Reason to Love Rats #2- Compassion (For Owners!)

Last time I talked about how rats are compassionate for each other. Did you know well socialized pet rats are compassionate to their owners as well? Not unlike dogs, rats can sense a person's emotions and mood.

Image credit to ScienceDaily.com

Check out this article from RattyRat.com.

While projecting a negative mood can be a bad idea while trying to warm up a new rat to you, once you have bonded and the rat holds affection for you, it will be more affectionate to you, to try to alleviate your negative mood. What great pets!

I'm sure many pet rat owners can attest to this! My own ratties have been able to tell when I'm in a low mood and tend to be very generous with ratty kisses and cuddling. Just last night I was feeling depressed because of some relationship issues, and my girls cuddled up to me when I had them out on the couch. Usually they like to crawl around in the cushions, but last night their attention was on me.

Do any of my fellow ratty owners have stories of their pets trying to help them through their low moods?

Raturday! 3/17

 Who needs Caturday when you can have Raturday? Today's image courtesy of reddit user idiotaidiota.

Reason to Love Rats #1: Compassion!

To many, rats are the epitome of filth and vice, especially compared to more positively portrayed mice. Look at their portrayals in media, such as "The Secret of NIMH," where the main villain is a rat in contrast to the heroic mouse protagonist, Ms. Brisby. Rabid, snarling rats are common enemies in tabletop RPGs (such as "Dungeons and Dragons" or "Warhammer") and video games ("The Elder Scrolls" come to mind).

The spawn of Hell itself.

Anyone who owns pet rats know they are anything but mean! Unlike pet mice who still act jittery around their owners even after being owned for a while, rats can develop loving bonds to their owners very quickly. Plus, it's been proven rats are one of the few animals outside of primates that have a sense of compassion!

Check out this study conducted by the University of Chicago.

This study conducted an experiment. Rats were placed in cages, but these cages were constructed so that they could figure out how to open them. The scientists found that most of the rats would help to free the other caged rats. 

So, there you go! Rats are genuinely loving animals, to their ratty brethren and in the case of domestic ones, their owners too. 

Special thanks to TV Tropes for their page on rats in fiction, "You Dirty Rat" and Inquisitr.com.

Why This Blog is Here.

So, a little bit of background before I go any further. I'm a recent convert to the pet rat club. A friend of mine moving out of state couldn't keep her ratties, so I inherited a beautiful pair of girls named Goose and Scout. In the few months I've had them, I've fallen in love!

My girls! That's Goose on the left, Scout on the right.

I've joined the Pet Rat community on reddit (Rattit) and find myself just browsing the internet for pictures of other people's ratties. They're just so cute!

What I find weird though is people's fear of rodents. Many a musophobe (fear of mice and rats, as you could ascertain) have been converted to musophiles after meeting Goose and Scout. That's why I wanted to make this blog, to show people how great rats are! I want to post information and links to show how awesome these furry friends are. Plus rat pictures, pictures are a great enough reason to love rats!

I must also make this disclaimer: I am in no way a certified expert on pet rats. I'm not a breeder or a scientist, only a rat owner, and a relatively new one at that. I will do my best to cite the information I post to reliable sources, to actual experts.

I hope you enjoy!