Cat Tales is a private zoo north of Spokane that has been open since 1991. In all the years we lived in Spokane, we always said we were going to check it out, but never did. Finally after I read Greg's blog about their visit (Our RV Adventures), we decided that we would go. Today we went into Spokane to pick up a few things, then stopped by on our way back to Newport.
There are some 46 big cats and 2 black bears in residence at this little zoo. It was getting towards feeding time when we came, so they were all pretty active. Several of the pens had water tanks or areas in them. This pen, with three young tigers, had a big ball in the pond --
Cat Tales also has two full grown Siberian white tigers -- though only one of them came out to be seen --
They also have one big old Barbary Coast lion. He's 13 years old, which is pretty old for lions. He was supposed to be one of the. MGM lions, but evidently refused to roar on command and early on gained a reputation as being pretty "cranky." He seemed to delight in turning his rear towards the fence and the audience and "spraying!"
We stayed at the zoo long enough to watch the evening feeding. The staff pulled a wagon loaded with flat pans of meat that they shoved under the gates in the back of the pens. They only feed meat (mostly equine and chicken, with occasional donations of buffalo and other meats), but no bones or hides due to their fear of impactions. One of the staffers told me that the cats -- who looked very healthy -- all get calcium supplements.
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