052. Puppy (Pav)love

usedbooks on Sept. 20, 2009

(Cameo is Daisy. Just because I felt like it.)

This page is to celebrate the recent homecoming of my lost dog, Sallie, who was missing for 10 days and then returned home to me. Also, my rat Christie is due to have a litter this week. ^_^

The animal Becky is holding is a degu. They are used in diabetes research. Other typical lab animals include mice, rats, zebra fish, clawed frogs, fruit flies, and chickens. My first pet ever was a rat that had been part of a psychology study in a college. Lab animals tend to make good pets because they are used to daily handling and in good health (though sometimes have weak immune systems from living in sterile environments).

However, medical lab animals are not usually available as pets because they are either killed at the end of the study (for complete medical measurements and observations) or studied for the duration of their natural lives – especially with short-lived animals like flies, fish, mice, etc.

Btw, I was originally going to fill the bird cage with tiny canaries, but I was behind schedule; my sleepless brain wandered down strange alleys, and, well, you see the result.