PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Saving animals with prosthetics -- a new age kind of rescue. A team trained at Thomas Jefferson University is helping all kinds of animals with injuries and birth defects.

Orlean's descriptions of the animals on the Hudson Valley farm where she once lived may evoke a warm feeling — but those of donkeys in Fez and others in her essays may conjure other emotions.

From farm animals to small rodents and even reptiles, there’s plenty of options if you’re looking to bring home a different kind of furry — or scaly — friend.