Really weird baby...

[Alexandra V]

The whole while reading this thread I was telling myself I wouldn't get involved.

So, without trying to beat the dead horse, and without choosing sides, I say this: firstly, the ordeal is over, the ASF has been fed off, and is not suffering (whether it was or not in life is unknown).

Why do I say unknown? Because while we can speculate that it was not growing properly and was born with an eye issue, the rat never full out said that it was in pain.

While we can guess that maybe it was having a hard time, we will never know for sure. For instance (I know it's not a rat, just bear with me) people with mental disabilities may never know they aren't normal, and many can fulfill an average lifespan if they're taken care of properly. The ASF may not have been suffering and while it didn't develop like the rest, it may have had an OK life while it was alive. Then again, it might not have, but we will never know. Perhaps it would have remained small but been alright otherwise. Perhaps not. Either way, it's over now.

Lastly, just as speculation, this reminds me a lot of primordial dwarfism in humans. Primordial dwarves are extremely small and remain extremely small, and generally don't develop properly and have a tendency to die from that fact or a brain issue that has been found to be linked to it. Sorry, just thinking out loud there.