Li'l Smokey's Rehabilitation Blog

Paw Progress

The photos below show how far Smokey's paws have come. The first shows his paws before they were cleaned when he first arrived at LTWC on July 18. The second was taken just a few weeks ago, on October 30.

Second photo: Sally Sjolin

Smokey on CBS13

Click here to check out the feature KOVR (CBS13 Sacramento) did on Li'l Smokey last week!

Today's Photo: This is where Smokey goes when he climbs off camera

Sunday, November 16, 2008.  I finally got some time to go in and get some pictures of Li'l Smokey. As usual, when I go in his cage, he scampers away from me. In this cage (the Bobcat cage), he has more places to hide than in all of his previous cages.  So, in order to get a halfway decent picture of the kid, I had to go back outside and get a 6' ladder so I could get up on his level.  You see, he climbed up those logs you see on the left side of the picture, then he crossed over on another log to the highest point in the cage, which is about 9 feet above the ground. 

We're sorry that we can't show more of him on the web cam, but we would actually need about 3 more cameras to do it justice and the numbers just don't match. So for the next month or so, until he goes into hibernation, the cam will remain focused on the center of his cage where his food, his igloo, his pool and  his rounds are.  He seems to spend more time there than in any other part of the cage. 

I'll try to answer some of your questions in my next update.  You all have been so patient with us as we worked through getting this camera up and running, and it seems to be doing fairly good now.  In my personal opinion, Smokey is now about 70 pounds.  As you can see in this picture, the fur is starting to come back around his eye since we started medication.  It was a fungus that other cubs have had from time to time, but Dr. Willitts wanted to be sure before we did anything, which is why we waited for the lab tests to come back. 

We will talk soon.

Tom

Smokey on CBS12

Click here to watch CBS12's (KHSL Chico) recent update on Smokey.

Smokey on KCRA

Click here to watch KCRA 3's update on Li'l Smokey!

On the Road to Recovery

"Not so 'Li'l' Smokey", weighing in at 63 pounds, 13 ounces, is shown here, just kind of "hanging out," a few days ago in his now-former cage. As you can see, Smokey has not been missing any meals, and his last exam showed excellent growth of the pads on his paws.

The only small problem now is the loss of fur around his left eye. Dr. Willitts took some tissue sample and sent if off to the lab.  When he receives the results, he'll determine what, if anything, we will do with regard to medication.