Pet Rat Mystery Death

Question
When my son went to get his rat, Junior, out of the cage tonight, he found him dead.  He was fine last night and has not shown any symptoms of illness.  We lost his cage mate to a tumor about three months ago, so we have been very attentive to Junior with usually both my son and I playing with him every day, giving him a lot of out-of- cage time, etc.  We have watched him closely, and he appeared to be totally healthy.  No coughing, wheezing, discharge, weight loss, lethargy...nothing!  As of yesterday, he was just as energetic and playful as ever.  When we found him, he looked very peaceful, just like he was sleeping. In fact, I walked by the cage several times today and saw what I thought was him snoozing as usual.  What could have happened?  He would have been 2 years old this December.

Answer
Hi Sherri

I am really sorry for your loss.  Its so hard to lose them regardless, but when its sudden like that,its even worse. I think that over the time I have owned rats, I would rather have them pass away suddenly rather than watch them suffer from some terrible illness that eventually claims their life.

That said, it is pretty impossible for me to tell you "spot on" what caused this rats death, but I can tell you what "may" have occurred as per my experience with rats over the years.

There are of course, many things that claim the life of our rats, often it is acute, coming out of nowhere, and in many cases, the rat owner doesnt witness the actual moment when the rat is stricken, but rather, finds them already passed on later which of course, happened in your hhh0. Unfortunately this leaves the rat owner with the feelings of guilt, such as the what ifs....had I known he was sick I would have  taken him to the Vet sooner.
First cause of sudden death in rats, which can occur at any age and can be related to other health issues or may simply be genetic.
Heart attack, stroke or brain aneurysm are the three most common cause of sudden death.

Hope this helps, and again, I am really sorry for your loss.