We met Robin Hood in the summer of '99 (August) while looking at hamster supplies.My wife thought he looked really cute and just had to bring him home with us. It took a while to rig up a cage suitable for a rat,we were used to lizards around the house (and the odd hamster), a rat was a slightly different challenge.

He was always at the cage door every time someone entered the room and he always had the same expression...."Please let me out!!!".It took no time at all for him to get the run of the house,except when the cat was around.

About 4 months after he arrived,Robin hurt his left hind leg, and had to be taken to the vet for an exam. Unfortunately,the vet had no experience with rats and we spent alot of time (and money)on useless examinations.
The good part about the visit was that the vet showed my wife how to put a "cast" on a small critter's foot.

The next three months had us changing casts on Robin's leg (every other day), as he would chew the cast off almost as fast as we could put them on

After three months,we noticed a growth on Robin's behind and during one of our bi-monthly visits to the vet we were informed that Robin had a tumor--probably cancerous--and we should have him put to sleep.He was really healthy and playful at the time and didn't appear to be in pain, so we disagreed with the vet and refused to pay him $200 for the "sleep injection".That was three months ago.We still keep in touch with the vet, but have stopped taking Robin to him. Now the vet seems glad that we didn't take his advice. Robin continues to steal food and play and act normally, but the tumor is still growing.He recently developed another growth on his chest but dosen't seem to be in any pain.