Advice needed

Hi everyone, I wanted to ask you rat experts your opinion and advice. I am sort of new to rats. I had a dumbo single rat 10 years ago but recently got three rats. This is mainly due to my son's girlfriend who loves animals and talked him into getting rats again. They originally had one rat but then I read that the little girls love friends so we bought two more. The first one "candy" was bought at pet smart and had a broken tail. The second one "Blue" was an albino bought at a pet smart also. The third was a naked rat bought at a breeder "Pinky". All three were females. They were all young but not babies . The albino one seemed to be sneezing a lot when we got her. I read that this can be normal when they are introduced to a new home. I bought them a rat mansion online and they all seemed to be so happy. They got used to us and would look forward to being handled. I fed them organic fruits and veggies, and rat food. I read online that Kaytee was bad so I changed it to Oxbow. about two weeks with the rats went by and pinky had her right eye crusted over. It seemed to clear up and the albino rat had stopped sneezing. Then one day I noticed I had not seen candy in a while. Candy was the first rat (I guess they are all feeder rats) I looked under the fleece on the bottom level of the mansion and she as under there and breathing really hard. She was also very thin which confused me because she had been gaining weight and was nice sized two days before. I took her to a specialty vet and they said she needed to stay the night under the oxygen tent, get steroids and antibiotics. They also gave her a subcutaneous injection of water to absorb. The vet said she could feel her kidneys were swollen and her lungs sounded bad but she thought she would make it fine. The price was very high but I am an animal lover and was very attached to this little girl. In the morning I got a call from the vet that Candy had died during the night. The other two rats are okay. Does anyone have any clue what could have happened? I am at a loss. I usually do very well with animals and I feel so bad. Thanks!

It sounds like she had a respiratory infection.
That would be why she lost weight - it is hard to eat and breath at the same time, so she did not eat because she was struggling to breath. It sounds like it may have been a secondary infection - they kill very fast

I do not know about her kidneys being enlarged. She may have been in the very early stage of kidney disease (unlikely because she was young) or I wonder if it was simply due to being dehydrated. Lilspaz68 could give you a much better answer

Rats are prey animals and hide illness so by the time you notice they are ill, you are well into a medical emergency.

Just so you know, it is important to see and handle every rat every day so you will know if they are ill, if there are any changes in behaviour, in breathing, in weight etc …… it is important to take rats out (as a group) to play and interact with you in a safe play area for at least 1 or 2 hours a day …… this is not always possible, but it is necessary to at least see and pick up and handle each one twice a day (ie morning and evening).

Please be kind to yourself. You are not the first person who discovered their rat was very ill after having not seen them for a few days.

I am so very sorry for your loss. {hugs}

Thanks so much, I was getting them out everyday but I guess I didn't get Candy out for a few days since she probably wasn't feeling well and was under some fleece. The vet really didn't have any answers and said that she was surprised that she died. I think you are right about the respiratory infection but it doesn't make sense to me how one rat can get it and the others be fine. I guess it is just each individual rat. Sometimes its hard to have animals due to the unknowns like this. I am glad I found this site though! Thanks again.

you are welcome.

Edit: she may have also had pneumonia but if so, the vet should have realized that and treated her accordingly http://ratguide.com/health/lower_respiratory/pneumonia.php

Here are a couple of check lists that might be of interest
1. http://ratguide.com/health/basics/basic_health_check.php
2. http://ratguide.com/health/basics/advanced_health_check.php

Lung infections can start fast and hit hard unfortunately. But I agree with SQ, don't be hard on yourself. We are constantly evolving, growing and learning. Rats are the best teachers.