Sudden death in young rat

Question
QUESTION: Hi,  one of my daughter's rats died with no warning this morning.  All came
from a rat rescue place, and were adopted around May of this year.  2 were
young sisters and "Oreo" was the last of a recent litter.   Oreo was super
friendly, tame, happy.   

This morning my daughter came to me in tears that  when she went to feed
the rats Oreo wasn't moving.   Oreo was dead, and still warm lying in the
cage.   She had a tiny spot of blood at one eye and at her nostrils.   She had
not been acting sick at all.

I'm wondering what may have caused her death, and if sudden unexplained
death is common?

ANSWER: Hi Sarah

I am so sorry for the sudden loss of Oreo! Its so hard when its not expected.

What you saw was not blood around her eye and nostrils, more than likely it ws porphrin. Porphyrin is a secretion created by a gland located behind the rats eyes and during stress from illness or injury or even anxiety, it produces more than normal amounts which you will see around the nose and eyes often prompting the rat ower to see the vet fearing it is blood.  

Here are photos and more info on my site:

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/bloodynoseandeyes.htm

Sudden death can be caused by many things, but with no outward signs of illness, chances are it was a heart attack, brain aneurysm or fatal stroke.  Check out my site and see if this is what you saw Oreos little nose and eyes    
Can you tell me if she has been sick in the past and if so what was her ailments?

As for sudden unexplained death being common or not...it happens, but its not something I would say that happens to every rat owner. It also doesnt have to remain a mystery if you take the rat to a vet that knows about exotics and performs a necropsy too.

I am really sorry for your loss, though. These critters touch our
lives in many ways.












































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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

QUESTION: I don't think it was porphyrin-   it did not look like the pictures, it looked
more like a small blood clot and was at the base of one eye, not the corner
(she was lying on her side stretched out and it was on the eye on the ground.)  
The blood on her nose was inside the nostrils, like a nosebleed.  There was
no discharge on the rest of her face.

She had never been sick, and was very active- they are only about 4 months
old.  None of the rats have had any sort of eye discharge or sneezing.  They
are in a wire cage with Carefresh bedding.  We had been feeding Reggie Rat
from petsmart- I'm looking into some homemade options after viewing your
site.  

The other two rats were an "owner turn in" and are much more timid than
Oreo was- she was definitely the favorite, and liked to lick my daughter and
do "tricks" like climbing down her shirt and out the arm.

My daughter always fed them first thing in the morning, and said they got
excited when they heard the food dish and ran into the "kitchen"- a smaller
cage attached with a tube where she keeps the food dish.    My only thought
was she got excited and had a heart attack/stroke?

ANSWER:
Hmmm....it this was blood in the eye, it would be more along the lines  a stroke. Also, since strokes occur suddenly, it is not a condition t it is not something that is going on for longer time before it shows up. Its acute. If its a major stroke it can kill instantly.
Since there is a definite link to broken blood vessels and stroke, my educated guess would be this is what claimed her life.

I am also sure it was genetic. It often is.

I am just really sorry for your loss.
Also, you may want to let the rats self feed. Rats do not over rat by natural instinct because they know they cannot vomit and if they over indulge they will not be as agile as they should be. They are smart, trust me.  Rats will never over eat and become fat. What makes the rat fat is the foods that they are fed.  ;-}

Same applies to humans if you think about it! As the saying goes something like this: Its not the quantity, its the quality. I guess that can apply to this too in some ways.


Hope all is well



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

QUESTION: Thanks- I feel better if it was something genetic.   I kept wondering if there
was something we missed.  Oh, and they do self feed- she just refills the food
dish in the morning and refills their water too.   They have a huge food bowl
that's always overflowing- we end up throwing out a lot of stuff when we
clean the cage.
Thanks

Answer

Once you change their diet there will be less waste. The reason why there is so much wasted food now is because the rats pick out their favorite pieces which is usually the sunflower seeds and one or two other things out of the 20 others. I bet there is tons of leftover hard corn etc....and thats good that they dont eat  it anyhow. If you read my site you will know that the hard corn is toxic to them over time.

Anyhow, they eat their favorite pieces and this is hardly enough for a balanced diet.  ITs a waste of money, too.  Once you make the new foods or whatever you plan to do about their diet, you can use the food you have left from the old seed mixes and leave it for the birds this winter. Its more for birds anyhow.

I am glad you feel better that it is genetic.  Stuff like this usually is.  If a rat does this and they were from a breeder, the breeder should be contacted and usually the line is stopped esp if an necropsy is done and has proof through pathology results.