Dead rat in my garden!

[miss_moose]

Well i'm freaking out and my OCD is overdrive!

I found a dead rat in my garden this afternoon, the reason i found it is because i'm looking after my mums dog (Benji) and was out with him.
SO i'm really freaking out incase Benji sniffed at it or touched him while i wasnt looking, he was deffinately very close.

Now i'm too scared to stroke him and keep shouting at him to go away and lay down, i feel bad for doing that but im so worried about the dead rat germs.

I've detolled the handle on his lead, and also the back door handle and key.

I can't wash him though because i dont have any dog shampoo and that will be seen as OCD.

My fiance is at work till 10pm, he says he'll get rid of it tonight but he's shouting at me for being OCD about it because i said when he gets rid of it i wont let him wash his hands in the kitchen, so he got all angry again (which he does when it comes to OCD), but i dont think its OCD to want him to clean up in the bathroom instead of the kitchen, when it comes to disposing of a rat!

I've emailed pest control and they said they can come tomorrow or the day after and get rid of it, and they have told me i can just wrap it in a bag, but i'm so scared of the germs.

I'd rather have pest control deal with it but again, that will cause an OCD argument.

Just wanting peoples opinions on the situation really and reassurence? And also if you have ever had to dispose of a dead rat yourself (or your partner has), how do we do this safely?

thank you x

[sb001f8994]

Hi,
We had a dead mouse in our garden last summer, my hubby picked it up in a plastic bag and then washed his hands well. I dont think it would be any different from a rat, I wouldn't touch it and bin it then give your hands a good scrub afterwards.
If you need to wash your mum's dog, our shampoo works well. I never buy doggy shampoo for our dog and our groomer said providing the dog doesnt have a skin complaint our shampoo is fine.
Im sorry Im not much help, I hope this doesnt causse you too much anxiety.
Take care,

[Bexmumto3]

Please don't worry I know that is easier said than done but as someone who worked with animals & dealt sadly with many deceased I promise you that you will be fine as long as you wash your hands after coming into contact with it, to remove it I would get a spade or something & use that to put it into a bin bag then tie up & dispose of, it's highly unlikely that the dog will have picked anything up from the rat, they aren't as bad as the stigma that they have attached to them. If you need to wash the dog I personally would not advise using human shampoo as it can irritate their skin but should you need to then I would go with a tea tree shampoo if you have one. It might be worth treating him for fleas but you can't normally do that 48 hours either side of bathing him, the tea tree is also good for fleas too.
Hope that helps a little xx

[miss_moose]

Thank you for you replies.

I rang my fiance at work and told him how upset i am, just got a text from him hat says Pest Control coming tomorrow to sort roland rat out!

phew!

Benji is going back with my brother at 9pm so i can finally do a proper cleaning session, cant wait!

still really worried and been crying, but atleast something is being done about it now.

[Rachel W]

As someone with OCD who is freaking from just accidentally touching the car seat after going on holiday because my Mum didn't cover it with a whole sheet but just a towel, then I can relate with the contamination thing. However, I can imagine that if the dog found it he would not have left it alone so when you saw him he would have still been sniffing it; dogs are like that, he would be interested in it. I don't think that you would have missed him sniffing it.

I hope that this helps.

[Going home]

I think its a perfectly normal reaction to something like this...most people would freak out about contamination from a rat. I don't suffer with OCD and i'd probably have reacted much the same as you did. Hope you're feeling better now though.

Best wishes
Anna xxx

[hallam11]

Hello,

I do not suffer this type of ocd usually however sometimes in times of great stress I do sometimes worry about germs especially in the toilet! I would have reacted much like yourself. When my hamster died about 5 years ago I couldn't go near the thing, dead things freak me out! So I do totally see where you are coming from. I am glad you're boyfriend came round in the end because its not nice to feel this fear about something and then someone blaming you for feeling this way too.

Take care xxx