Looking for an award-winning pet? Maybe it’s time to consider... a rat

Believe it or not, rats were once the pets of choice for well-bred ladies, Beatrix Potter being among them. In his new book, Joe Shute looks at why our relationship with these clever rodents became so difficult and talks to the people who organise ‘Crufts for rats’, hoping to change our minds…

Britian is a nation of rat-haters – it’s time to change that (iStock)

Holding my pet rat Molly one evening in my lap as she devoured a chip of dried banana, her little heart pumping against my thigh, I wondered how many beats she had left.

She was by now just over two years old and beginning to show her age (rats live until three if they are lucky). Normally so immaculately groomed, her soft grey fur was increasingly unkempt. Her tail drooped behind her like a loose shoelace.

Her sister, Ermintrude, was also visibly ageing. A few months previously she had developed a small lump on her chest. Female rats are prone to fibroadenomas (benign tumours in their mammary glands), which are also common in humans. The lump was giving her no obvious discomfort and she was as energetic and affectionate as before, still able to groom.