After the Annual Cheetah Checkups

With annuals over, the vet team can take some much needed rest, while the husbandry team now has five cats on antibiotics 2x/day and many more to prepare for dental work that will be needed within the next few months! Plus a warthog inside the Bellebenno Cheetah pen (all females are locked up away from the pig, but I’ll save this story for another time!)

For the most part Padme, Samantha, Misty, Hermione, and Klein are quite good patients, although don’t let them hear you say that! I was giving Klein (photo) his second dose of the day (3 pills) and commenting to volunteer keeper Emily from Longleat in the UK how good he is at taking his pills. Well I swear the crafty boy understood me and decided to prove me wrong. After taking two of his pills without any problems, he proceeded to spit out his third (and final) pill, once, twice, and three times! Despite how deep into the meat I would place the pill, he would chew and then spit it out! I think he just wanted to show me that he is still his own boss at times. Ever since then he has taken all his meds like the good cheetah he usually is, but still looks up at me with his amber eyes as if daring me to provoke him again. Despite what a pain he can be, Klein will always be one of my favourite cheetahs!

Kate