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To tell people that you keep rats as pets?
I live in a very high class town;; keeping 'rodents' as pets is definatly frowned upon. I personally would love to keep a rat, but I don't want people think that im 'trashy'. Or whatever stereotype this shallow town has for rodent keepers. lol.
Just wondering.
No, I'm not ashamed. Frankly I find it a bit "shallow" to even care what others think about such a thing.
If you want them, get them, what good does it do to let other's opinions control what you do?
Not a bit!! Someone else's ignorance is no reason for me to shut up about my wonderful boys. What's neat is a lot of people don't know anything about them, so when you start talking about how rats can learn their names and tricks, they follow you around and seek out human affection, it really surprises them. I tell people they're just my "extra dogs." 
Of course there are always going to be people who can't see past their own noses, but those aren't the kind of people who deserve the company of someone fine enough to appreciate a rat!!! If you're concerned with what people think about your pets and you really want a rodent, you could look into finding a really good hamster or gerbil breeder that socializes their animals really well. Most people don't have issues with hamsters or gerbils, and they can be really sweet if they're socialized early.
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Kadee Sedtal
"I wish I had a dollar for every time I spent a dollar, because then, yahoo! I'd have all my money back." -Jack Handey
Ditto to what Kadee said. I've found that when people who know absolutely nothing at all about rodents hear from me how wonderful, smart, friendly, sweet etc. etc. they are, they get interested.
I'm never ashamed of ANYTHING I do because I'm old enough to know better than to do anything that would cause me to feel that way.
I am who I am, and that's that. People can take that or leave it, I don't care one way or the other what they think.
Yes sure life is easier when people accept you for who you are, but when it happens that some people don't then I for sure am not losing any sleep over it.
If they don't think well of me, that's their problem.
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PHRatz
Why would a "hish-class" town consider rats trashy? For one thing they are incredibly clean critters and are considered to be as intelligent as dogs.
Also haven't they heard of FANCY rats?
that should be "high class." Where the heck did I get hish class from? lol
Why? well because they are RATS. Vermin. Pests. Most people don't understand what good pets rats make.. All they know is wild rats and rats carrying disease, etc.
The "they carry disease" argument just baffles the heck out of me. I don't know about anyone else, but I personally have gotten more diseases (flu, colds, stomach bugs, chicken pox, etc.) from HUMANS than I have from ALL animals put together... and growing up our house always had rats and mice in it, plus there were all sorts of wild critters EVERYWHERE that we were constantly catching or playing near, or coming into indirect contact with. We humans pass disease along to each other all the time. Nothing a pet rat can give me will be as bad as that blasted chicken pox!!
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Kadee Sedtal
"I wish I had a dollar for every time I spent a dollar, because then, yahoo! I'd have all my money back." -Jack Handey
All I can think of is that it's from people learning about the black plague in school. It was always blamed on rats, even though it was really spread by the fleas that lived on the rats. I suppose indirectly the rats were responsible, since they brought the fleas. ' But if they had killed all the rats the fleas would have just moved to another animal or humans.
Yeah that thing about diseases.. lol
Right now there's a huge chicken pox epidemic in our town, it's been on the news & in the newspaper. Parents are being told if your kid is sick get to the dr & if it's pox do NOT let them come to school. The majority of kids who have it, had already had the vaccine. :-x
Rats to this day still get the bad rap about the plague from 900 years ago & that's never going to change. People don't realize that our rats have been domesticated for over 100 years, this is not your wild rat. Most people just ewwwww & don't want to hear it.
There are bubonic plague outbreaks where I live periodically.. the wild rabbits, prairie dogs, ground squirrels, any of the wild rodents all can carry it. That doesn't have anything to do with my rats though. :-x
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PHRatz
You have a higher chance of catching something from your husband then you do if you stick your tongue in a rats mouth 
You know the disease that irritates me most is ringworm, something else that rats can get.
That one is a "pet peeve" of mine because so often it's spread from human to human but the people doctors always blame it on the pets. Get rid of the pets, without ever thinking that a kid picked it up at school then gave it to the pet!
It can be treated for the pet just it can be like for us. It will clear up if you treat human & pet correctly.
One year I got some sort of fungal skin irritation on my arm from gardening. I made sure I kept that covered when I was going to handle a pet around here.
It was no big deal to clear it up, just a spray 2-3 times a day & poof it was gone.
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PHRatz
>>To tell people that you keep rats as pets?
>>
Nope. I am who I am people can either take me or leave me. I could care less. If someone is going to judge me because of my furkids I don't need them in my life anyway.
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No. Anyone who thinks it's trashy isn't someone I'd like to be friends with anyway.
I stopped caring what people thought about me loving rats right about the time I got one tattoed on my arm.
I have never been ashamed to own rats. I am actually proud to have them. I'm kinda curious what you mean by a "High class town." Most of the people I know who keep rats are professionals. I know doctors (including me soon, wahoo! sorry...had to add that lol), pharmacists, scientists, engineers, animal specialists, lawyers, nurses, chefs, psychologists, etc who are all proud rat owners. I've owned them in big cities like Boston and in places like Iowa where there's more of a farm mentality and don't find that people think any different of me having them as pets in either place. In fact I make it a point to try to educate anyone who has the wrong impression or rats. I have RMCA and Kim's ark stickers on my car and get the occasional funny look but who cares. I KNOW that rats are wonderful pets and I take every opportunity to tell others why they are so great.
However...There is that one random person who you just KNOW is going to be an elitist moron about your pets...I take a joke that PHRatz brought up long ago on the AOL boards and tell them that they're special "Norwegian long tailed hamsters." Usually the person is too dumb to know the truth so they decide hamsters are ok and play with them. Soon they're hooked and I tell them the truth and they have to admit rats really can be sweet and clean. It usually gets a chuckle from the vet staff when I do it there and they've actually beat me too it a few times lol.
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~Meg~
~~(XX)8:> Have you hugged a rat today?
Bwahahahahahaha!
I'd forgotten about the Norwegian long tailed hamsters!!!
I think certain pets bring about a certain image- a stereo-type that a lot of people need to get over.
Apparently I don't look like someone who'd keep all these so called creepy animals because I see the surprise on people's faces when they find out.
I feel like I'm doing my part to break those stereo-types and I am very happy to do it! 
I don't know a lot of professional people outside veterinary professionals who keep so called odd animals but I do know that my board certified allergy doctor does keep them. I found that out the day he told me he wanted some of my hissing cockroaches so I gave him a shoebox full ROFL! His kids & family have 25 or so pets of all sorts.
He's extremely well known in this region as an excellent human medical doctor.
I'd call someone like him "high class" even though he told me once that one day he was a hippie, then suddenly one day he woke up & realized he was a middle-aged doctor who somewhere along the way had made it LOL!
If he's trashy.. well then who is & who isn't?
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PHRatz
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