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What happened to my rat?

21 15:51:28

Question
Hi Lindsay:

Yesterday I lost my first rat and am very distraught.  I'm looking for answers as to what happened.  I'm quiet new to the rat world and desperately need some help.

My start:
About a year ago I bought two baby rex rats.  They've been the best little buddies I've ever had!  Well, one of my husbands co-workers was moving and had to get rid of all her rats (not rexs though).  Because she had a litter on the way and another that was currently being weined, we only received one female (adult) and four males (2 adult - 2 kittens 6 weeks old) to start.

Cassie's History (approx 4 weeks old):
We were not planning on breeding, and I did not want the female (Janet) to be by herself, so I purchased a young female (Cassie - about 4 weeks old) from our local pet store.  (Please bear in mind the pet store is not a chain store, but a privately owned one that works with reputable local breeders for fish, reptiles, birds, and rodents.)  Primarily the rats are purchased as feeder rats, but occassionally are also sold as pets.

Cassie's at approx 5 weeks:
Janet and Cassie were together for a couple weeks before I noticed that one of the young males was really a female (Samantha - actually Janet's kitten).  I introduced her to the other two and they all got along great.  Cassie was young, very active and our little escape artist.

Cassie at approx. 7 weeks:
When the other two adult females, litter of two (male and female one week old), and and older litter of two (male and female 5 weeks) arrived, I placed Cassie in with them so she could not escape as easily.  Everyone was getting along well and she was happy to have someone near her age to play with and kind of bully around at times.

Cassie at approx. 9 weeks:
I was cleaning out the cages/tanks and when I put Cassie back in the tank she was not acting normal. (I clean them out weekly.) She had been fine when I started to clean it out, but I noticed all the others were now eating and she was just sitting there lathargic and getting bumped around by the others when they ran past.  I pulled her out and she was somewhat limp and not moving alot.  She was breathing heavy and there was a bit of clear fluid around and coming out of her nose when she breathed.  My husband and I both checked her all over and saw no visible injuries.  I held her to my chest and put a blanket over the top of her.  She was awake, but kept closing her eyes about half way and her head would bob back and forth. I put the blanket up around her head so that she could rest her head on it.  Every once in a while she would pop her head up and shove the blanket up and look at me.  After a few minutes, she got up and started to walk around and was breathing a bit better.  I thought she was okay, but I wanted her to rest a bit more.  I put her back on my chest and covered her with the blanket again.  She seemed cool, so I wanted to keep her warm.  She kept resting and ever little bit she would pop her head up and shove the blanket away again.  Then she just stopped and wasn't breathing anymore.

I'm taking this very hard and really need to understand what happened and what I should have done differently.  She was too young to have just died like that!

Can you please help me?!

Kind regards,
Katherine

Answer
This is a condition where the lungs fill up with fluid.  she could of contracted a cold. However dont blame yourself as this happens to alot of rats and also mice.

She could have had this condition from birth but it progressed gradually as she got older.

I am sorry for your loss.  You should not blame yourself.

Thanks
Sorry for the late reply.