r/adhdwomen • u/EatsTheLastSlice • 2d ago
Rant/Vent Please give me something positive to hyperfixate on. I thought our rat saga in our house was over. It is not. Doom spiraling.
A few weeks ago we found a rat inside the house. We figured it must have snuck inside. We got it out of the house.
A bit after that my dog was crazy sniffing the kitchen and the basement, running back and forth. Didn't see anything.
Then on March 27 she was aggressively pawing at the couch. I could feel something so I pulled on it. It was a DEAD rat. I melted down.
I called the exterminator. His first question was had the the city recently done any sewer work. We recalled a few weeks back having water pressure issues. My partner stepped outside and saw the city working on the sewer. We got no notice about the work. The exterminator said when this work happens it pushes that rats down and they look for a new place. we needed our our sewer drain capped.
So we had the plumber come over the next day. It involved a lot of work as it was more than just replacing the grate they chewed through. It was super expensive and now I won't be out of credit card debt for several more months.
Then today April 5 my partner tells me we have at least one hiding in the house. It ate our butter.
I nearly threw up. All I can think about now is finding rats. Or rats crawling on me. In grad school I lived in a mice ingested home near the water. I had at least one mouse crawl over me in my sleep.
My home no longer feels safe. We're calling back the exterminator as he said to call if the plumbing fix didn't solve the issue as that's how they got into the house was the sewer line.
I need something positive to redirect me. I feel so sick. I'm scared to go into the basement into the laundry room which has so many places where it could hide.
I'd be sobbing right now but all my meds make it very difficult for me to cry.
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u/ClassicEnd2734 1d ago edited 1d ago
First of all, I’m sorry this is happening—that’s awful and disgusting—understandable that you’re having that reaction, esp after your history with mice. I’ve dealt with mouse infestations, which are bad enough and caused so much stress. A few thoughts…
1) Did the exterminator set traps in your house in addition to the cap? Once they seal the point(s) of entry, any rodents inside get stuck inside. Luckily the bastards cannot overcome their love of peanut butter so they’re not hard to trap. I use snap traps and (carefully) put it in a paper bag so I can easily throw it away after with less ick factor. Under the kitchen sink or in unfinished/utility/basement are good places to start.
2) And did the exterminator look for other possible points of entry? It took 2 visits for mine to find them all (luckily it was covered under their guarantee policy) but I’ve had no problems after their second visit.
3) If you can, try to remove all accessible food—I bought a large set of plastic storage bins and basically cut off their supply.
I hope this resolves soon. I felt better when I understood what was going on, what actions I could take and found a good company to help find/seal the entry points.
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u/EatsTheLastSlice 1d ago
The exterminator hasnt been out yet. He said to solve the sewer line problem first and then call him if we still had issues.
I went to the store today at 7am and bought 13 bins. Everything in the cupboards and on the table are going in the bins.
Then I am deep cleaning the kitchen.
Waiting now for the exterminator to call me back.
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u/ClassicEnd2734 1d ago
Great—this will help! I found that so many exterminators want to do a monthly fee to trap and not many want to find the source of the issue; sounds like you’re working your plan and have a good company to help you. Godspeed!
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u/EatsTheLastSlice 1d ago
Thank you! We never would have thought about checking the sewer line until he asked if the city had done any work.
I'm packing up food and deep cleaning now. When the problem is resolved I will deep clean everything again. Will be running my dishwasher a billion times.
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u/Careless_Block8179 1d ago
This would get to me mentally too. I used to work in a cafe and we would dip washed dishes into a weak bleach & water solution to sanitize them as the last step. That might help with the mental side of things in addition to cleaning things physically: https://www.clorox.com/learn/how-to-sanitize-dishes-with-bleach/
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u/ClassicEnd2734 1d ago
One final note…I’m a big My Brightest Diamond fan and I played this while dealing with my mouse situation and her lyric “this is MY home, step back!”became my mantra (and added a bit of levity, lol): There’s a Rat by My Brightest Diamond
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u/Inevitable-While-577 1d ago
Why haven't you tried humane traps? As a pet rat owner I can recommend putting some good smelling bait in there, a piece of banana or boiled egg or some peanut butter (not much of the latter though, it's a choking hazard).
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