A lioness who was rescued from Tiger King Joe Exotic’s zoo in 2018 underwent surgery after suffering from years of inbreeding.

Chobe was rescued from his Oklahoma facility in 2018 and now lives at the WildCat Ridge Sanctuary in Oregon.

Staff noticed the big cat was not eating and a scan revealed the feline had a distended uterus caused by an infection.

The five-year-old lioness had her uterus and ovaries removed by doctors at Oregon State University’s veterinary hospital on Monday.

Experts said it was essentially just like spaying a domestic cat but on a much larger scale.

A distended uterus or pyometra is most common in older cats who have been in heat in the previous four weeks and can cause complications due to a build up of toxins in the bloodstream, which affect the kidney’s ability to retain fluid.

Incredible photos show the veterinarians working on the massive creature, which is now in recovery.

Dr Katy Townsend, an associate professor of small animal surgery in the Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine who operated on Chobe said: ‘Essentially it’s just like doing a cat spay, but on a mega scale.

Veterinarians place Chobe onto a CT scanner at Lois Bates Acheson Veterinary Teaching Hospital that revealed that she had a distended uterus on Monday

‘Surgery went really well. We were able to cleanly get everything out in a short amount of time. We expect her to make a full recovery from this.’

Chobe was rescued in 2018 and now lives at the WildCat Ridge Sanctuary in Scotts Mills, Oregon.

The feline had a CT scan at the Lois Bates Acheson Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

Sanctuary executive assistant Ian Ford said due to inbreeding at Joe Exotic’s facility, Chobe is a ‘mismatch of genetics’.

He said she was a little stubby in appearance ‘like a giant guinea pig’ but a very sweet and expressive animal.

He said he was looking forward to seeing the lioness back to normal and added: ‘Just having her roll around in the grass with her buddy Kariba and back to getting her paws up in the air and just enjoying herself.

‘We’re hoping that this surgery is going to make sure that everything’s ok for her, and she can get back to just living her life in peace and happiness, which is the only thing that we want for all of our residents.’