Claire
Aussie Rat Owner 
Posts: 14
|
Post by Claire on Aug 6, 2009 11:52:02 GMT 10
Hi,
I need your help. Yesterday one of my rats were a bit more nervous than normal but calmed down after a while. But when I got up this morning I found her dead in her cage. I don't know what caused it. I haven't fed her anything unusual, the only thing that has changed was a new parrot toy that was meant to be rat safe.
I'm really worried about my other rat.
Any ideas on what could have caused this?
Thank you.
|
|
Claire
Aussie Rat Owner
Posts: 14
|
Post by Claire on Aug 6, 2009 12:13:55 GMT 10
Oh and what should I do about her sister? Do I let her grieve or get her a new friend?
|
|
|
|
Post by christie on Aug 6, 2009 14:31:58 GMT 10
Oh I'm sorry to hear that she died so suddenly. I have had that happen once as well. I had just taker her to the vet to get a lump checked out, vet said she was in perfect health and fine to get the (fatty) lump removed. Got home and a few hours later i found her dead in the cage.
If there was no signs of sickness then it could have been a heart problem. Or could have it been a really bad fall from the parrot toy?
Really the only way to know for sure on what happened would be to take the body to the vet for a necropsy (but to have that done you would have needed to put the body in the fridge )
As for your other girl i would say to get her a friend. Rats all grieve differently, some you'll be able to tell that they are missing their cage mate and others wont really notice from my experience. So i would think the best thing to do is get her another friend and see how she handles it, just take the intros slow to be sure she is ready for a new friend.
|
|
Claire
Aussie Rat Owner
Posts: 14
|
Post by Claire on Aug 6, 2009 15:06:17 GMT 10
Thank you for your reply. A fall from the parrot toy is possible but unlikely as its touching the ground and not very tall. Ive taken her to the vet for a autopsy (or whatever they were doing) so hopefully they'll find something.
Ruby seems to be coping ok but she seems a bit lonely... doesn't want to leave me. I'd like to get her a friend, but I don't know if I'm ready to do that yet.
|
|
|
|
Post by christie on Aug 7, 2009 12:19:23 GMT 10
Please full us in with what the vet says was the cause of death.
Yeah it can be hard at times to get a new pet after once has passed. Its for this reason i like to have at least 3 rats, that way when one passes no one is left alone and you have longer before needing to introduce a new one to the cage.
|
|
Claire
Aussie Rat Owner
Posts: 14
|
Post by Claire on Aug 8, 2009 16:35:38 GMT 10
the vet said it was pneumonia he said that because she was young thats why it happened so fast and now ruby has it to so she is being treated for it and i am disinfecting everything.
|
|
|
|
Post by christie on Aug 8, 2009 16:41:59 GMT 10
Oh wow that set in crazy fast. Its a good thing you know what it is now and can treat ruby accordingly. Good luck, i hope she gets better.
|
|
Claire
Aussie Rat Owner
Posts: 14
|
Post by Claire on Aug 12, 2009 15:49:20 GMT 10
Poor Ruby died this morning, which was devestating as she looked fine yesterday and she was half way through her antiboitic treatment just incase she had pneumonia. Now I'm worrying about the new rat I got on the weekend. Though everything has been disinfected and I didn't let them meet yet.
Any ideas on how I can prevent pneumonia in the future?
|
|
|
|
Post by christie on Aug 12, 2009 18:54:44 GMT 10
I'm so sorry to hear that Ruby died as well.
I would think that at the moment the best idea would be not to get any more rattys until you and your vet is 100% certain your new little girl isn't sick as well. Some things can be passed on just through the air, or from you. If you have handled one rat and then handled the other it can pass on.
I don't know anything about preventing it from happening again. But i would inform the place where you got your girls from that this has happened, just in case more will come down with it as well.
|
|
|
|
Post by sublimity on Aug 15, 2009 21:27:36 GMT 10
Awww that so sad, sorry for your loss.
I will keep my fingers crossed that everything will be ok with the new little girl that you bought.
|
|
Claire
Aussie Rat Owner
Posts: 14
|
Post by Claire on Aug 17, 2009 17:56:21 GMT 10
India is doing well so far i talked to the vet and he said to wait two weeks to be sure she wont infect a new friend also that i should disinfect the cage again before the new friend can be added. i also ask the shop if they have had any deaths and they said no. hoping for the best claire Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by sublimity on Aug 17, 2009 21:31:57 GMT 10
Glad to here shes doing well. She looks beautiful and inquisitive  |
|
|
|
Post by christie on Aug 17, 2009 21:47:30 GMT 10
What a darling. Hopefully she will stay nice and healthy for you.
|
|
|
|
Post by adown88 on Aug 26, 2009 15:48:30 GMT 10
Sorry to hear of your losses, fingers crossed your new girl (who is beautiful) stays super healthy for you!!
|
|
