WARNING… EXTREME CUTENESS! - BOBCATS

In early August of 2024 Critter Care received a phone call that we do not get often; it was regarding an orphaned bobcat.

On August 6th, Teetonka arrived at our centre from Mission. The kitten was a female, weighing only 2lbs. She was found, close to death, on the side of the road, with no sign of her mother. Although small, she has been feisty from the beginning, giving her caretakers a run for their money on multiple occasions. The day after Teetonka’s admission to our centre, one of our supervisors received a second unbelievable call. There was a second baby bobcat in Mission!

Kaya arrived Aug 7th from Mission, but a 25-minute drive from where Teetonka was found, which makes it near impossible that the two are siblings. This kitten was also a female and weighed 4lbs on admission. She was found in a barn with no sign of her mother. She hung around with feral barn kittens for a few days, looking for food. Perhaps she believed she was one of them.

The kittens were kept separate for about 10 days, only interacting with each other through their kennels to ensure they would get along when let into a bigger enclosure. They were housed in large kennels with lots of toys and enrichment to keep them busy, as well as lots of food. Don’t let their cute appearance fool you! These carnivorous girls have a large appetite for meat!

Once the kittens had settled in and were healthy, they were moved into a large indoor room, which we call the Juvenile Delinquent Room here at Critter Care. They became the best of friends right off the bat. They love cuddling together on top of their kennel and we will often see them grooming one another. They are very close, sleeping together and eating together, just like real sisters. They play fight as well, also just like real sisters!

On a few occasions, we have put a hidden camera into their current enclosure to see what they get up to when we are not around and have found they are incredibly playful with each other and love to wrestle and leap between their platforms and logs. They love to play with the multitude of toys they have been provided with. If you think about it, they are not much different in behaviour than a domestic cat, excluding their size and ferocity!

Since coming into our care, they have more than doubled in size and weight and are growing well into their beautiful bobcat features. We have noticed that the older kitten often shows protective behaviour over the younger one whenever we are near. They are due to move outside soon into an enclosure that replicates the overgrown and vast forest they will eventually be released into, providing them with a natural environment with plenty of hiding places and enrichment for them.

In being carnivorous, they are on a diet of varied game meat, poultry, and rabbit, with all the necessary vitamins. They are certainly not fussy when it comes to their food! We are beginning to scatter their food in their enclosure to encourage natural foraging behaviours.

This pair will be in our care until next spring and will not be introduced to our resident bobcat, Tucker. They will be released back into the wild, together, in the spring of 2025