This thread reminded me of a book (or possibly a short story, though I think it was a book of it’s own) I read as a child. I can’t remember much about it, but here’s the elements I remember…
The main character was a rat. He was the pet of a sadistic boy (or teenager?) who had a number of animals that he would torture and do cruel experiments on. About the only one I can remember is taping the paws of young kittens to a cookie sheet or something and baking them in an oven. I also remembered that the boy had on several occasions tried to provide a mate for this rat, and he killed it every time.
Does anyone know the name and author of this story?