sudden deaths

Question
So i had six female rats and one of them died about 2 weeks ago.  There was no signs of aggression or any signs of illness before she went.  Just a few days ago another of the rats passed away in the same manner.  They remaining four have been moved to another cleaned cage, with brand new stuff.  Three out of the four are losing weight fast and they are not looking good at all.  Is there any explanation to what is happening to them.  They were taken to the vet and the vet has no idea either.  They were on regular food and had no complications with food until now.  The rats ages range from a year to three years.  Please help!

Answer


They need blood work done. The second rat should have had a necropsy done (usually free unless tissues are sent out) The Vet (if a trained exotic vet) can usually tell just by a visual what went wrong, such as if it were liver, kidney or heart/lungs.  During a necropsy, these organs will not look healthy if they were diseased and could have been a link to why she died.

To have them all sick at once indicates a possible virus of some sort. I suggest blood work be done right away. Is your vet a certified exotic vet or simply a general vet that sees exotics on the side but his main focus is dogs/cats?   If needed, I will be happy to give you names of exotic vets in your area *just let me know your city and state, and I can locate them even if your in the UK or Canada*  No obligation of course, thats up to you if you want to go to another vet. This is just in case your vet is limited on what he is able to do when it comes to rats and exotics.

Are they are any medications at all?  What is their daily diet? Do they have food all the time available for them or do you feed them on a schedule?

How are they acting other than losing weight?  Are they eating? Are they more lethargic than usual?