Sick bay report: Swingkat has pneumonia

As today was another mild day, I decided to visit the kats.

When I arrived, the lamps outside were off and no kats to be seen. As one of the keepers was around on the other side of the enlcosure, where you can also look into their house, I changed to the other side.

The kats had just been fed, but they were inside. The keeper then told me that Swingkat was very ill.

They found him on Monday lying around apathically, breathing heavily. He was taken to the vet at once and diagnosed with pneumonia.

He is on antibiotics and has to be inside to keep warm. I only had some brief glimpses of Swingkat, when he came to the front of the inside enclosure. He does not look bad, but you can see his laboured breathing.

The mob was in a turmoil with everybody running around and back and forth. The kats HATE being inside, but at the moment there is no other possibilty.

Removing Swingkat from the group would mean that he may not be re-integrated and would have to spend a miserable, lonely life or be given away to another zoo or park, as the Mundenhof does not have the facilities for "surplus" animals.

So this means having to spent the next days indoors. I hope the situation will not lead to new trobule with the general situation being so well again these last weeks.

Weather and time permitting, I will visit the mext days and keep you updated.