Junior's Latest Progress- January 1st, 2008
Junior has grown quite a bit in the past couple of weeks and now measures 75 cm from head to tail and weighs 4,7 kg. He has three upper teeth and almost all his lower front teeth, which means he can now start inflicting pain when he bites the hand that feeds him. He is naughty and frequently “attacks” his toys, towels and the carpet. His "nurse", Kim, notes that he seems more advanced at this age of development than any Bengal and Siberian tiger cubs which she raised before. He is already showing predatory behaviour, not only attacking his toys but also shaking them quite violently from side to side in an effort to “kill” them. This kind of behaviour only occurred after 2 months with the Bengal and Siberian tiger cubs. Perhaps he got the cue from his mother's womb?! Cathay is the most excellent hunter of the lot.
A typical day in the life of Junior:
It starts at 06.00 am with his first bottle totaling 120ml. At 08.30 am he gets another bottle of 80ml where colostrum has been added to enhance his vitamin and mineral intake. At 15.00 pm he has another bottle totaling 40ml. Late afternoons he spends 45 minutes outside in the garden, walking and playing in the grass. And at 19.00 pm he has another bottle totaling 80ml after which he is stimulated to defecate and depending on the consistency of his stool, laxative will be added to his next days’ feed should he be constipated. After this feed he plays for one hour on the carpet where he “discovers” his toys such as the ball and the chew toy (specially designed veterinary toy to assist with the teething process). At 22.00 pm he has his last bottle of the day totaling 80 ml.
He is now drinking between 400 and 500 ml per day and very soon he will be starting eating solid food, initially chicken.
Right now his favourite game is to hit anything that moves with his front paws, followed by a well aimed bite, at this stage still more gums than teeth, but he can already inflict quite a bit of pain! He seems a true son of his mother!