Rat inside oven workings? Oh yes indeed

[Germgirl]

I asked a while ago if people thought a mouse (as we thought we had) could get into an oven's surround. Opinion was divided.
Then we found we had a rat, not mice!
Rat was murdered by council RatBloke but the acrid smell whenever the oven was on continued.
We cleaned the oven, cleaned under the oven, smell still there.
So we took the oven out & took the back off.
Oh. My. God.
The back of an oven is full of lovely fluffy white insulation, like cotton wool. Except our oven was full of pissy brown cotton wool festooned liberally with rat shit.
The little fucker had got into the inside & built a nest.
BOAK!!!
The oven is now in the garden & a brand new one is coming on Monday.
That's £750 I'd rather not have spent but there was no choice.
I still feel sick.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Oh my life.

Though I'm so tight I'd have scrubbed it and put it back. Its not the part where the food goes in is it? And I suppose if it was then the high temps of the oven would kill the germs.

[Starlingsintheslipstream]

I wish I hadn't read this. We had one come up the loo, that was bad enough! My sympathies.

[Germgirl]

We'd have had to have taken all the fluffy stuff out. And without that I think the oven surround would get hot & set fire to the worktops! I did think about it but I don't think it can be done.
DH was green throughout the whole thing. He was convinced there's a nest of rats in there still. He's washed his hands about 40 times since we saw inside the oven.
However, he's also completely blitz cleaned the whole kitchen. It sparkles!

[givehimaninch]

ugh

[FelixFelix]

Eughhhhhhhhh

Also, rat coming up through the toilet is my ultimate worst fear. What if you're taking a dump at the exact time it happens?

[feetheart]

Insurance?

[Germgirl]

It doesn't cover vermin does it?
I feel sick every time I walk in the kitchen now, knowing that I've been cooking with an oven full of rat shit for months

[Clargo55]

Have you found how they got into the kitchen? Block up any holes you can with concrete mixed with glass.

[marne2]

We had a mouse a few weeks ago ( after the cat brought a live one in ), I thought it had gone but woke up one morning to find it had chewed through all the cereal boxes and a pack of paper napkins. I went and bought poison which it ate that night, I can still smell mouse in one of my cupboards and can't find the dead mouse anywhere, I'm worried it is rotting away behind the units in my kitchen .

I think I would have replaced the oven too if I could afford too.

[Germgirl]

We think the cat brought it in a a youngster. When we went away for 2 weeks the rat went mad in the house, dug up pot plants etc looking for water. The council RatBloke reckons that if it'd been able to get back outside it would've done.
We have blocked a few small holes up with wire wool & foam.
I've had a stern word with GermCat too.

[Germgirl]

I've checked the insurance details. They don't cover damage by vermin :(
I'm going to phone tomorrow anyway, just in case.