Tiger better after cancer treatment

We all know that wild tigers face extinction every single day from poaching and habitat loss. But what you may not realize is they can also get cancer. And there’s one cancer-stricken tiger in Niagara Falls that’s living a much healthier life than he would have in the wild thanks to his handlers.

In the wild, tigers live for about fourteen years. That number is doubled in captivity. Despite not being in a zoo, Boomer the tiger is one of those big cats who’s life was preserved thanks to the help of the people around him.

When you first lay your eyes on Boomer, a nine-year old Siberian tiger, you’re struck by his size and strength. He seems invincable. But the results of a biopsy from a lump on his torso proved otherwise.

Greg Frewin: “Sure enough, the samples came back and there was a cancer growing inside of his skin.”

Boomer had a type of blood vessel cancer. The news was tough to swallow. Boomer’s worked with magician Greg Frewin since he was eight days old: “Just like a person in your family, it’s very serious. Not only that, it gives you sensation of your gut just sort of drops.”

Without treatment, the tumour would have grown in place and impaired the function of nearby organs. Boomer’s veterinarian Dr. Nabeel Al-Azawi improvised how he’d operate on the massive cat: “We managed to keep him inside a confine. Greg took some of the bars out so I could have access while staying safe.”

Safe to say, not many tigers walk through Dr. Al-Azawi’s Fort Erie clinic. It was an experience he’ll forever treasure: “It was beautiful, beyond perception to operate….and help”

As you can see, a 400 pound tiger is always going to be hungry. But after the surgery, Greg and his team noticed something very different about Boom: “His personality changed, he was like a kid again,”

And like some kids, Boomer learned to improve his table manners.

Frewin: “Tigers are very possessive of their food when they’re eating. Boomer now, when we feed him, in his environment, he’ll come over with the food, drop it, let us pet him. He know’s we’re not a threat to him.”

And neither is the cancer, a recent checkup showed no signs of any more tumours. A relief, for all, especially, the man who saved him.

Dr. Al-Azawi: “It’s immensely gratifying.”

Boomer calls Niagara home, he’s grown up there and is definitely the most well known of all the cats in Greg Frewin’s show. They’ve kept his condition private but now that it’s out, Greg’s expecting an outpouring of support for the region’s favorite feline.