Interesting lecture we had today about big cats.

[Mark]

It was really good 

The kind of things they do for enrichment are getting a sheep fleece and sewing it onto big plastic barrels (originally wine come over in them - they have lots of arrangements with different companies to get free stuff) and making "legs" out of broom handles so the cats can "kill" them. They also make "blood icepops"  - they fill a bucket with blood and freeze a rope into it then hang it up. One odd enrichment thing they have is a retired greyhound they walk around by the enclosures. They said the dog isn't bothered and they cats go into stalk mode although they don't get stressed from not being able to get to the dog. He said the tigers etc really seem to enjoy it and the dog is oblivious  (he said greyhounds are stupid  )

[maryas]

Aaw Mark - I bet that's your best day at College ever 

I use quite a lot of aromatherapy oils and I'm glad to see they are helping the big cats.

Mary

[Mark]

She was invited to our branch open day but it was £100 which would have had to come from limited branch funds.

[JackSpratt]

Beautiful Tiger pic JS. Stunning creatures 

It's from Vickys behaviour page on Facebook. 

I actually did my final study on the comparative behaviour between feral colonies and prides of lions.

[Gatos]

Interesting post - thanks.
Sometimes our little ones distant cousins don't seem so distant!

[Rosella moggy]

Wish you had Mark.  I'd love to see how big cats respond to Witty's catnip although think I'd give 'em a wide berth when giving it to them.  I won some in auction and our lot are out of control with it 

Beautiful Tiger pic JS. Stunning creatures 

[Mark]

To be honest, I was really tempted to ask him if big cats responded to catnip during the question session but resisted 

[Fire Fox]

Thanks for reporting, Mark, that's really interesting.  Look what effect the scent of catnip or valerian has on our kitties!

[Janeyk]

. He said that any of us that think it is nonsense should keep and open mind. He has seen things like lavendar completely turn around animals with stress/behaviour problems.

I've always believed in the powers of lavender  and its one of the safe essential oils for cats too.

Sounds like a good lecture, I like the sound of their committment to enrichment. 

 

I believe in aromatherapy too and use it often although I don't mind lavender I'm personally not a big fan there are others I prefer.

Sounds a good lecture Mark 

[Christine (Blip)]

He mentioned lavender twice. One was just a piece of lavender flower that the tiger carried around for 10 minutes before eating. Another was a case of a stressed animal (tiger again I think) that after the keeper went in with it doused on their clothing, the animal relaxed and went to sleep.

Anecdote, not evidence, of course.  But as I say, I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that the calming effects are real.  There's a sound reason we're drawn to certain smells and repulsed by others, after all.

[Mark]

He mentioned lavender twice. One was just a piece of lavender flower that the tiger carried around for 10 minutes before eating. Another was a case of a stressed animal (tiger again I think) that after the keeper went in with it doused on their clothing, the animal relaxed and went to sleep.

I am going to look into visiting the place either as a volunteer or a paying guest. As our college has close links, it should be quite possible. One of the students in my class already volunteers there.

[Christine (Blip)]

He said he used to be a cynic but has seen the results of Aromatherapy first-hand. He said that any of us that think it is nonsense should keep and open mind. He has seen things like lavendar completely turn around animals with stress/behaviour problems.

There's some interesting research out there - admittedly on people - to suggest that there is a real therapeutic effect (in the area of stress) from both massage and aromatherapy massage.  I believe any additional benefit of using oils has yet to be proven but that this is an area of investigation currently.

In fact, I for one would not be at all surprised to hear that there is genuine therapeutic benefit in certain oils.

How does WHF administer the lavendar, Mark?  Having asked that, I know there is also current research into delivery mechanisms.

I'm a huge fan of lavendar myself: I find the scent transporting 

[JackSpratt]

Vickys big cat patient, Ronja.

[Gillian Harvey]

. He said that any of us that think it is nonsense should keep and open mind. He has seen things like lavendar completely turn around animals with stress/behaviour problems.

I've always believed in the powers of lavender  and its one of the safe essential oils for cats too.

Sounds like a good lecture, I like the sound of their committment to enrichment. 

[Mark]

Kylie is a larger cat and I bet she can use da birdy! 

 

[Bazsmum]

Kylie is a larger cat and I bet she can use da birdy! 

[Mark]

That sounds like a really interesting lecture, and amazing that so many things we do for our small cats relate to the big cats too 

One of the enrichment things for their Lynx is like a giant da bird  but he said they wouldn't use that kind of thing with larger cats.

[clarenmax]

That sounds like a really interesting lecture, and amazing that so many things we do for our small cats relate to the big cats too 

[Mark]

We had a guest lecturer today - the CEO of WHF (The Wildlife Heritage Foundation) It isn't a zoo but they have all kinds of wild cats for  breeding & education programmes. You can go there for a day in a group but it costs around £200 a head.

Anyway, We were shown lots of pictures and given loads of info but some of the interesting things he said were;

1. Vicky Halls helps them with behaviour problems and is currently working with one of the Tigers.
2. They use and recommend Zylkene for stressed cats. They have successfully treated a tiger who was so stressed, she had snapped 2 teeth biting the cage wires.
3. He said he used to be a cynic but has seen the results of Aromatherapy first-hand. He said that any of us that think it is nonsense should keep and open mind. He has seen things like lavendar completely turn around animals with stress/behaviour problems.

http://www.whf.org.uk/ It isn't far from our college and some of the students are volunteers there but he said it is so popular that they refuse more volunteers than they accept. They are big on enrichment. They said the animals come first there - he showed us various ways they try to improve the lives and welfare of the animals there.