Rats

[CatsangDogs]

Hi, I'm hoping for some advice. My washer/drier, mops brooms and stuff have been in my outhouse thats just off my kitchen for years and years. My christmas tree and all my decorations are out there too. Top and bottom of the situation is I saw a rat(nearly died)spoke to new neighbour who said he has them under the decking. A lot of my christmas stuff is in plastic boxes without lids. The christmas tree comes in 3 parts which are in bags except the bigger one sticks right out as the bag was too small. I was horrified and read that everything should be thrown away. I'm a struggling single mum and I can't afford to go out and buy new things. I had planned a lovely weekend to put everything up and now I don't know what to do, can anyone please help with any ideas, is the stuff salvageable? Please don't think my house or outhouse is dirty as it's not but I am mertified posting this. Thanks in advance for any help.

Take everything out, examine for signs of chewing, nesting or droppings - look like large brown pieces of rice.

If you've got signs of this, then its probably best to bin the decorations and spray the brooms.

Rats piss can harbour bacteria for a few weeks, especially if the area is damp & whilst Weil's disease is rare in the UK, if you aren't happy, then throwing it out is the best thing you can do.

Washing xmas decorations would v difficult, charity shops might have some?

I've had to deal with this OP. Just look at each box and see if it has been affected. You won't know where you stand until you do. You might not have lost much at all. If luck is with you your cat may have kept their numbers down in your shed.

Some things you can just clean well and it will be fine. Other things not so much - if the tree is affected I suspect you will have to toss it out.

But even if so - yes, it really is a drag, but not the end of the world. There are cheap things you can do to make a nice Christmas, it's not all about the tree. You can start rebuilding your Christmas items a little at a time. Buy a small tabletop tree for this year for your own gift if you have to.(Or go to the woods and bring a little one home.) Decorate it with home made decorations. You can dry out orange slices or make salt dough which will be a nice activity for the weekend. If you can't afford a small tree, just make some decorations and use those around the house.

I do appreciate too that it's sad to lose sentimental things. I lost a whole box of Christmas ornaments that belonged to my grandmother some years ago. I was sad, but you do get over it.

Rat wee causes Weils disease, hantavirus and other nasties, so while OP should not go overboard with worry, this advice is not adequate. if you put a question into Google OP, you will get specific advice on how to clean things where possible. Its important to spray things first rather than pick them up, as some dried pee can still be contaminating and should not be allowed to get airborne. 🍀

Firstly I'd send the cat in. If anything soft and unwashable has been peed on then the cat should be able to sniff it out. Unless you have a daft cat. Other stuff, wipe it or wash it. If not an option couldn't you put the tree outside somewhere sheltered?

Thank you @Hoppinggreen

Hi @hididdlyho I've been through all of the boxes and nothing smells untoward but maybe if a rat has been hanging around it may have peed and I just don't know about it, thanks x

OP, we had rats; in the attic and they made their way downstairs too.
Our amazing pest control man ( who works for Environmental Health) and often deals with business and hospitality venues, said the Leptospirosis risk is vanishingly small in domestic premises these days, and a dettol wipe-down is v sufficient. But he said that there is no way he would swim in UK rivers, where the risk is higher, ( though, also still rare).
He really knew his stuff. He treated the house, located entry points, sealed them, and we've never had them again. ( This was 3 years ago). He was v v knowledgeable.
I hope that reassures you a bit.
I'm sure you don't need to chuck everything out.

The smell is very obvious if they have peed on it

Hi @hididdlyho do you mind me asking for some more advice, my tree is 8ft tall so it wont fit in the bath. Do you think spraying it with the dettol spray would work? Thanks.

I personally wouldn't get rid of anything unless it had been chewed a lot. I probably wouldn't even clean it on the off-chance a rat had been touching it, unless it smelled horrible or the cleaning was very simple and not time consuming.

I hope the neighbours are dealing with their rat problem. Seems to be an issue with decking, yuck. Just had rats under my shed, our council have a pest control unit who were great.

Doesn’t it come apart into a couple of sections ?

I'll be reiterating much of what others say...

• there is a risk of disease from contact with rat urine, leptospira and hantaviruses being the main concerns.

• this isnt unique to rats - many other UK rodents are primary reservoirs of those diseases, and many other animals (notably, farm animals, squirrels and domestic dogs) are secondary carriers.

• the number of cases of leptospira are very small (about 50-100, and most don't progress to Weils). Most people who contract it are farm workers, sanitation workers and alike. Domestic cases do happen, but we're likely talking single digits.

• to contract leptospira, rat urine would need to enter your body through an open wound, or your mouth/eyes.

Gloves, a face mask and antibacterial cleaning products ought to do the job. The risk is not zero, but it is tiny. I wouldn't be considering throwing anything away unless it was meaningfully and visibly rat damaged and, even then, that's more due to "ick" than risk.

To op it is and I completely understand. I would be devastated if I had to bin all my xmas stuff.

Thank you @snugglemonkey xx

If it doesn't come apart, I would give it a thorough spray with dettol, leave for 10 mins or so to work, then hose/pressure washer it if off if you can. If you can leave in the sun to dry off, as a PP has mentioned this be beneficial in killing off bacteria. Wear a mask and gloves as a precaution. If it doesn't obviously smell like pee chances are the rats haven't got to it. Normally rats will scent mark as they move around.