Quick question about rats and fridges.

[questionersquestion]

We had baby rats brought in by the cat earlier this year. I even saw one in next door's garden. Poison was put down where they seemed to be, and we haven't noticed any since/cat hasn't caught any...although she still sits and looks at the back fence, behind which is a disused factory, so there could be some there.

We're going somewhere at the weekend and would like to bring back food from there. It is a long journey and DH found his mini fridge and electrical cool box in said shed. Everything in there smells (probably a musty smell, but I notice it more than anyone else).

I'm worried sick in case rats have peed over the cool box/mini fridge and will contaminate any food put in there. I was going to wash them down, but worry that won't be enough and also feel uneasy about touching them.

Wash them down with a bleach kitchen spray this will kill all germs. It will be absolutely fine. They will have seals to keep the cold in so any ray pee on the outside wouldn’t have made its way inside anyway.

The musty smell in the little fridge and coolbox is likely to be because they have been stored sealed shut. So in this case the bad smell is good news! (We store ours with a piece of folded cardboard propping the lids open to prevent them smelling musty.)

To get rid of the smell, give them a good spray with kitchen sanitiser (antibac or bleach based), and leave for a few minutes before wiping down and rinsing. If you still don't like the smell, sprinkle sodium bicarbonate liberally inside, leave for a few minutes and then rinse off. These steps will also get rid of any theoretical rat residue.