In March, Great Cats keepers noticed that Naba was chewing in an exaggerated manner and not consuming all of her diet. Naba was trained to voluntarily participate in awake health exams and blood draws. When keepers gave Naba the cue to open her mouth, they observed some dental issues, and blood tests showed chronic renal disease, both of which can be common in older lions. Zoo veterinarians prescribed pain medications to ease Naba’s discomfort, and keepers presented her diet in a variety of ways to encourage her to eat. Zoo veterinarians and an outside veterinary dental specialist treated Naba’s dental disease over the next few months, but despite intermittent improvements in her behavior and appetite, she continued to decline.
During a complete veterinary exam last Friday to identify the cause of her ongoing decline, a new dental concern was addressed, and Naba’s team of keepers and veterinarians were cautiously optimistic she could recover. However, she did not eat well, was not defecating throughout the weekend and her discomfort was noticeable to the team. Concluding that further attempts to investigate Naba’s illness would be invasive and difficult on her, the team made the hard decision to euthanize Naba. Initial necropsy findings showed a large mass in her small intestine and a cystic lesion in her brain. A final pathology report will provide more information in the coming weeks.
