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Sasha Explains It All
Animal Companions For Animals
Hi there, folks! It’s been a long time since my last rant and there have been changes in my life.
First off, I was diagnosed with hip dysplasia a couple of months ago and while I can still walk, it gets a bit painful and tiring after a while. I have pain pills and yes, we have a doggie wheelchair, but I don’t like it much. Also, it has been damned hot, so walks have been short in length and early in the morning and late at night.
The second big change was that as of last Friday, both my kids have left home. I kind of envy non-sapient dogs because they don’t miss their pups for very long once they mature enough to survive on their own. I miss my kids terribly, even though I know they are young adults and should be on their own. This mother racket is not for sissies.
And my brother Luke died last November 3rd. He was the third sibling I lost in 11 months. That hit me pretty hard.
Now that I’ve got that all out of the way, I want to address a question several humans have asked me over the years: “Do Sapient NHT have pets/animal companions?”
Surprisingly, at least to humans, the answer is yes. Now, these pets are never non-sapients of a potentially sapient species. Gorillas don’t have dogs or cats, dogs don’t have parrots or rabbits, etc. That would be just weird and disrespectful.
On the other hand we do have animal companions from species that will never be sapient. Mice, rats, hamsters and guinea pigs are popular with gorillas, but few other NHT keep them because many of us are predators and the rodents smell us and become terrified. Trying to keep them would be cruel.
We carnivores/predators tend to keep reptiles and insects as companions. They don’t generally fear us and in some cases become pretty affectionate. I know a tiger who keeps a large monitor lizard and it follows him around and even play wrestles with him. Turtles and tortoises are also popular pets, but not giant tortoises, who are sapient.
Oddly, once they know you aren’t going to harm them, chickens make swell pets. That probably has something to do with chickens living in groups as well as the fact that chickens are not very smart.
Among insects, mantids and spiders are popular. I loved my giant orb weaver spider, Joyce. Of course, she was my own genetic creation. Her descendants are now living on a planet about 250 light years from here, along with all the descendants of the original, biological, ottopuses my company created.
I can’t mention mantids and spiders without mentioning my newest creation/animal companion, Flora the spidermantid. She weighs in at about 3 pounds and looks like a spider/praying mantis centaur. She was created to be a herbivore and to be considerably more intelligent that her two contributing species. She will never be sapient, but she’s as smart as your average guinea pig. She has been a great comfort to me now that my kids are gone.
So, in conclusion, yes, we do keep animal companions that we care for and love.
Until my next rant,
Dr. Sasha Jane Cross, PhD, MD
(DocNote from 2025: There are now a few sapient guinea pigs, including Sasha’s three granddaughters)
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