Removing dead rodent smells

Miss_J

We've recently had an issue with mice in the house and on at least one occasion a rat too (we live in an old house)  We've always had the occasional visitor that we've managed to sort easily.

A few weeks ago we were troubled for hours by the sound of something scrabbling and chewing in a cavity wall.  Earlier that day my hubby has spotted a few holes and filled them to stop them coming into the house, beforehand he put poison into the holes.

I contacted my home insurance and was covered under my emergency cover and pest control have been out and lined the place with traps, no sign of anything in the traps.  

By the middle of last week I started to smell something in the kitchen and hunted high and low and couldn't find anything and the smell went away, however since Friday we have had the mot horrendous smell in the kitchen which then travels further into the house.  The city wall on question divides the kitchen and living room. I have hunted all over again and can not find any culprit so I suspect whatever has died is trapped in the cavity wall.

I've bought extra fresheners like plug in and aroma dispensers and yesterday got some Rentokil satchets (too early to tell if this helps)  Notices smell at the top of the landing this morning too (where cavity wall is) and the smell has even woken me up.

Has anyone else had this problem and has any helpful remedies, I'm not sure how I'll cope if this goes on for weeks.

AskAsk

the smell will not last long.  a week at the most unless there are more dying.  open the windows when you can.

Doozergirl

Don't use poison in the house for this reason as they can and do die in inaccessible places. 

Use traps, so that you can access them easily when you need to.  

Pest controllers use this sort of stuff if they need to: https://www.vitadirectuk.com/bubble-gum-hd-odour-kill.html

Miss_J

Doozergirl said:

Don't use poison in the house for this reason as they can and do die in inaccessible places. 

Use traps, so that you can access them easily when you need to.  

Pest controllers use this sort of stuff if they need to: https://www.vitadirectuk.com/bubble-gum-hd-odour-kill.html

Yes most definitely won't be using poison again in the future, horrible lesson learned.  Just hope it's not a lesson that goes on for a while.

AskAsk

Miss_J said:

Doozergirl said:

Don't use poison in the house for this reason as they can and do die in inaccessible places. 

Use traps, so that you can access them easily when you need to.  

Pest controllers use this sort of stuff if they need to: https://www.vitadirectuk.com/bubble-gum-hd-odour-kill.html

Yes most definitely won't be using poison again in the future, horrible lesson learned.  Just hope it's not a lesson that goes on for a while.

i use poison as i find it works better and faster than traps, but yes it does leave that rotting smell.  luckily it doesn't last long.

Miss_J

Have you used any products to help with the smell in the past?  I have a really heightened sense if smell and find it really intolerable.  But given that there may be more that die and do the same I need to see if there's a way to get rid of it.

AskAsk

my mum used these and they are very good as they are very strong smell for the first week, so will do to mask the stench.

ka7e

I used Ona Odour Neutraliser when we had a rat die in a basement cavity wall. The small block should do the job

Miss_J

ka7e said:

I used Ona Odour Neutraliser when we had a rat die in a basement cavity wall. The small block should do the job

Thank you for this.  I came across this product a couple of hours ago and saw lots of reviews about people using it for this very purpose.  I don't think the smell is as bad tonight, I have a couple of the rentokill satchets up and have lot a few scenes candles and placed them around the living room that borders the rule.  Just getting the occasional waft of smell but much more tolerable.  How long did it take for the smell to disappear for you?

ka7e

We think it was a large rat and it was a cool basement - it took ages! But we had pots of Ona gel in the room and blocks in the kitchen and hall as the smell permeated through the floorboards. We thankfully managed to mask the smell as the house was on the market and we had frequent viewings.