I like pit bulls and have had a number of them through the years. My last one was Ruby, and I had to put her down a few months ago at 14 years old. She saved my wife's life when my last Catahoula turned on her for some unknown reason. We've had 3 Catahoula Leopard dogs that I put down because they got to aggressive and we couldn't control them, I won't give that breed any more chances. No more big dogs for us were planning on traveling and been thinking about a Jack Russell or some other kind of ankle biter.
Rat terriers are in the same general class as Jack Russels but less crazy and less prone to running off.
Plus not long ago, a lot of Jack Russels got bred down to crap after the show Frasier made them popular.
You can have a rat terrier AND a cat, more of an either/or proposition with a Jack Russel.
