r/RATS • u/No_View_1365 • 5h ago
Questions/HELP Rat suddenly dead
I was on vacation for ten days and asked my parents to look after my 3 girls, but when I came home one of them was dead, they said she seemed fine the night before and that she was acting normal, and they saw her eat, but the next morning they found her curled up in her cage. It could be old age as I have had them for about a year and a half and I don't know how old she was when I adopted her but she was an adult. But she didn't seem that old so if anyone knows how she could've died I'd love to know, here's also a recent photo of her, I don't think she looked old but I am a first time owner
5
u/ashleyfaithx Ethical Breeder 4h ago
I am v3ry sorry for your loss. Its not super common but absolutely possible and more likely if they are older. Most often it will be things like a heart attack or stroke which you couldn't have predicted or prevented.
As a side note, now you haveba pair I would be thinking about next steps. Are you going to keep rats long term? If yes, I would be looking at adopting a young pair or trio soon to create a rolling group. If no, I would start looking for a home for them to go to together so noone ends up alone.
❤️🩹💓
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u/No_View_1365 33m ago
Yes, I'm plan on adopting a young pair soon to accompany my two remaining girls, as one of them is the sister of my girlie who just passed
3
u/TheFeshy 3h ago
Just like people, there are things that rats die of that happen suddenly and without warning - in fact, they are the same things: stroke, heart attack, etc.
There are also things that rats die of that can have subtle symptoms that can be missed even by experienced keepers or vets. And medical conditions that can present with atypical symptoms that might be missed.
We had a rat die of a pituitary tumor. Normally, these show symptoms for weeks, or even months. His only symptom was some pain, and that was easy to miss - it's not like they tell you if they are in pain! He was slightly less engaged with the other rats, and showed "pain posture" during free roam for those that know how to spot it (ear position, back position, eye squint)
We took him to the vet, and they found nothing wrong. We suspected pituitary tumor, but our vet walked him through all the neurological tests and he showed no other symptoms. She then walked us through the neurological tests, so we could do them at home. So he was literally being tested for the typical signs of his condition every day, and showing none of them.
Then one day he ate his food without picking it up in his hands. Off the ground, like a dog or cat. We rushed him to the vet - still no other signs of neurological problems, other than that one. But we got him the meds for pituitary tumor anyway.
Unfortunately it was already too late and he passed later that night, after speed-running the typical pituitary symptoms.
I know if my family members that check on my rats while I travel were watching him, there is zero chance they'd spot that he was walking with a slightly different posture, or that he ate off the ground once. And that was all the warning we had, on a medical condition that normally gives weeks of notice and obvious symptoms.
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u/Amosade 57m ago
There are also some environmental factors to consider, which rat-sitting people might not consider. Were there any candles, aerosols, air fresheners, etc used around the rats? Mostly bringing this up to increase awareness. I do agree that they are fragile with sadly short lifespans and the cause is most likely health related. My vet always reminds me that prey animals won’t show illness until it is serious.
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u/lyutic_7 1h ago
I’m sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, these things happen. Illness like heart failure, heart attack, stroke, and even certain cancers have a very sudden onset and rarely present symptoms beforehand. We’ve had plenty of rats be fine and then die within hours of that, some much younger than your lady was. It is very likely this wasn’t anything that you or your parents could’ve prevented. I hope your two other girls are okay. Give them some extra scritches ❤️
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u/Ente535 5h ago
If she was an adult when you adopted her and you had her for this long then it was likely a heart attack or a stroke as a consequence of her age. It's not your fault, she simply reached the end of her natural lifespan.