Rare snow leopard saved with abundant help

TAMPA - One of the rarest and most endangered exotic cats in the world is recovering from surgery at Tampa's Big Cat Rescue.

"Cloe," a 13-year-old snow leopard, had developed a kidney infection, and large kidney stones.

She needed treatment, but traditional surgery was out of the question because the stones were too big.

"Big enough that we wouldn't have been able to do surgery without damaging her kidneys," said veterinarian Liz Wynn.

The result was that the beloved cat was at risk for renal failure and death -- and more immediately, she was suffering. Her caretakers could tell.

"She was perfectly fine one day and then the next day, she didn't want to eat, she didn't want to get up," Wynn said.

"She was very lethargic. She was starting to lose weight, just didn't want to be around people," said Shiloh Grant, a senior caretaker at Big Cat Rescue who often checks on, feeds and cleans after Cloe.

They did some tests, and the results weren't good.

"She had a horrible bacterial infection, and the stones were there," Wynn said.

For the staff, the news was devastating.

"My heart dropped. We just lost our first snow leopard Hercules, and it was a huge loss to us," Grant said. "Even though it was just kidney stones, it was still just a huge fright for us."

Then Dr. Wynn did what many people do: she called a specialist.

***********

What happened next was a melee of logistics and moving parts that would all have to come together to perform what is essentially the same procedure humans undergo for kidney stones --and there wasn't much time.

"We're looking at renal failure. Kidney disease that is terminal otherwise," Wynn said.

Wynn called the Animal Medical Center, a reknowned animal hospital and research center in New York. She says once the vets there heard Cloe's situation, they volunteered a team to fly down and treat her.

"The team was very excited when they knew it was a snow leopard. Everyone was willing to help when they knew it was a snow leopard," Wynn laughed.

The procedure Cloe would undergo is called lithotripsy , a non-invasive treatment that uses an acoustic "pulse," or shock wave, to break up the stones.

First though, the team at Big Cat Rescue arranged for endoscopy equipment from a company in Georgia. Then a company in Tampa donated the use of the actual lithotripsy machine, and the staff to help run it.

Once all the equipment and people were lined up came the task of sedating Cloe , and getting her from her lair to Big Cat Rescue's on-site hospital.

For a big cat like Cloe, it was no small feat. Wynn described what took place:

"You can't just hold her gently on a table, inject her with the medicine and expect things to go fine. We have to lure her into her lockout, which is an area she eats everyday, so she is used to going in there, but it's a confined space."

"So we lure her in there, close the door, and use a pole syringe to inject her with the medicine. A pole syringe is what it describes: a long pole that has a syringe in it, and it has a pneumatic injection. So we have to lure her into that small area, poke her with a long stick that has a needle, a syringe and medication in it, and then we wait for her to go to sleep."

"We have to make sure she is asleep enough to move, and won't wake up abruptly before we get to the hospital. Then we have to put her under general anesthesia."

Once Cloe was put under, the clock really started ticking. Everything had to be done in three hours.

********

Wynn says the beginning of the surgery was tense. But once they saw Cloe was doing okay under the anesthesia, the rest went smoothly. Wynn said the kidney stones broke up, and the next day, they saw evidence the procedure had done what it was supposed to.

"We found little tiny stone material in her first urination the day after her procedure," Wynn said.

Now Wynn says she will analyze the stones, recheck Cloe in a couple of months, and make any necessary adjustments to hopefully keep Cloe from getting the stones again.

She says Cloe's prognosis is good; she is likely to live into her late teens.

"We're going to slow the progression of her kidney disease by doing this, so we would expect her to live out a normal life expectancy of a snow leopard in captivity," Wynn said.

So why go to all the effort?

Wynn starts to answer the question….

"They're endangered, there aren't very many of them around......"

….and stops for a moment as tears well up in her eyes.

"Why wouldn't we? If we have the ability to make her life more comfortable and extend her quality of life...she already lives in captivity. It's not fair anyway. So we should do everything we can."

***********

Story credits:
Interviews, broadcast story by Cynthia Smoot/FOX 13 News
Video shot by Rick Hardman/FOX 13 News
Video editing, still photography and online story produced by Chris Hegarty/MyFoxTampaBay.com