Not really answering the OP but didn’t “Kes” from Star Trek have a symbiotic host (or summink) that she changed every 7 years or so
Or am I thinking of some other ST character
You’ve got a slight species mixup there.
Kes is an Ocampa, a race with an expected lifespan of 9 years.
Dax is a symbiont, app 300 years old at the time of DS9. Dax’s best known incarnation is Jadzia (Terry Farrell), she was the 8th host.
Answering the OP in a slightly different way, my vet told me that female guinea pigs have to be bred by eight months or so or else their bones will fuse in a way that makes pregnancy lethal for them. So they have to breed young or never at all.
Female goldfish can die from being eggbound, which (if my fish book memory serves) is most often caused by not having the opportunity to breed. Without a male around, the female sometimes doesn’t release any eggs, resulting in a sort of reproductive constipation.
It’s my understanding that unspayed female cats can develop some life-threatening reproductive tract diseases (cysts, infections and the like) if not allowed to breed. It’s not an immediate death sentence but can cause severe complications and potentially be fatal.
teenage boys?
I have heard that the easiest way to shut up a cat in heat involves a Q-tip. I’m glad our cats are fixed.
Thank you and there speaketh a true Star Trek afficionado.
You sure know your stuff mate…err you couldn’t get me a couple of hours on the holodeck with 7 of 9 could ya
I’m confused. Owning ferrets at all is illegal in California. Why is there information on obtaining breeding permits?
WAG: Breeding for scientific usage, not pets?
Sweeping generalisations are always incorrect
Like someone mentioned in WAG (but is true), ferrets can be used in research experiments. In fact, there are one of the minor species studied by lab animal veterinarians. I got more info about ferret behavior and diseases out of my lab animal block than out of my exotics block.
What about male spiders? if they breed, they die (the female kills and eats them)!
Don’t know how true this is but I’ve been told that if you keep your rabbits intact, the female’s chances of getting cancer go up dramatically. As getting 'em fixed settles down a lot of behavior problems, I’ve have all of mine fixed, truth to the cancer statement or not.
Including that one!
Oh yeah, forgot about the research herds. Good idea.