´Priscilla´ the oncilla (the tiger cat that we rescued from the hideous conditions at Inrena) is now ´Queen of the Casa´. She started off living in the bathroom at the vet clinic, but with escalating temperatures in Iquitos and a growing girls need for space, she now rules the upper floor of the vet clinic.
She runs amok! Her favourite pastime is sliding down the side of the giant bathtub, & then clambering up the other side. I´ve put some wooden boards leading up to the bath and over it to create an oncilla adventure playground.....she loves it! Almost as much fun as the jungle.
No different from your domestic moggy, Priscilla prefers to play with a screwed up piece of paper, rather than her expensive cat toys. And her favourite hobby of all is attacking my ankles biting hard and kicking hell out of them with her back feet. I am trying to discourage this habit as Priscilla has tiger teeth and it hurts. So now I run around the room with a rattling cat toy on a string and Priscilla attacks & ´kills´ it.
She´s a healthy girl and eating well - whole dead chickens (injected with a calcium & vitamin mix for healthy bones), & fish & other choice cuts of meat. She also loves ´whiskas´dry cat food....McDonalds for cats but it does ensure she is getting all the right vitamins & minerals. She has doubled in weight in 1 month....this girl is gonna have to go on a diet!
I love caring for Priscilla & getting to know the behaviour of a wild tiger cat but everyday I feel sad that she isn´t in the jungle where she belongs. She loves me too but given the choice she would rather be scrambling up a tree, stalking bugs, or belting up another oncilla. Sadly the first few times she saw her reflection in the bedroon wall mirror, she would run towards her ´friend´ and take a flying leap as if to rugby tackle her new pal....only to smack herself in the face in the mirror. Poor Priscilla queen of the jungle!
