CRANBERRY TWP - After the involuntary shiver passes, put your preconceived notions aside and give ratties a chance.

Ratties, or pet rats, have the intelligence level of dogs and are as affectionate, says Lindsay Pulman of Economy Borough about benefits of the exotic pets. Pulman is a member of the Pittsburgh Rat Lovers Club.

Rats can be litter trained and are naturally very clean animals; they carry less disease than cats and dogs and are great pets for kids because once they bond they won't bite, Pulman explained.

Rat lovers also affectionately refer to their pets as ratzels, ratzis or raffins.

Pulman and her husband Joe have 53 ratties, most rescued from the Humane Society or obtained secondhand from pet owners who didn't want them anymore. One elderly rat the couple acquired had been abandoned on a shelf in a pet store.

A treasured one, a European Siamese, was caught running loose in Frick Park by a friend with a box who knew something unusual had just crossed his path.

Trust training, where "even the most unfriendly can be turned around," isn't difficult, said Joe Pulman of acquiring rats with unknown backgrounds.

Part of trust training is to "keep from startling them and increase the exposure (to handling) each day, adjusting according to temperament. We got two blind rats from the Humane Society that had never been touched," he said.Joe Pulman said within six weeks, they were loving, trusting pets. The older they are when you rescue them, the more skill is required for trust training, he added."Just like puppies, they need to be socialized," said Lindsay Pulman, adding they can be socialized at any age."We have no problem with them in the house (when they are out of their cages to play). I have five of them that help me read the newspaper daily," said Joe Pulman.They sit on the sofa beside him and play on the carpeted stairs with each other. There was that one instance where the new computer's wires fared badly against their urge to chew, but all has been forgiven. And it has made for an entertaining story.To date, the Pulmans have not had their pets breed intentionally. Most are spayed or neutered. "But there is one we will be breeding because it is so rare," said Joe Pulman.Rare doesn't necessarily equate to rare beauty. Of Lynda Bonenberger's 28 pet rats, three are hairless."They're so ugly, they're cute," the McCandless Township woman said.To keep her ratties happy and playful, Bonenberger has an activity table like a playground she sets up in her home about three times a week. The ratties put up their dukes and box with each other. They wrestle like they were in a WWE match, she said.Members of the Pittsburgh Rat Lovers Club make their own rat hammocks to be slung inside their pets' cages, and the ratties pack it in together for a post-play sleep."You want to keep rats in a social setting. That's how they live, and having a single rat in a cage is like putting a human in solitary confinement," said Lindsay Pulman."They sleep together and groom each other and are very affectionate toward each other." A tail caught in a closing cage door is a matter of community concern and Pulman said she's seen one rattie pull another's tail, hand-over-hand, to free it."They problem solve," said Ann Harting of Cranberry Township, who has seven male rats. Her only answer for having all male rats is, "I just love the guys." Male rats tend to be bigger than females and less active.

Being a rat lover started early with Harting. "My father bought me my first rat at Kmart when I was about 8 or 9 years old. It was a Christmas gift and it lived for just over three years."Harting is passing her interest in the common pest that also makes an uncommon pet. "My kids and I like to go to pet stores and we saw a flyer for the Pittsburgh Rat Lovers Club and went," said Harting.Pittsburgh Rat Lovers Club, a fairly new group, came into being when Lindsay Pulman went to Northview Animal Clinic with a rat she'd rescued. It was there she met Bonenberger, who worked there."I was all excited because I was getting to see another rat person," recalled Bonenberger. "(Pulman) said, 'Wouldn't it be nice to have a rat lovers club?' Since there wasn't one, we exchanged e-mails," and the club was born about a year ago.The club meets daily online. Membership is free, but you must be invited to visit the Web site. In the real world, the club officially meets four times a year to plan events and has about four events per year.For those who might be interested in acquiring a rat as a pet, the

Humane Society accepts rats and keeps them until adoption. Adoption costs $10 each and, according to Joe Pulman, the cost helps "to keep the ill-informed snake owners from grocery shopping."When buying a cage for pet rats, buy the largest you can afford because they "need room to do species-specific activity," which can include running on a wheel, said Lindsay Pulman.Most rats, including those who are pets, are nocturnal in nature, meaning a lot of species-specific behavior goes on "primarily when you go to bed," said Joe Pulman. "They get going on that wheel," prompting action to the adage "a squeaky wheel gets the grease," first thing the next morning, he added with a laugh.For information, call the Pulmans at 724-266-0334.