeing her there, looking really good, made my heart sing for joy.  I was crying, Jinxie was making crying sounds, rubbing up against the enclosure wall, I couldn't believe she still remembered me after all the time that had passed.  It has been over a year since I last saw her and at that time I didn't get to say goodbye to her.  To be honest, I didn't think I'd ever see her again.

After spending time with Jinxie, it was time to be reunited with my favorite boy lion, Sabu.  I turned around and there he was, watching the commotion, curious as to what was going on.  I was able to take a quick snappy of Sabu before he walked over to say hello to us.  Again, lots of tears, tiger rubs, and joy of seeing each other. 

Sabu looked so happy in his new home and it was clear he loved all the attention he received from me and Vicky.  It was so hard to watch Sabu walk around with such obvious pain in his hind legs as a result of his the vitamin A deficiency.  God Bless my baby Sabu...

How in the world could the WAO and USDA/APHIS vets allow Sabu to suffer for so long?  Clearly, denying Sabu vet care during his extreme time of need, should have been classified as animal abuse.  I have no doubt that Sabu would have died at Talley Road this summer if Vicky had not taken him in when she did. 

Sabu currently takes 16 vitamin A pills per day along with a vitamin shot once per week.  I pray the vitamins will help Sabu maintain his balance and help him walk better as he had a tendency to fall down several times while moving around.

Sabu loving the attention from Vicky

Sabu used to hate going into the transporter at the WAO.  Now he loves his transporter.  After watching him go in and out of the transporter, I realized he loved going into the transporter simply because it put him in the center of the action.  Boy, did Sabu love being the center of attention -- and he did receive a lot of loving from Vicky and staff!

Sabu enjoying a breeze

Needless to say, it was a hot windy day in Dallas (101 degrees with a 105 degree heat index).  The cats however, were nice and cool because each enclosure had a large industrial fan blowing cool air around.  I wish the WAO animals could have received this type of attention to their needs.

I checked out Sabu's neighbors to see how they were dealing with the heat.  Meet Sheila and Kahn, Sabu's newest friends:

Meet Kahn!

Meet Sheila!  She was very shy

We then went back to see Jinxie again as it was time to have her blood drawn for medical testing.  Jinxie was never a big fan of small spaces and needless to say, Jinxie did not want to cooperate today. 

You can still see the scar on her shoulder blade where the growth had to be removed, along with the cancerous tumor back in April 2011.  Like Sabu, if Jinxie had not relocated from WAO to In-Sync, she probably would have died from cancer.  Jinxie was determined not to co-operate with Vickie as Jinxie did not want to have her blood drawn!

Instead, she enjoyed laying in the shade as she watched the workers try to come up with a plan to encourage Jinxie into the "shoot" so Vicky could obtain a small sample of her blood.

I think this is Shazam!

Jinxie won this round -- no blood draw today!  She had so much pent of energy, she decided to tease the boys living next to her!  Meet Shazam and Jazz!

 

I went back to see Sabu again, spending some quality time with the boy before it was time to go.  I couldn't believe how fast time flew by.  After a tearful farewell to Sabu and Jinxie, I went on a tour to meet the rest of In-Sync's residents.

Funny story...while I was watching the tigers being moved around so they could enjoy the play area, I met Lucca, an eleven year old female Bengal tiger.  We hit it off so well that that Lucca decided to spray me not once, not twice, but three times.  She thought she was so cute spraying me over and over again...  Isn't this innocent face simply adorable?

Now that I have been marked by Lucca (several times over) we are now the best of buddies!

I also found Mohan quite the character in the playground pool!



Mohan is a water baby!

I was supposed to depart between 1:30 - 2:00pm.  Not surprisingly, I didn't leave until around 3:15pm.  Despite the long drive (317 miles one way) during rush hour traffic, I am so glad I went to In-Sync.  At first, I was afraid to travel such a distance by myself in the heat.  Thank goodness I over came my fear so I could spend a wonderful afternoon with Vicky and the cats!

With Vicky's approval, I'd like to visit In-Sync twice a year (Spring and Fall) to see the animals.  I can't wait for my next visit this year, preferably when it is much cooler!

I'd also like to thank Vicky for spending four hours with me, showing me around In-Sync and for putting up with all my tears of joy when visiting Sabu and Jinxie.  I will always miss Jinxie and Sabu, but knowing that they are at a place where they receive a lot of love and attention makes me feel so much better. 

I arrived home around 8:15pm exhausted and happy that I took the trip to see my favorite lions and make new friends.  Thank you In-Sync Exotics!!