Bobbster Update

[starline]

Bobby is doing better and his tush is pretty much healed. I haven't gotten back the results for Bobby's cancer test yet, but they should be in soon. I did get the results for the adrenal gland test back and its postive. So, depending on the results of the cancer test, I'll know when he can have the surgery to get the glands removed

Comments

[jinwicked]

Prairie dogs can indeed be good and interesting pets.

However they tend to bond very strongly with their owners, which can be problematic if you can't spend a lot of time with them or need to go out of town frequently - much moreso than other pets. They're also illegal in many states. In Texas it's not illegal to keep one, IIRC, but it's illegal to take them to be treated at a vet, buy, breed, or sell them. Most states have similar restrictions.

A lot of pet prairie dogs are harvested from the wild as babies, and it's a cruel and inhumane process. Anyone considering a pet prairie dog should make sure they'll be able to legally own one and obtain vet care for the critter, and that it's a captive-bred, tame animal. More info.

IMO prairie dogs are best kept in the zoo and on the prairie.

Thus concludes this lecture from the resident rodent-lover. =3

[jinwicked]

Oh... and good to hear your little boy's doing better! =)

[starline]

:D The guy did say they don't sell them in Miami anymore. And while it was cute, you can tell it was very very attached to the owner and required a lot of his attention. The skreeching tape also showed that the owner was very very attached to him as well. I think I was more shocked than anything at seeing a prairie dog as a pet.

[jinwicked]

There are some at the zoo here and they are painfully cute. I suspect some may have been surrenders that were pets that the owner couldn't handle anymore, because they're very tame and will run up to bark at you. There's a very friendly rhinocerous iguana in the reptile house here that I know came from a similar situation.

If you like cute rodenty-things, you should check out a critter called the Short-Tailed Opossum. They're a very tiny exotic - a tech at my vet has one that I got to hold once. I don't think they're anywhere near as smart or affectionate as rats, but they're of a similar body type and a slightly smaller size. I read they can be kind of difficult though, and sometimes hard to tame. I don't know much about them otherwise besides the fact that they're fairly expensive.

[tanukitsune]

It's good to hear Bobby is doing better!
*crosses fingers on test results*

[danihana]

I'm glad Bobby is doing well. And I hope that his cancer test comes in negative. It was scary when both my mom and my sister had to have tests for certain things that could be cancerous, (ovarian for my mom, and on a mole that was removed from my sister). So just to let you know, I'll be here, and so will many of your friends and fans. :)