Leopard Clinic
Whispen watched Nugat and Ghirardelli in their enclosure as they eyed their surroundings suspiciously. It was their first week at Dimension Ranch, and now that they had been through quarantine they were finally ready to explore their expansive outdoor pen. The ranch had spared no expense. The two acre lot the leopards were now exploring had massive trees, climbing equipment, even a large pond for the animals to enjoy. Both rescued from roadside zoos, they had never had so much freedom in their entire lives.
Whispen watched intently as the pair nervously made their way around the area. This was expected, of course, seeing as their earlier lives had been devoid of enrichment or space to run. They weren't sure to do with their newfound freedom. Slowly, Nugat seemed to relax. After a half an hour or so of being unsure, he was ready for her new life. The sun warmed her pale pelt and she stretched and luxuriated in the sunshine. Sensing his relaxation and following his lead, Ghirardelli soon settled down as well. She laid in the soft grass and rolled around. Feeling the texture of the earth was a new and welcome sensation to her. Whispen relaxed a bit as well as he noticed them settling in. There was, however, something bothering him slightly as he watched them. Both cats seemed a bit tender now that he was able to see them move a bit more naturally. They seemed to be stiff, almost. Whispen made a note of it and then moved on to care for the other big cats in the facility. He would be back again soon to check on them.
The next day, the leopards had really warmed up to their new home. The pair spent their morning together, grooming and laying in the sunshine. Whispen came back to observe them again. He wasn't pleased to see them once again laying in the sun when they would hopefully be playing on their climbing equipment or swimming. It wasn't quite right. He immediately made a call to his vet and an appointment was made for her to come over the next day to evaluate the leopards.
The next morning, Dr Iris arrived for the medical checkup. Because Whispen had been teaching them certain cues, it wasn't very difficult to have the cats restrained so they could be put under anesthesia. "How is everything going, Whispen?" asked Dr Iris as she put on her gloves. "Well, it's been alright. As I've said, these are our newest residents," he gestured over to the leopards. Nugat watched suspiciously as Ghirardelli was slowly becoming drowsy from the medication. They decided she would go first. "They got released into their full-time enclosure a few days ago and I noticed that they seemed to be having a bit of trouble moving around," he continued. "Well," said Dr Iris, "I'm not all that surprised seeing where they came from." She approached Ghirardelli to see if she was fully under, and he was. Iris's assistant was monitoring her closely as well. She began examining her, looking into her eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. "That's true," said Whispen, scratching absently at his hand. He'd never stopped getting nervous when his cats were put under for checkups. Iris moved onto checking Ghirardelli's muscles and the range of motion in her limbs. She hummed quietly as she did so.
"You were definitely right, she's very stiff in her joints and I'm sure you also noticed that her muscles are a bit atrophied," she said as she continued to palpate her limbs. "Yes, I'm sure the muscles just need time to build back up after they've been stuck in such small enclosures," Whispen replied with a sigh. He and Iris were both disgusted with the state of the roadside zoos and how awful their conditions are. They didn't need to get worked up again about the same things they always complained about.
"I'd like to get some x-rays just to be sure," said Dr Iris. After they were taken, the doctor had a diagnosis. "Well, it looks like the beginning stages of arthritis. Luckily, there are a few things we can do," she said. "You've got this wonderful setup where they'll be able to put on a lot more muscle and to heal, and there are a few specific therapies that we can try as well." Whispen sighed, knowing that it likely wasn't going to be a fun journey ahead. "I also have some medication you can put into her food that should help with the inflammation." The doctor indicated to her assistant and they began to reverse Ghirardelli's anesthesia when she was once again safely contained. "Alrighty, on the the next cat?" said Iris.
After Ghirardelli was once again contained, they moved onto Nugat. Iris's process was much the same with him, and the doctor reached the same conclusion. "Yep, looks like they've both got the same thing," she said with a sigh. She looked knowingly at Whispen, who nodded softly in reply. "Lets get you guys set up with some medication." In the meantime, Nugat was also woken up and the two were monitored for a time before being placed into their indoor enclosure to sleep off the effects of the anesthetic. They would be released into their main enclosure the next morning.
"Well," said Whispen, "thank you for coming out to check them over and for the medication. We'll do everything we can to get these guys comfortable." "No problem as all, as usual Whisp," Dr Iris said with a smile. "You did a good thing for these guys and I'm sure they'll be feeling right as rain in no time." She gave Whispen a reassuring pat on the shoulder and her and her assistant gathered up their equipment to leave. Whispen walked up to the indoor leopard enclosure and gave the pair another glance before heading out of the facility to go home.
The next morning, their therapies began. Their morning meal contained the medication that Whispen had been given, and then it was the next phase of their recovery. Iris and Whispen had come up with a plan to encourage the pair to move, and it seemed like fun to boot. Whispen had a heavy duty drone that could be flown over the enclosure for the cats to chase that could carry a payload of meat scraps. That way, Whisp could fly the drone low enough for the cats to want to chase it and also reward them as they did so.
He readied the drone and released the leopards back into their enclosure. After a moment, he took up the controls of the drone and started it up. Ghirardelli perked up right away in curiosity, and as the drone swept low over the grass she took off after it. Excited by Ghirardelli, Nugat chased after her as well. Whispen took the two cats around the enclosure a few times until the two looked nice and tired. Then he flew it slowly over their pond and they happily jumped into the cool water. Whispen hoped that the water would soothe their joints as well.
After a few weeks the two leopards looked like different animals. They no longer felt tender and sore, and their daily exercise and soaks strengthened their muscles. A proper diet, a large enclosure, and plenty of exercise had turned them from sad roadside leopards to gorgeous, show-worthy animals.