Mouse Medical Decisions and the Problem of Pain
First, here are the characters of our story: From left to right, they are: Sprout, Goblin, and Marigold. Next, a quick content warning: this post includes pictures of ailing mice including some with a visible tumor and blood. It also includes pet death. I 100% understand if you want to quit reading here. Now, onto our musings. The first time Marigold got sick was in the spring of 2021. She was about nine months old. She had been moved into her own cage because she had a tendency to anxiously bully the others. Still, at this point, she would regularly get to interact with the others. The practice made them all so nervous, though, and eventually led to fighting which resulted in her permanent separation. Marigold had always been faster than a blink and, at nine months old, though she was still plenty small, she had rounded out a bit in adulthood. Then, suddenly, she slowed and started to shrink. She would chatter, too, which had me worried. This was an incred...