About Us:
Sean's Story
Sean is a male Bengal-Siberian mix tiger. He came to us in 1999 at 29 days old from a breeding facility in Oregon that wasn't going to make it because he was blind and suffering from seizures. They didn′t have the knowledge or support to be able to care for him. When we heard about him we decided to do everything we could to give him a full life. Our 24 hour care facility would give him the best chance possible.
When he arrived the first thing we did was take him to UC Davis for an evaluation. They confirmed that he was functionally blind. In addition they noted he was very small for his age and would likely not develop properly. They recommended giving him Phenobarbital to control his seizures.
Sean was a beautiful cub, and we definitely did not want to put him down, so we took him home and got to work.We decided to tackle his health issues first. We first tried padding the walls of his enclosure so he would not hurt himself when he ran into them. This was successful, but far from an ideal solution. We noticed that his sense of smell was unimpaired, and decided to try that route. We sprayed down his walls with a strong scent (initially we used vinegar but have had success with other scents such as peppermint which, coincidentally, he loves the taste of too). This allowed him to smell his way around his enclosure and he stopped running into things. Then we sprayed his enrichment items with cayenne (many tigers love cayenne pepper) so he could find them easily. This too was successful.
To help him overcome the seizures we opted to try a different route than subjecting him to a lifetime of Phenobarbital. Instead, we tried some herbal remedies, including kava-kava, melatonin and “Sleepy-Time” tea. After three months of this treatment Sean’s seizures stopped. He has not had a seizure in over ten years.
Sean is now a full-grown male tiger, an appropriate size for his species. Despite all his challenges, he is very happy, interactive, and playful. His big blue ball is his favorite toy, everyone loves watching him.
