Evening star., 1958-07-10
Tender, SIeepIess Core
Saves Leopard Cubs Life
Be JERRY O'LEARY, Jr.
star stan Writer

WIN oAhSA 81 cAsAAe-" "CNA oeA 10
gle.
The fight has been going on
night and day since May IS
in a frame house in Chevy
Chase at 3404 East Bradley lane
where Assistant Zoo Director j.
Lear Grimmer and his wife,
Margaret. live. Neither Of them
has had hardly a solid nights
sleep since the cub was born.
The little leopard looks as
II she's going to live now. Mr..
Grimmer said today, but there
were times in the past several
weeks when it looked hopeless.
A lot Of people helped pull the
kitten through but the Grim
mers provided the loving care
without which no amount of
medicine would have helped.
They said they got emotionally
involved with the little snow
cat and reacted accordingly.
The story starts on May 18
when the baby leopard was
born to the Zoos rare and ex-
pensive pair of Ounces. That's
another name for snow leopard.
Ia keeper found one cub dead
and the other had been dragged
into the pouring rain outside
the den and abandoned.
Instinct Thwarted
1t was a weakly cub and
the mother Ounce was re-
acting according to her in
stinct. 1t is natures law that
only the flttest should survive.
But Zoo Director Theodore Reed
wanted the baby to survive and
he let Mr.. Grimmer take the
little animal home with him.
The Grimmers have no chill
dren. But If they had, they
could have lavished no more
care and time than they did
on the leopard kitten. The cub
weighed 1914 ounces. It was
bloated and would not feed
readily. That night was the
first of many sleepless nights
for the Grimmers.
They brought in an incuba-
tor. for a baby leopard has to
have a constant temperature
of 78 degrees. They tried to
feed the kitten with q conven-
tional rubber nipple at first
but it was too big. They
also tried q doll bottle and an
eye-dropper. Finally, Doctors
Hospital supplied the kind used
for premature human babies.
There was trouble almost
from the outset. The baby was
weak and sucked poorly ct the
mixture Of Esbilac (synthetic
Imilk) and egg yolk. Sometimes,
it took the Grimmers two hours
to get 1H ounces of formula
into the kitten and then it was
time for another of the two
hour feelings. They got to
sleeping in shifts. They still
do.
Fever Crisis
The first crisis came on June
IL when the kitten weighed
2 pounds, 4 ounces. It was
shaky, drowsy, unable to raise
its hindquarters and running
temperature Of LOG. Zoo DR..
James Wright hurried out and
gave the kitten a shot Of an
antibiotic. When the breathing
became shallow, oxygen was
pumped into the incubator. 1t
was an all-night fight but by
next morning the temperature
had dropped.
Severe anemia was diagnosed.
Vitarnins, feline blood serum
and strict diet were called for.
The kittens armamentarium--
all the drugs needed to do the
job-now has reached 10.
The second crisis came two
days later when the kitten re-
fused food. biologists at George
Washington University Hospital
ran special tests and more anti
bioticS were prescribed. But
once again, with the aid Of
oxygen and an electric ther-
mometer the kitten was pulled
through.
Another Bad Day
On June %, the kitten sur
vived another bad seige and
the next day took a turn
for the worse. This time,
the little leopard's neck was
twisted to the right and it
began to crawl in tight clock
wise circles.
They X-rayed her; they took
blood sugar tests at the Ma
tional Institutes Of Health and
telephoned experts in San
Diego, Cleveland, New York and
Philadelphia. Diabetes was sus-
pected but the test proved
otherwise.
DR.. Reed took the leopard
out to his house while the
Grimmers went out Of town
on June 30. And on July 4,
DR.. Reed jubilantly called the
Grimmers at Quincy, H.. to tell
them some good news:
The kitten had eaten her first
solid food, a bite of tuna fish,
and a teaSpoonful of liver. She
was playful and bouncy and
the worst was over.
Dogs AffectiOnate
The three dogs in the Grim
mer home menagerie-two fe-
male Cairn terriers and q
knobby -kneed Bassett hound
bitch named Ny Own Maggie
Forever - have welcomed the
kitten as one of their own.
Today, Charley weighs 5
pounds, 1h ounces. Her eyes
are shining with health and her
Tmottled gray coat is sleek. She