Pet Forum / Mammals / Rats / September 2005

Hello all,

Not been on line much lately - too much work, an allotment and a bout of RSI
conspire to keep me a brief spectator!

Anyway - five days ago I came home from work and found Saffron (one of my
seven girls) looking very poorly with half-closed eyes and what looked like
a dried nosebleed - there was a small amount of blood in the cage.  She was
lethargic when I picked her up, but the vets had closed and I really
couldn't see any point in distressing her further.  She didn't seem to be in
any pain - just half-asleep - so I gently put her back in with her friends.
She perked up the next day - eating and drinking - but her pink eyes looked
very pale - could that be loss of blood?  Anyway I had her out with the
others last night as we cleaned the cage - she pottered about a bit, came
for a cuddle, was a bit unsteady and had a very 'light' feel to her body
(you know how they can suddenly start to feel insubstantial).  Anyway she
went back in with the others and the last I saw of her that night was when
she was nibbling on a piece of best Lincoln sausage.  She was asleep with
the rest when I left for work the next morning.

I've just come home and found Saffron dead at the bottom of the cage with
bright gouts of blood everywhere - on the platforms, down the tube and a
little in the bedding near where she died. She hadn't been dead too long as
she was not completely cold - her mouth was covered in blood and she had
obviously bled to death through it.  I checked her teeth to see if I had not
noticed a malocclusion - but they were fine.  Has anyone else ever had a rat
die this way?  None of my rat-owning friends has and I haven't seen a post
about it.  I do realise that there was absolutely nothing I could have done
about it (and probably not the vet either) and in a way I'm glad I wasn't at
home when it happened because it would have been horrible to see and not be
able to do anything but watch her die.
I just wondered if anyone had any theories or experience of this?

I also lost my oldest rat, Shu, the other week after a very rapid decline -
she was good at adopting the new little ones.  On the plus side I have
adopted two boys who were well past their sell-by date at the local garden
centre (7 months old) and I managed to get a BOGOF deal for Hector and Harry
(he was supposed to be Achilles but that would have been completely against
character!).  I've never owned boys before - these are a lot less
adventurous than my girls and Harry, who's my first Dumbo, is virtually
blind.  He must have the worst eyesight of any rat I've had - still he seems
to be coming out of himself a bit.

Sorry for the long post,

Cheers

Marian and 6+2