LSU’s live mascot has undergone cancer treatment
By JAMES MORAN
Tiger Rag Associate Editor
Mike the Tiger will not appear in the stadium that bears his name at any point during this football season, LSU announced in a release Tuesday.
The news can hardly be described as a shock as Mike VI, LSU’s live mascot, undergoes cancer treatment at Mary Bird Perkins – Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center after being diagnosed with spindle cell sarcoma in the spring.
Due to the cancer diagnosis, no attempt will be made to load Mike VI into his trailer or bring him onto the field for home football games.
The animal’s health, safety and well-being are the school’s top priority, the release said, meaning the 420-pound Bengal tiger will remain in his habitat across the street from Tiger Stadium on game days.
Here’s more from LSU’s official release:
On June 1, 2016, Mike VI received stereotactic radiotherapy at the Mary Bird Perkins – Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center in Baton Rouge, La., for spindle cell sarcoma. It appears that the tumor in Mike’s face responded to the radiation treatment and has shrunk in size. Mike’s attitude, weight and appetite are normal, and he does not appear to be in any pain. Eventually, the radiation-resistant cells remaining in the tumor will resume growth. As for time frames, it is estimated that without treatment Mike would have lived for just one or two months; with treatment, perhaps one to two years.
Mike is the only tiger living on a college campus in the U.S. He is a healthy, happy tiger, and it is a privilege for LSU to provide his home and his care. If you want to know more about Mike, you can follow him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MikeTigerVI, Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeTigerVI or Instagram http://www.instagram.com/MikeTigerVI. For information on Mike’s cancer diagnosis and treatment, please go to www.lsu.edu/miketiger.
– See more at: http://www.lsu.edu/miketiger/football.php#sthash.pi2MQamn.dpuf
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