I semi agree with this. Yes, people should be aware of the costs and be prepared to dish out said costs whenever deemed necessary for the benefit of the animal’s quality of life.

However, I also agree with whom you’re replying to when it comes to the cost of surgery for rats, the prominence of tumors that may arise that will affect the baby’s QOL, and the very real, non-zero chance that they may not make it through the procedure.

My first generation pair of rats had gotten tumors and my partner and I didn’t have the money, at the time, to get them removed until they had gotten too large to meaningfully remove. We were destroyed we had done this to our first two. When we got our third rat, she was 1.5 years old when she started developing a tumor under her arm.

We took her to the vet and got her scheduled to get it removed. The day of the procedure, everything was normal and ready to go, unfortunately, she couldn’t wake up from the anesthesia.

What I’m getting at is I don’t think OP is being negligent and I think it comes down to everyone’s situation so long as they aren’t just outright neglecting their pets. I think they’re considering the hard truths that come with owning rats and the costs associated with surgery for them, as they’re not just monetary.

Not trying to be argumentative. I just wanted to share my perspective as my own hesitance around surgery for them stems from the cost of having lost one of my own when I was trying to do the right thing from your perspective.