ROANOKE – One of Mill Mountain Zoo's newest additions, a Pallas' cat kitten has died.
In a release, Mill Mountain Zoo's executive Co-Director Bill Baker says that after discovering one of the kittens had a congenital heart defect, it had to be euthanized.
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Baker says on April 27th, one of the three kittens had begun to exhibit signs of labored breathing and diminished activity levels. It was immediately transported to the Staff Veterinarian’s clinic in Roanoke where it underwent a sonogram and identified that it had an enlarged heart.
"The kitten was then transported to a cardiologist at Virginia Tech for an examination by a specialist. It was determined that the male kitten suffered from a congenital heart defect and the difficult decision was made to euthanize for quality of life," Baker said.
Baker says the remaining two kittens (one male and one female) are doing well and continue to thrive.
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Visitors to Mill Mountain Zoo will soon be able to see these two kittens. They will be transferred to a nursery area in the Train Station very soon. In addition, the zoo staff will be holding a public naming contest for the kittens in the near future and the winners will receive a behind the scenes tour.