Rat death of unknown causes

Question
QUESTION: Hi there,
"Jules", my little 1.5 year old adopted rattie died today, but I don't know why. We got her and her sister when they were about a year old in september, and "Jules" seemed to be the healthier of the two. Their cage came well equipped, except for wood chips which seemed to affect her sister's breathing. As far as we can tell, "Jules" was okay until yesterday or the day before. Though she's always been a bit clumsy, she seemed more so. She got stuck between her hammock and her rope, and at another time fell from her shelf into my hand when she was trying to sniff it. She was still eating okay - she ate her quarter of an easter egg, and a good chunk of carrot. Later when i took her out, she was much more mellow and cuddly than usual. She didn't chase the cat, just snuffled around the couch. I thought she might have been favouring her paw when I put her back. Her sister followed her around outside the cage, which is unusual as well. When we checked on her this morning, she was dead in her nest. We can't tell what went wrong, but are scouring the cage today, and anything that the rats might have touched in case of infection. Any ideas? We're heart-broken, and any thoughts would help.

ANSWER: Hi Steph


I am sorry you lost your rat. It is so hard to lose our sweet friends. I hope your heart heals fast.

Its pretty tough to really be able to tell you what may have been the reason other than an educated guess from the info you are giving me...
Sudden death usually occurs from a brain aneurysm or brain abscess that can claim the rats life in as little as 12 hours and often there are no signs other than possible loss of balance and other neurological signs.


What kind of bedding are you using and what did her diet consist of? Has she been sick before and if so, what was wrong and what kind of treatment was used to help her recover?

Hopefully I can help pinpoint the cause of her passing for you if I knew a bit more.

Hope to hear from you soon


Sandra

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

QUESTION: When we got her and her sister, they were in cedar chip bedding. Since then, they've been in shredded t-shirts and linen that was changed weekly, and we also litter trained them. They had a diet of mixed grains, seeds, cereal and dried fruit, mostly unsweetened cranberries with fresh veg, usually carrot and sweet potato every day, plus chunks of whatever fruit we ate during the day. She may have been sick before, but not so long as we had her.
I looked her over, and I can't see a single thing wrong with her. It looks like she just fell asleep.

Answer

That is so sad. I am sorry you lost her.

Again, sudden death like this is often caused by some chronic undetected      condition that shows few symptoms and causes sudden death in a rat that we took for granted was healthy.  
The problem with cedar and pine bedding is the phenol oils in it. These oils are dangerous and can have fatal consequences when the rat is older, such as liver failure from liver disease. Liver disease is often undetected.  Again, other causes of sudden death are often associated with the brain such as aneurysms, strokes or blood clots.
A necropsy by a vet is the only true way to know what happened. Most vets wouldnt try to guess what happened unless we agree to an necropsy (animal autopsy) so the only way to know for sure is to have kept her body cold until you can bring her into the vets for the investigation.

I can tell you that I doubt it is contagious and probably was something that was wrong with her and was an isolated incident, so dont worry about the other little darling....I dont think she will catch anything from her.

Thanks for caring and taking the time to try to find out about your little gir. Just keep me posted if you will about how everything is going!!

Sandra