The earliest documented evidence of domesticated rats originates from Japan and dates back to the Edo period (1603 to 1868). The tradition of keeping fancy rats may have originated in Japan, but pet ...

Rat breeder Katie Swisshelm's daughter Astrid poses with the family's four pet rats, Watsky, John Lennon, Nicodemus and Prince Lir. (Family photo) In wake of a national warning that eight people who ...

Seattle’s Jessica Noledner and her daughter, Juliet, wanted a pet. So they did their research and got on the waiting list of a breeder. But this family isn’t after a Labradoodle or French bulldog.

At least eight people who breed pet rats have been infected with an unusual virus called Seoul virus, state and federal health officials said Friday. It’s a type of hantavirus, a respiratory infection ...

It's been almost three weeks since a team of veterinarians and health officials wearing hazmat suits came into Debbie Fratini's Chicago-area home and killed all 31 of her beloved pet rats. Although ...

A mother and her daughter in Tennessee were infected with a virus rarely seen in the United States, and the culprit seems to be pet rats. The two women tested positive for the Seoul virus, according ...

When Abby Chronister started college six years ago, she found herself struggling with anxiety and depression. After class, she often retreated to her bed. That’s when she adopted her first two rats, ...

Experts from the CDC are working with the Illinois Department of Health and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to investigate cases of Seoul virus infections among eight people who worked at ...