A 15-year-old Siberian tiger named 'Kita' at the Calgary Zoo, has fallen ill and has given up eating. She is being examined by the veterinarians.

As told by Doug Whiteside, Senior Staff Veterinarian, they knew that the tigress was suffering from some serious problem and her abandoning the food was not just caused by the warm weather.

She was examined with a serious chest infection and that too at a later stage that her short-term prognosis is shielded, when taken to the zoo's animal health centre, after giving her anesthesia.

In her treatment, more than a liter of fluid was wiped out from her chest cavity and now, she has been put on antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and pain killers. Her condition has started improving and it is expected that she would soon be sent back to the zoo. Her infection is not contagious.

Mr. Whiteside said, "But we won't know for quite some time what her final prognosis will be. With these disease processes, we end up having to treat quite often four to six weeks after the cessation of clinical signs".

Kita has been kept in an enclosure now and is being served her favorite food. She also has a neurological problem, for which she was treated for five years. But, the tigress has stayed alive for more than her natural life span that ranges between 14 and 17 years, as told by Mr. Whiteside.