By Linda LaFrentz    1998

(released Feb. 2004)

What weighs about 8 oz. has huge brown eyes and gray fur that is soft as a chinchilla? It has a 10" tail and E.T. fingers? What is it?

 A rare and extraordinary little critter of the night, called the Lesser African Bush Baby. The little darlings are from the central part of Africa. They are classified as prosimian. (Galago senegalensis moholi.)  They aren’t rare in Africa, just rare in the U.S.A. The Greater Bush Baby is a lot more common and easily obtained.

 I have a young female that has the cutest personality. Her cage has a rope and some bird toys hanging from the top. The bird toys are colored links and she loves to swing on the ropes and links. Sometime she holds on with her back feet and hangs upside down, stretches out her little arms like she is reaching for me. She reminds me of children playing on a monkey bar in the park. (Maybe that's why they call it a monkey bar?)

 She knows how to sweet talk Marvin (my husband) if she is caged and wants out to play. His big comfy chair is right next to her cage. All she has to do is look at him with those big eyes and reach for his fingers. That does it. Just what ever you want "Bushybaby"! That's what he calls her. That's what both of us call all of them for a while. It takes a little while before I can sex them. When they are born they all look like little boys to me. Sort of like a chinchilla. That's the closest thing I can think of. There is a sealed membrane on the female’s vagina. So, it is really hard to see.

 Her idea of playing with mama is wrestling a finger and giving sugars. She likes to nibble on my ear or get under my hair at the back of my neck and give me sugars. Sooo  sweet…luv it.  She likes to play with the chain on my necklace. When I am watching TV and ignoring her, she will jump on the arm of my chair and lightly bite the back of my arm. OK---I know you're here, but mama likes to watch a good movie sometimes. As I am writing this she is grabbing my pin and nibbling on my arm. Oh dear….I'm ignoring her again!!  "Sweet Pea", mama loves you.

 I let her loose in the house for short periods to play. I like to have the time to watch her and to be aware of where she is. She is so curious (nosy) about everything. I have to be real careful of possible dangers. A real danger and a “RED ALERT”… are all commode lids down!! If these little critters fall in--they won't be able to get out. That would be a real tragedy!!! Also, if you have aquariums, make sure there is not a place open to where they can fall in. The first few times she disappeared I got scared, but I discovered she has a favorite vase up on a shelf to take her naps. She also likes to play hide and seek. I looked and looked for her one time ….and where was she?? Behind a skillet on the wall. So cute peeking out at me and she looks like she’s grinning.  Ha ha ha

 My grand daughters Kaycee 6 and Ashley 4 love to play with her. I bought a lizard leash with a cord and clip on the end for her harness. This is a sure way to keep up with her. They can jump and move extremely fast. They can move so fast that you can lose sight of which way they went. In the house you can find them, but if they are outside, they can disappear in a heartbeat!  One time I had her and a baby lemur outside playing in a tree. She decided to jump and fly like a bird. I didn’t see which way she went. If it wasn’t for the leash, I might have lost her. She had “flown” to some bushes by my critter house, and I didn’t see anything but the leash dangling down. Thank goodness for the harness and leash. A neat note: They are so fast they can snatch a fly in flight.

 They have a sweet little face like "Gizmo or Furby". But---they can also look like a "Gremlin" if they are mad (or playing mad.) They can wiggle their ears around or flatten them. Does anyone remember the movie The Gremlins? They can squint their eyes and look real mad---that's about the time you can expect to be grabbed with E.T. hands and teeth. She play bites, but it doesn't hurt. As they get older and bigger, if they want it to hurt--it really does. Their bottom teeth are shaped like a comb for grooming.

 She loves for you to scratch under her chin and rub the side of her arm--she holds up her arm and sticks it straight out--Rub more-- I like it!! In her cage sometimes I see her lying on her back and kicking her little feet in the air. She reminds me sometimes of a kitten or puppy…. Just entertaining herself. Another favorite play time is when I have a large T shirt on--she likes to crawl in the armhole and no telling where she will come out. Play, play, play, anything that makes a game. Including hanging on my glasses, sitting on my nose and kissing my eye lids. LOVE IT!! So much love in a little bitty thing.

 For her to be so small, she sure has a large bladder. LOL  I took her on a short trip with me to deliver some baby fennec fox to their new owner. She never tee teed or pooped on me for hours. On the way home, I decided I needed to make a detour to pick up some critter feed. This was about 6 or 7 hours after I left home with her. While I was at the desk paying for the feed….she cut loose. I jumped squeeled and everybody ran for towels. LOL   It took several paper towels to catch it all. Looked like a water fall. Poor baby she tried to hold it as long as she could.

  I left Sweet Pea with her mother for three weeks before I pulled her to hand raise. The babies usually stay on formula until they are three months old. I use Infamile w/ iron + polyvisol infant vitamins. I add a little bit of Gerber or Heinz fruit to make it a little bit sweet.  "Sweet Pea" quit her formula at two months. She just refused, but she ate her other food real good, so I didn't worry about her.

 I started writing this 6 years ago about a sweet little fur baby named “Sweet Pea. I hope you have enjoyed your brief visit with a pet Bush Baby. She was a wonderful pet. I’ll always remember her fondly. When she got old enough, I decided she needed to be a mom. The tiny critters have such a big heart. I underestimated their ability to love. I should have known better….they are in the primate family.

 She was always glad to see me and give sugars. I never thought about her grieving for me. Miss me ….yes, but not to this extent.  She was suppose to fall in love. I can’t remember now how long she was with the other bush babies, but one day I found her on the floor throwing up. I grabbed her….put her in a warm little pouch I had made for her. I immediately drove her to the vets. When I went to take her out for the vet to examine, she was already dead. This was terrible… a real shock….how could this have happened?  My vet, Dr Crews, sent her off for an autopsy. She had died from a liver disease that is common to cats. She was grieving for me, and went off of her food.  This is a description of the disease.

AKA Feline Hepatic Lipidosis

 
Geriatric cats are prone to a number of diseases and conditions, and one of the more common ones is Fatty Liver Disease, which is an accumulation of fats (lipids) in the liver tissue. Since this condition is not found in humans nor dogs, it is thought that it might result from the way cats metabolize proteins and fats, although the disease is presently considered idiopathic, which indicates no known cause is present.

The disease progresses this way:

·         Lacking food, the body starts sending fat cells to the liver to process into lipoproteins for fuel.