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My love affair with domestic rats began 25 years ago when a friend introduced them into our lives, the friend moved on...the rat stayed!
The first pet rat I had encountered was Roach, an adorable hooded male rat. He was so mischievious and intelligent. I at first was repulsed by the meer mention of rat...then after observing Roach and working up the courage to actually touch him, discovered he was not much different than the rest of my pets (18 cats, 3 dogs, 14 rabbits, 2 chinchilla - which hate being touched!) and the only difference was size. This was the most compact and enjoyable pet I had encountered. I soon became attached, and Roach developed a sincere attachment to me. Roach had the habit of sneaking into my pockets to get the opportunity to go for a car ride, and would turn up at the worst times...once resulting in his near heart failure, my vehicle being doused in soda and fries, and a carhop going into hysteria. Roach smelled the food on the window tray and jumped out onto my rearview mirror to get a closer sniff. The carhop screamed, Roach leaped down my jacket and tried to get behind me, I got rat scratched back, wet legs from the pop, and french fries everywhere. Roach live to about 2.5 years, and was always a faithful companion. When he died (quietly in his sleep - suspected urinary tract disease) I cried my heart out, never had I been so attached to an animal. I swore I would never have another rat! A few years later I met a friend with another adorable hooded male named Reggie. I immediately responded to this rat as if it had been my Roach, and the owner was pleasantly surprised to know that I had no phobias of pet rats and his buddy would not have to be cage-bound in my presence. Later we became room-mates and Reggie another rat in my life. At that time I had a spoiled feline who displayed an abnormal fear of rodents, if my place became infested with mice, she would cower in a corner and cry for me to get rid of them...boy was she shocked to be introduced to Reggie - who immediately put the run on my cat. Unlike Roach, Reggie had never gotten the hang of being a shoulder or pocket rat and we had to keep him indoors. Unfortunately Reggie met with an early demise at approximately 2 years old, when he discovered fiberglass curtains were not a good thing to eat. His death was painful and not exactly quick - first lesson in finding a vet that would treat a rat...all we phoned said no and the local SPCA said to bring him in and they would put him down for a fee. It wasn't long after that I settled down and started a family. I had mentioned getting a pet rat to my spouse - who freaked at the idea of voluntarily bringing a rat into the home where small children resided. His image of pet rats was something a biker or someone demented would desire for a pet. We did the dog and cat thing for awhile, until my daughter was given white mice (that were within months of death). I had mice, and learned to dislike the little darlings, they were so mindless and unintelligent...but my daughters mice made me think a little different when they started farming their feed to grow fresh greens! Still, let out of the cage they would try to stupidly run away. When they died I told her I would get her a couple of baby rats, they would live a little longer and would not try running away all of the time. She got permission from her Dad, albeit rather reluctant. That's when my faithful companion Ms. Briz came into my life. She was one of the older rats in a cage of feeders, but displayed lots of intelligence and a determination to get out of that tank and away from the thought of being a python snack. Along with her we selected Nicodemus, a small and timid male. It took only an hour to convince her Dad that these were superior pets, they had won his heart over, especially when he placed one on the floor and it immediately ran up his pantleg trying to get back to his shoulder. Ms. Briz became my pet, she adopted me! I could not walk past her cage without her beckoning to me to let her out. She would ride around inside my sweatshirts (it was Winter) and her fav location was in the armpit of the sleeve. As I did my household chores she was with me, knowing that I would eventually end up in my office - seems my Briz is a real computer buff! She would run across my keyboard and cause some incredible typos while I worked, she even deleted a file, and rebooted the system. At the time we obtained these rats we were living in a rather cold (indoor and out) environment and the two of them stayed real close. We had to move from our home and into a warehouse for our business while waiting to move to a new city. We had already brought in our cat in an attempt to exterminate a mouse problem we were having in the building. After a week we brought in the rats, and to everyone's amazement the mice made a brazen broad daylight escape...running as fast as their little feet could carry them from our shop. Without even being released from the cage, they exterminated our mouse problem. While at the shop Ms. Briz had her second batch of babies and I still had the first batch to find homes for. It was easier than I thought! Everyone who had come into our shop were taken with our pets, and all but one found good secure homes (and not as feeders). Now the biggest problem on my mind was the well-being of my precious companions. We were moving to were rats were not permitted, and I feared losing my babes. That was over 2.5 years ago, and we still have our pets. Nicodemus died of an ruinary tract infection a year after our arrival, and we lost an entire batch of babies inexplicably. I was hesitant to let people here know we kept rats for pets, but slowly the children's friends knew and so did our newly formed friends. Outside of the home we used the code name "Himalayan Squirrels" while referring to our pets...and our friends did the same! The proudest moment was when I had introduced Ms. Briz to a friend. She stayed close to me for the first while, then ventured over to meet him, finally getting bored she took off for another room. This friend is the owner of purebred dogs (incorrectly thinking they're intelligent and man's best friend), and when Briz had been out of the room for quite some time began harping at me that he felt I had lost my rat. For all of my assurances he was not convinced, until I tapped my fingers on the floor and called for her. Just like a faithful dog she came whipping around the corner, up my leg, and up onto my shoulder. That was one mighty impressed dog owner - his animals aren't quite that obedient. Last year I was diagnosed with a serious illness, and slowly became couch-bound and unable to get around much. Ms. Briz stayed with me faithfully, giving me lots of licky kisses to let me know how much she loved me. I had been admitted to hospital for surgery and did not return home for a few days. When I got home, nobody was happier to see me than she was. She spent almost all of my recovery time with me and hoovered near if I called. She provided me with comfort, and for once was quite content just to sit with me. Just recently I got to return that favor when she took ill. She's over 3 years old now and we had expected to lose her long before now. She had taken ill, had grown thin and frail, coordination and strength completely drained from her body. I held her close and rocked her all night long, forced her to take water and food, and cleaned her since she had not been able to do this for herself. Finally and tearfully, I had to place her back into her cage and get some sleep, resigning myself to the thought that she would be gone by morning. To my surprise, she pulled through...and even got energetic again. We had one relapse since, but she bounced back again. Christmas day she'll be 3.5 years old. Now a very frail old lady, we keep her separated from the rest so she does not have to compete for food. We keep her bathed (although she does a pretty good job), and we still give her run of the house. No longer able to negotiate the stairs, she remains on the main floor level. Her walk is now wobbly, and she can only do 20 minutes worth and needs to nap from fatigue. My one wish for Christmas this year to have her with us for one last Christmas. We still have four of her female babies - well they are 2.5 years old now and iffy whether they can live as long as their mother. Quaddot (name for the distinctive four black dots - one hidden on the belly), Hobbes, Roseanne (a sassy and fat rat), and Rose the cuddly one! They are all doing well and enjoy visiting with their Mom. We keep them in three different cages and rotate them when we clean the cages. I know that as a rat owner I will soon be missing my favorite animal again. There is nowhere that I can obtain these wonderful creatures here - they have a misguided red-necked attitude about rats without even knowing the difference between a domestic and a wild animal. More Information Coming Soon! times since December 9/98. |