Domestic rats are highly intelligent, social companion animals whose welfare needs are frequently misunderstood, leading to preventable suffering.
Pet rats suffer from a perception problem: because they are cheap to buy, their welfare is often underinvested. Yet rats are among the most cognitively sophisticated companion animals, comparable in many ways to dogs in their capacity for learning, bonding, and social complexity. Isolated rats develop depression-like states. Rats in too-small cages become obese and stressed. Respiratory disease causes progressive breathlessness if untreated. Good rat welfare requires same-sex pairs or small groups, large multi-level housing, veterinary care from an exotics-specialist, and daily enriched time outside the cage.