March 30, 2023 - January 24, 2026
Loving Adoptive Parent: Gary Valdata - Wichita Falls, TX
We are devastated to share that we lost our sweet Luey.
Recently Luey became very ill. Emergency tests showed non-regenerative anemia with bone marrow suppression. Basically, his body was no longer able to make the blood cells needed to sustain life. He had been living with a rare genetic bone marrow cancer, likely from birth — something silent, unpreventable, and undetected until the very end. In hindsight, many of the things that made Luey uniquely “Luey” were likely part of this from the beginning — his paler coloring, his light pink nose and toe pads, his gentle nature, and his continued distance from Juno. His body was simply different, and we now understand why.
But it doesn’t make it any easier to accept. His decline was rapid, only a few days from diagnosis to goodbye, but he passed peacefully in the arms of the person he trusted most. Some animals leave noise behind them. Luey leaves a quiet space. He was the light of our lives — he was cared for, protected, and loved even if it was for such a short time. We thank all the people that were a part of his rescue, his care, and ultimately his final days. We miss him deeply.
Luey's Bio
Little Lucien (or Luey for short) is only the second known margay in the United States (aside from our very own Juno).
He came to us from the Houston Zoo where he was being taken care of during a federal investigation after he was confiscated. In January of 2024, Luey came to his forever home at CARE and we hope he’ll be a forever companion to Juno.
It will be a little while before we can introduce Luey to Juno, he is still pretty young at around 8 months old and has some growing to do. But, he has settled in without a hitch and is healthy and happy! We can’t stress how important it is that Juno and Luey will have each other. Juno gets along with the leopard cats just fine, but they are not like her. We are so thankful that her being with them has worked out as well as it has so she wasn’t alone, but it’s not the same as having another of her species to live with. With no other known margays in our country, to have these two be able to be margays together is incredible.
