Our EXOTIC furbabies

[amberthe bobcat]

One good thing, if I do win this, it will be a victory for ALL animal owners, especially people who own exotics. I do have people looking into the wording of the zoning. One, is the fact that bobcats are NOT on their list. They also use phrases such as this "Is, by illustration and without limitation among the following:" They mention different breeds of cats, yes they say Lynx, but bobcats are not Lynx.They also use the word "and" a lot, where they should have said "or". I was told that a lawyer would have a good time with this, with all the technicalities. I was told by the state DNR that yes, they (the township) can and will be a pain in my behind. But, they DON'T want to have to deal with taking care of and housing my cats, should they try to order me to remove them now. So, it comes down to who can out bluff the other I guess. One thing is for sure, I WON'T back down. This is how you must be when your rights are being violated. No harm will come to my bobcats and cougar. I can move them to a secret place in a heart beat. There, they will not be able to touch them. This can turn a little ugly at times, but as it has been said, freedom isn't free. Sometimes you must stand up for what you feel is right and not back down. But, I have to take it one step at a time and be patient. For who knows, I can walk in there, apply for the zoning permit and have them say, here ya go. After all, I do have all the proper state permits, I am a member of many exotic animal organizations and have taken and passed a wild/exotic feline husbandry course.

 

[gemlady]

YOU GO, JOHN!!!!!

 

[lookingglass]

Any news John?

 

[mzjazz2u]

Beautiful cats! Very big... but beautiful!

 

[amberthe bobcat]

Originally Posted by lookingglass

Any news John?

Not much has changed, however I did spend the majority of my vacation building enclosures at our friends facility. One of these enclosures will be for Carmelo. It should be ready soon and he should be moving down there more than likely within the week. This, I am not looking foward to. It will be the most difficult thing I had to do in a very long time. Not that it will be hard to move him, it will be very hard for me emotionally. I have been feeling quite depressed as it is. I think Carmelo knows something is up, he has been giving me lots of big cougar head butts and lots of purrs. As for the bobcats, I feel things will be ok for them. I did get the paperwork to apply for a zoning permit and variance, I just have to submit it. So, that's it for now. Sorry I haven't posted any new pictures in a while.

 

[amberthe bobcat]

Originally Posted by mzjazz2u

Beautiful cats! Very big... but beautiful!

Thank you

They are big, but they all are very loving, especially Carmelo our cougar. I just have to look at him and he will walk up to me, give me a head butt and start to purr. And he still loves to suck my thumb

 

[booktigger]

Am keeping everything crossed for you John, I can't imagine how hard it is going to be to take Carmelo down to your friends.

 

[amberthe bobcat]

Originally Posted by booktigger

Am keeping everything crossed for you John, I can't imagine how hard it is going to be to take Carmelo down to your friends.

Thank you

It is going to be hard, I have such a strong bond with Carmelo. More than likely, if the weather and everything else goes as planned, the move will take place on Saturday. I just pray, that the move will not be as hard on him, as it will be for me

 

[cathyc]

I am totally in love with Nakoma! That face is gorgeous. He looks like a larger version of my cat. They are all so beautiful. I would love to have you as a neighbor. So sorry you are having to go through all this mess. I can't begin to imagine being separated from my babies. It's just not fair. I hope everything works out. Good luck!

 

[lookingglass]

Originally Posted by AmberThe Bobcat

Thank you

It is going to be hard, I have such a strong bond with Carmelo. More than likely, if the weather and everything else goes as planned, the move will take place on Saturday. I just pray, that the move will not be as hard on him, as it will be for me

Your family is in my thoughts and prayers. If you need to talk about it just let us know!

 

[arcadian girl]

Originally Posted by AmberThe Bobcat

Thank you

It is going to be hard, I have such a strong bond with Carmelo. More than likely, if the weather and everything else goes as planned, the move will take place on Saturday. I just pray, that the move will not be as hard on him, as it will be for me

I've beenthinking about that... the real victim in all this is Carmelo. He doesn't understand that the law says you can't keep him anymore. He's going to go from living indoors fulltime like a housecat, to living in an enclosure, with no time to adjust. I really hope he adjusts well to it, because he doesn't deserve to have to go through that - no cat does.

 

[amberthe bobcat]

Originally Posted by CathyC

I am totally in love with Nakoma! That face is gorgeous. He looks like a larger version of my cat. They are all so beautiful. I would love to have you as a neighbor. So sorry you are having to go through all this mess. I can't begin to imagine being separated from my babies. It's just not fair. I hope everything works out. Good luck!

Awwww yes, Nakoma does have that face you just want to kiss. I would love to have you as my neighbor as well

Actually, ALL my neighbors love my exotics, except that one AR (Animal Rights) person who complained. All my exotics are staying right where they are at, excpet for Carmelo. He will be going to our friends place until we see if we can get a zoning variance. However, I am not sure if they will grant us one. Never the less, having Carmelo move is going to hurt, even though we can go visit him any time we want.

Your family is in my thoughts and prayers. If you need to talk about it just let us know!

I will be sure to take you up on that

I've beenthinking about that... the real victim in all this is Carmelo. He doesn't understand that the law says you can't keep him anymore. He's going to go from living indoors fulltime like a housecat, to living in an enclosure, with no time to adjust. I really hope he adjusts well to it, because he doesn't deserve to have to go through that - no cat does

As for the living outdoors, he will not mind that at all. Yes, he did live in the house with us, but he also had full run of an outdoor enclosure as well, so he is used to being outside. He will have a nice shelter to go in too. My biggest concern is the seperation. These cats bond with their owners very strong. He is still young, at 16 months, but you can just see the love that he has for us in his eyes. He will have another cougar to socialize with and there are always people there who will give him lots of love, until we come down to visit.

 

[amberthe bobcat]

Just a quick update. Carmelo is now in his new enclosure at our friend's facility. He also has a nice insulated house/den box that I built for him to sleep in at night and when the weather turns cold. I am at work, but my wife is down there visiting him as I type this. We also visited him this past Wednesday as well. The first thing he did when he saw us was to chirp. When I walked into his enlcosure, he ran up to me, gave me a big couger hug with lots of purrs and then licked my head. I want to post pictures of his enclosure, but my digital camera died, so I need to bring my film camera down and get some good pictures to post. All the bobcats are doing great. The are eating like crazy and fattening up for the cold winter months ahead

 

[halfpint]

Oh I have alway's been in Love with Carmelo, such a Beautiful Boy, Glad to hear things are going good

 

[snosrap5]

John, I'm sorry it had to come to Carmelo moving. I am praying that you are able to receive the zoning permits you need for Carmelo.

I can't imagine the pain you went through with his moving and I'm not even going to guess at it. Just know that you and your family are in my prayers.

 

[natalie_ca]

Beautiful cats!

Can I ask about the expense to keep them fed?

 

[gemlady]

Thanks for the update, John. I bet you miss those big cougar paws and cougar licks!

 

[pushylady]

So sorry you had to go through this. It's obviously NOT in the best interests of the cats to force them out, but clearly their well being isn't a priority for the people in charge.

How are Boris & Amber doing? Are they still at home?

 

[luckygirl]

I'm also sorry to hear that Carmello was forced out of your home....it doesn't hardly seem fair. I hope you are able to visit with him as much as humanly possible, to make the transition easier on the poor baby. I too will say a prayer for Carmello, and for you, that all works out the way it's supposed, and that he stays safe during this unsettling time.

 

[amberthe bobcat]

Originally Posted by snosrap5

John, I'm sorry it had to come to Carmelo moving. I am praying that you are able to receive the zoning permits you need for Carmelo.

I can't imagine the pain you went through with his moving and I'm not even going to guess at it. Just know that you and your family are in my prayers.

Well, I doubt they will give me a zoning variance for Carmelo, but I should be ok with the bobcats. However, my wife and I are looking to move where we will have more land and we won't need to worry about any zoning permits. But, even if this happens soon, we wouldn't be able to move Carmelo back with us until next year. I would need time to build him another enclosure. Yes, I won't lie, it still is very painful. However, even if he was with us on our property, he would need to live outside, because he is now getting much to large to live inside our home. He isn't that far from us, a 2 hour drive. That may seem far, but to me it isn't, since I drive 40-45 minutes to work one way as it is. I will be going down to see him this Wednesday. My wife and I were there last week and she was just there yesterday.

Beautiful cats!

Can I ask about the expense to keep them fed?

Thank you

As for the cost for feeding, it isn't as bad as you may think. They get an all raw meat diet and the cost per pound for the food, is cheaper than the good high quality regular cat foods. But, Carmelo eats quite a lot. They get fed 3% of their body weight per day. So, if Carmelo is 100 pounds, he gets 3 pounds of meat per day and each of the bobcats gets approx 1.5 pounds per day. I spend about $40 per week on chicken for them, but as Carmelo grows, he will eat more and that cost will go up as well. I feed other meats as well, such as beef, chicken and beef liver, giblets and venison. There is also the cost of the vitamin supplements as well.

Thanks for the update, John. I bet you miss those big cougar paws and cougar licks

Oh yeah and those cougar hugs that I wll get in 2 days

How are Boris & Amber doing? Are they still at home?

Amber, Boris and Nakoma are doing great and getting nice and plump for winter. This is the best time to see bobcats, because their fur gets so thick and beautiful for the winter. Yes, they are still home and should be able to stay. I feel I should be able to get a variance for them. I was not made aware of any of this zoning until a few months after we had moved. I did all the research and never found anything. When I did find out, I was told this exactly: "We don't care about the bobcats, as long as they don't get over 100 pounds and we have no complaints". Well, we have no "official" complaint, because it was anonymous. However, even if we do have an official complaint, if the township had a problem with it, they never should have said, "we don't care about the bobcats". I have a recorded message of them saying this to me. Also, bobcats are not on their so called list of prohibited animals, even though they try to tell me otherwise. This is all very stupid, I do not live in a city or village and should be left alone. If they push me too hard with the bobcats, I will take them to court and if I have to go to court, I will also take them to civil court and file a lawsuit. They gave me the WRONG advice when I asked them 2 years ago.

I'm also sorry to hear that Carmello was forced out of your home....it doesn't hardly seem fair. I hope you are able to visit with him as much as humanly possible, to make the transition easier on the poor baby. I too will say a prayer for Carmello, and for you, that all works out the way it's supposed, and that he stays safe during this unsettling time.

We can visit any time we like. In fact, our friend that owns the sanctuary, is having a new home built and it is almost complete. They have a quest room where I was told is ours, so we can stay any time we want to. Carmelo loves everyone there and he gets to see people every day. He has a beautiful 7 year old female cougar right next to him, as well as 2 Siberian lynxes. Yes, I do mis my big boy very much, but it helps a great deal to know we can visit with him and stay with him any time we want and as long as we want. There is a big plus to this as well. We get to be with 7 cougars, including Carmelo, as well as 7 bobcats, 2 lynxes, a fox and approx 20 domestic cats