City Dwellers Discuss Their Unlikely Pets: Rats!

Photo via Patti Haskins

A 49-year-old Manhattan mom, Dianne Rochenski, can't get enough of the city's unwanted mascot: the rat! According to the Daily News, she keeps rat figurines, and giant stuffed rats in her apartment—in addition to her two pet rats, of course. Pet rats aren't that crazy of an idea... but hers, Remalina and Christiana, sleep in her bed.

Rochenski defended her choice in pet to the paper, saying, "They just make me so happy, like no other animal can. People ask me, 'Why not a dog or a cat?' I just love rats." According to an "expert" the paper talked to, she's not the only one. There are probably hundreds of rat owners in the city, and the Executive Director of the Humane Society of New York supports their choice, saying rats are "really smart, loving, and they make great pets."

Do the rodents get as much coddling as some of the city's pampered pups? One Harlem rat owner says she lets her rats roam free in the apartment, and she feeds them kale, grapes, tofu and cereals. Hey, maybe if we dress up all of the city's rats in little sweaters we won't mind them so much!

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in News on October 11, 2010 11:13 AM

Comments [rss]

John L

Rats?

I had a ferret, which is illegal in NYC but a wonderful pet. I even trained it to roll over and then it seems it had me trained because whenever it wanted a treat it would come up to me and start rolling over until I gave it a treat. It finally died of cancer but it was a wonderful pet.

So to each his own, or her own.

Cannibal

I grew up in a household with pet rats. We went to a pet store when I was little to buy me a white mouse, and my mom ended up buying a white "feeder rat" because she felt bad that someone was going to feed it to a snake.

We already had a silky terrier in the house, and the rat ended up being much smarter. The only problem was it killed my little mouse one day when the cage was open.

silver

Rats can't control their bladder/asshole, they can't be litter box trained unlike cats or dogs. Nasty.

puppets

http://www.dapper.com.au/articles.htm#litter

Actually you can litterbox train them... sort of. It's not exactly the same as a cat's litter box, but I gotta defend the rats!

l3iodeez

Exactly. Rats do make good pets (better than most rodents) but letting them roam free in your house is a good way to eat a lot of rat shit.

MT

I remember pet rats were kind of popular when I was a kid. Boys would think they were cooler than hamsters. I haven't seen them in a while but I clearly remember pet shops selling those black and white hooded rats with the promise to parents that they were very low maintenance and friendly.

puppets

I saw this article/video last night and was really disapointed. I'm a rat owner in Brooklyn and I know how people view the idea of pet rats. Making rat owners seem like some "out-there" rare oddity is not helping domestic rats and their owners at all. There are probably thousand (not hundreds) of rat owners in NYC and we don't think rats are paricular odd as pets. They're smart and sweet animals - nothing unusual. We just wish more people would give them a chance too.

Also, there is a lot of poor rat husbandry exhibited in this article. Rats should never be left unsupervised outside of a cage. They can chew wires and get in all sorts of trouble. Also, they are omnivores and feeding them a purely vegitarian diet is not best for their health. They need a little protein here and there. I give mine a bit of dog kibble mixed in with their grains.