One thing that majorly sucks about losing a dog with a contagious infection is that there is a lot of clean up afterwards. Since Nemo’s infection was potentially contagious, after he passed we still have to deal with the reality that even though he’s gone, us and the dogs can still potentially catch what he had. It’s a slim chance, but a chance all the same.
After we lost him, we immediately had to throw out everything that he had regular contact with. His dog beds (which ultimately meant all of the dog beds), food bowls, blankets, toys, and the like were all gone within hours. We still have his collar though, can’t get rid of that (we gave it a super cleaning though and won’t be handling it for awhile to make sure it’s germ-free). While getting rid of all of those things wasn’t fun, they were small potatoes to the Big Clean that we really have in store.
I’m sure we’re overdoing it in some ways, but with an infant on the way we want to be as sure as possible that the house is clean and infection-free. In addition to the dog-specific items that we disposed of, we also have to “de-germ” other parts of the house as well. In some places that means a scrub down, in others that means replacing certain items. Here’s how we’re cleaning up:
- replace the downstairs rug (we use this room the most)
- replace the rugs in the living room and upstairs landing
- replace the carpet on the stairs and in the bedrooms (we were planning on replacing this anyway)
- replace all of the dog beds & toys
- wipe down all of the walls and other surfaces to disinfect them
- wash all linens, slipcovers, and other “washables” (like curtains)
Some of these things have already happened or are in the works. We’ve already cleaned the high-traffic areas, but are still planning a full-house scrub-down soon. Thankfully, I’m a big proponent of slipcovers, so that’s all easily clean-able too and we aren’t skeeved out when we sit on our furniture. In the meantime, we’re still washing our hands frequently and being careful about what we touch.
adios rug, it was nice knowing ya’
Hopefully it will all be done within the next couple of weeks, and at the very least within the next few months before the baby is due. I’m especially looking forward to having the carpets replaced. If you’ve been reading this blog for a really long time, you’ll remember that our entire house used to be covered in wall-to-wall carpeting that we eventually replaced with laminate flooring. Despite that progress, the bedrooms and stairs are still covered in the old, dingy carpet that was here when we bought the house so replacing that will be a Big Deal.
All in all, it’s a physically tiring and sad process, but in a way it’s also cathartic. I hate having to trash so many things that remind me of Nemo, but it’s also a relief to unburden ourselves with it at the same time. We’ve been doing a lot of reading about how to disinfect an area after an outbreak, and the reality is that we’ve already done everything that’s recommended to clean up (so we shouldn’t be worried). Still, we can’t help ourselves from going beyond those measures. Some of it might be over the top or unnecessary, but for the peace of mind it brings it’s worth it.