White tigress fights cancer,undergoes first round of chemotherapy

According to Jangale,Renuka’s food intake has reduced substantially during the course of her treatment. “She has stopped having beef completely but eats small portions of chicken everyday. She has become very weak and we are praying that she responds to the treatment now,” the doctor said.

Mukesh More,the tiger keeper in the safari,said,“What is worrying is that it is now slowly beginning to dawn upon Renuka that something is terribly wrong with her. Her daily treatment has made her very moody. Sometimes she is agitated and irritable. One day,when the doctors arrived in her cage to treat her,she started crying. It’s heartbreaking to see Renuka like that,” More said.

Renuka’s ordeal began in October when she developed a tumour under her eyes which was removed with a laser therapy. Recently the doctors noticed the malignancy reappearing in her throat. The SGNP doctor said that her case had become serious as the growth had spread to her lungs this time. Melanoma is a rare cancer which starts in the pigment producing cells of the skin known as melanocytes and spreads through the body via the lymph nodes.