Janie

Question
QUESTION: I had just adopted a baby dumbo rat a few weeks ago.  She was probably a few weeks old when I adopted her.  With her curious, kind, and cute personality she quickly became a close member of our family.  I have had rats before and know how loyal they are and what great pets they make.  I was looking forward to spending time with Janie, and my boys absolutely adored her.  She was a "wheel rat" and was on the wheel as often as she could be.  She would run on that thing for hours.  She loved to ride on our shoulders and curl up under our shirts.  She was so curious about our dog too.  She would put her paws on the dog's nose and sniff and it almost looked like she was giving our dog kisses.  I could go on and on about what a great rat she was, and was going to be.  One night though she was running in her wheel, acting normal and we said our good night's.  In the morning I got up to get the boys off to school, peeked in Janie's cage, saw her laying in her little house, back to the door.  I just figured she was sleeping.  I noticed something though in her cage that I hadn't noticed before...  it looked as if she had been making tunnels and burrowing in her bedding.  I really didn't think anything of it.  I sent the boys off to school and started doing paperwork.  Around noon I noticed my dog whimpering at her cage (which usually isn't a big deal since she's just as curious about Janie as Janie was about her..) so I went to take Janie out of her cage so she could spend some time with me while I was doing my paperwork.  When I found her, she was sprawled out next to her house, eyes closed, and it looked like she was sleeping.  I called her name and she didn't open her eyes.  I reached in to touch her and she was stiff.  She wasn't breathing...  she had passed away.  I was so upset.  I had been through this before and was prepared for it, but not so soon after adopting her and with her only being a little over a month old.  My boys were torn apart.  We had a burial session for her and they planted flowers on her grave, but I wasn't able to tell them WHY she died.  They cried themselves to sleep.  So my question is this...  What happened?  Why did she die?  Her cage was always kept clean, she always had fresh water, she was fed every day, and she was loved very much by all of us...  we just want to know what could have caused her death...?

ANSWER: Hi there

This is such a sad story but sadly one I hear more than I would like to hear.   Your litte one more than likely had a congentical defect, most likely cardiac related.  She probably had a heart problem and this is what may have taken her life.  Usually when it happens suddenly in a rat that is not sick and also very young we can blame genetics. One thing though, you said she was a month old and you had her for a few weeks....this would mean you adopted her much too young. Rats should not leave their mother until they are at least a month old.  Perhaps you were told the wrong age?  If you had her for a few weeks and she was only a month old when she passed, that would mean she just opened her eyes and had not yet learned to eat or drink as this would make her around 2 weeks old.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: She was definitely eating on her own and drinking on her own and was about the size of my hand...  so maybe they told me the wrong age?  I do know that she was smaller yet, not quite the size of an adult rat...  But I only had her for about 3 weeks before she passed :(   Thank you though for answering my question so promptly...  It makes me sad to think her heart failed because of genetics.  She was so adorable..  so sweet..

Answer
I am glad I found this. My internet is out and I am on a friends computer so I can get on here and answer as many as an answer tonight.


Sounds more like she was maybe between 2.5 and 3 months old. You probably adopted her around 6 to 8 weeks of age.  It is so sad to lose our rats no matter how old they are. I just lost my oldest rat ever. Bo, who was 3 weeks past his 4th birthday, passed away and took part of my heart with him.  You can see him and read about my other rats etc...on my website, Critter City.  
http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/aboutmeandmyratstoo.htm