Janet Crystal of Cambridge, Mass., says part of why she loves rats is "because they're the underdog. I'll show someone a picture and they'll say, 'Oh that's cute, is that a hamster?' I tell them it's a rat and then they say 'eeuw.' The picture didn't change."

"They are, if I only had one word to use, it would be sweet," says Crystal. "They are incredibly affectionate."

"More than most other small pets you can have, rats are much like small dogs in the sense that they WANT to be with their family all the time, and love human contact," she says.

The words "sweet" and "cute" may seem out of place. But domestic rats don't act like street rats — as Crystal says, "It's like comparing a dog to a wolf" — and they don't look like them either. Breeders have come up with many variations: different colours and coat types, and dumbo rats, whose ears are lower on the sides of their heads.

"When I come home from class they run to the walls of the cage and jump up and hold onto the bars with their little paws and I'll scratch their tummies and ears," says McCarthy.

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