how do you think my rat died

Question
I wanted to ask if you could take a guess why my rat died I had for about 15 months and I feed her every day and she had exercise every day and water but one day I found her laying down and I tap her cage and she would not get up and I look at her water dish it was over half way fuel and I got done feeding her not to long a go and I was so sad because I felt like my Best Friend died and I want to know if you know how she died

Answer
I am very sorry your rat died.

If your rat has never been sick before and you simply found her dead, it could be many things.

Was she fat?
Has she lost weight lately?
What type of food did she eat?
Has she ever been sick before?
Did she go to the bathroom ok?
Did she have any lumps, sores or loss of fur anywhere?
Has she lost weight lately?
Has she fallen from anything lately, such as off of a bed, table, chair, her cage?
Did she breathe ok?
Did she sneeze alot?
Did she ever have red discharge coming from her nose and eyes that looks like blood? If so, dont worry, it wasnt blood, it is called porphyrin, but I still need to ask.

Please let me know the answer to these things so I can better understand the condition of your rat. It is not possible for me to tell you why she died simply by you telling me you found her dead. I need to know a few things about her first. Think of it almost like a puzzle being put together.  Again, I am sorry for your loss and sometimes you may never know why they die unless  a pathologist takes samples from their body and tests these samples, from blood to tissue samples and this will tell you much more about why they died.

I found my rat, Templeton,close to death a week ago today. He was very weak and his heart was hardly beating. Because of my work with rats, I was able to tell certain things about the condition he was in when I found him and the way his body was positioned and he had a few twitches which told me a few more things about what happened. The vet had to help him pass away because his heart kept beating but his brain wasnt working.  Templeton had a stroke. He was 3years and 7 months old and was a very old rat. He was also very chubby from being a lazy old rat but he had a happy life. If I did not see the symptoms he had and I had not found him until after he had already died, there would have been know way of knowing how he died because I would have not seen the  symptoms he was displaying during this attack. It was very sad and I cried and I still cry thinking of him. I had him for a long time and he was my best friend, too. All of my rats are like my best friends.

If we cannot find out why your rat died, the most important thing to remember is that you took good care of her and loved her while she lived her life and that is what matters most, that she was happy when she was alive.

Anyhow, please let me know the answers to the things I asked you and maybe I can give you some idea as to why she  died.