Joe Kahlo
A lioness who was rescued from Tiger King Joe Exotic’s zoo in 2018 has undergone surgery after suffering from years of inbreeding.
Chobe was famously rescued from his Oaklahoma facility in 2018 and now lives at the WildCat Ridge Sanctuary in Oregan.
A scan revealed the feline had a distended uterus caused by an infection after staff initially noticed that the big cat wasn’t eating.
The five-year-old lioness had her uterus and ovaries removed by doctors at Oregon State University’s veterinary hospital on Monday.
Dr Katy Townsend, an associate professor of small animal surgery in the Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine who operated on Chobe said: ‘Essentially it’s just like doing a cat spay, but on a mega scale.
“Surgery went really well; we were able to cleanly get everything out in a short amount of time,” Townsend said in the news release. “We expect her to make a full recovery from this.”
In the meantime, Townsend said, Chobe’s been anaesthetized near the wound to help with pain relief.
He said she was a little stubby in appearance ‘like a giant guinea pig’ but a very sweet and expressive animal.
‘We’re hoping that this surgery is going to make sure that everything’s ok for her, and she can get back to just living her life in peace and happiness, which is the only thing that we want for all of our residents.’
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