Okay, first thing another one of my gerbils died. One died (I had to put him out of his misery myself, wasn't fun) because he was suffering from severe head-tilt, was rolling around over and over in his cage and his head was twitching. His name was Shadow, he was five years old and the stud for my breeding program because of his good health and longevitity. Well, now one of his kids just kicked over unexpectedly. He did have a fight with another gerbil earlier in the week, but I'm convinced it was a case of mistaken identity and that he didn't kill him. So...I'm absolutely dumbfounded what killed him, I just found him clinging to life this morning in the cage. There was no point in rushing him to the vet, I knew he was going to die. So I let him go peacefully. He was only two years old...Meh. Not happy...
R.I.P. Seth, poor little guy...
BTW, all breeding has been ceased. Something here is very wrong, and I'm not going to let it continue. It went from fabulous results to...this. Furthermore, it's just getting too expensive and it's too hard to find buyers through private means. I want to stress that breeding gerbils is FAR different then dogs, cats or rabbits. All of those animals are dying in shelters and there is an animal overpopulation crisis with them. Gerbils are, if anything, rare in places. So I'm not being a hypocrite if anyone thinks to point that out. Get your dogs and cats fixed, damn it!
Now about Hewie. He's a rather interesting little guy, I'm convinced his father was a Rottweiler, he just has the girthy, bear-like look. Awesome. I always wanted a Rottie. Still, he has be concerned...
Well, for one, I was a bit puzzled by this puppy's...well, good behavior. He's too calm, placid. He is also very picky, not wanting to eat any of the food I give him, just everybody else's. I didn't think much about it, I just thought he was stressed out...But I took him for his free vet exam today (organized my the SPCA for all shelter animals) and got a rather nasty surprise. First thing, they told me he was rather big for his age, which I was glad to hear. Big doggy, wheee!
...Then she took his temperature, and it turns out he has a fever. She said it wasn't a high one, but it was still there. This would explain his pickiness, his calm, non-playful nature, not wanting to even chew anything...He's sick.
Well, she said it could have been caused by stress, but that if he threw up or did anything else, that I should bring him in again. She explained that it could have been everything from that, to kennel cough...To Parvo. Oh...God, no, please not Parvo. He's been vaccinated against it, but nothing is ever for sure with those things...
Parvo will destroy a dog. It will destroy you're finances. It will destroy you're sanity worrying about it. And after all that, he may not even live through it, anyway.
I'm probably getting in over my head, she told me that it was not likely the case. That it was only a possibility...But it's still scary. I love this little guy, he's a sweetheart. I don't know what would happen if I lost him...
All I can do is stand by and hope he either gets better on his own, which means it's nothing, or take him in if he gets worse. He goes from sleepy, to active, to picky, to hungry...What the hell? This puppy is a trip, let me tell you.
Oh, and for everybody who wanted pictures...
http://www.somersetpets.com/dogs.htm
Go down to "Danny", that's him. They didn't take it down, yet. Though his picture is pretty ugly, it don't do his cute face justice. And Dakota there is his mum.