Tiger fans may have less time to say their goodbyes to Mike the Tiger than expected. Yesterday morning, a post on Mike VI’s official Facebook page announced the live tiger mascot, who was diagnosed with cancer in May, had been moved into hospice care and will no longer be released into his outdoor enclosure.
Mike will remain in his night house while in hospice care, and his student caretakers and team of veterinarians will continue to care for him as usual.
The news comes less than a week after LSU attending veterinarian David Baker announced that Mike VI’s spindle cell sarcoma had spread.
Kinesiology freshman Katherine Belou said she visited Mike Friday for what will likely be the last time. Belou was shocked by the news of Mike entering hospice care.
“It’s sad that our mascot has cancer and we can’t do anything about it,” she said.
A CT scan and physical exam on Oct. 3 revealed new nodules in the base of Mike’s neck, his right leg and lungs, Baker said. The original tumor also grew, expanding to block Mike’s right sinus and tear duct.
At a press conference Wednesday, Baker estimated Mike would have approximately one to two months to live.
Mike began stereotactic radiotherapy at the Mary Bird Perkins — Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center in June. Baker said the treatments were successful in shrinking the tumor initially, but ultimately the tumor was more aggressive than anticipated.
Baker said medical partners at Colorado State University had never seen such an aggressive form of spindle cell sarcoma and seen it spread as it has in Mike.
Baker said the 11-year-old tiger will be euthanized if his health continues to decline and he begins to show discomfort.
“We will not allow Mike to suffer,” Baker said. “We will monitor him closely every day and will humanely euthanize him when the time comes. This is about treating Mike with dignity, compassion and respect.”
Following euthanasia, Baker said the University’s pathologist will perform a necropsy for educational benefit. Mike’s remains will then be cremated and housed in the Jack and Priscilla Andonie Museum in the Lod Cook Alumni Center alongside the remains of Mike IV and Mike V.
Baker said the search for Mike VII is underway, and he has a strategy in place for selecting the new tiger. Considerations for a new tiger include a good genetic background, outgoing personality and lean bill of health.
It is unclear how long the search will last. Following the death of Mike V, the search for a new tiger lasted three months until Mike VI was chosen from the Great Cats of Indiana Sanctuary.
Students and fans were saddened by the news of Mike’s decline.
“It’s kind of sad that our time is short with him, but we really do appreciate him being here,” said biological engineering freshman Victor Castellon. “He is the spirit on this campus. If I actually got a chance to speak to him, I would just thank him for being here for us because we really love him.”
Many students and fans also took to social media to express their feelings about Mike VI’s health decline, and several online petitions and a GoFundMe have surfaced.
On Facebook, an article posted by Independent Monthly in Lafayette began circulating among fans and students calling on the University to select Tony the Tiger, the featured attraction at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, Louisiana, as the next Mike the Tiger.
The article cited Tony’s short distance from the University’s campus, 15 miles, and relative level of care in comparison to Mike’s as considerations for his selection. Baker said he intends to select a tiger from a USDA approved sanctuary.
Another online movement developed in the form of a GoFundMe page seeking to reunite Mike VI with Steve Cotner, his caregiver from the Great Cats of Indiana Sanctuary. The GoFundMe emerged after an article in The Advocate detailed Cotner’s distress at Mike’s declining health and the pair’s early history together in Indiana.
The fund was started by Jeri Courville Guinn of Pineville, Louisiana, and had raised just over its goal of $3,000 at the time of publication. Updates on the page said arrangements were being made to bring Cotner and his wife to Baton Rouge by the end of the week, and any remaining funds will be donated to the University’s Veterinary School.
Psychology sophomore Erika Grant said she visited Mike during elementary and middle school field trips to the University. Grant said she has a big heart for animals and is saddened by Mike’s cancer, but he lived a good life and it may be his time.
“Nothing lasts forever,” Grant said. “Life is the blink of an eye. We loved him and we’ve done our best as a community to take care of him, so I guess it’s just his time to go.”

Gallery • 15 Photos

Haskell Whittington

Mike's cage stands empty as he is transferred to hospice for the last time.