This story illustrates the dangers of some household cleaners when combined.
I have ALWAYS, when washing my birds' food and water dishes and
bottles, put them in a dishpan full of hot sudsy water with a little bleach. I
soak them while I clean cages, then go wash them, rinse, dry, etc. Of course,
since our dishes go into the dishwasher I don't buy fancy liquid dish detergent,
just the cheapo stuff mainly. And, since I don't want to be even partially
responsible for the creation of super bugs, I don't get the disinfecting kind
either. Just cheap plain dish soap.
However...Pete brought home some stuff that was name brand and disinfecting when
we were low. Didn't read the label, didn't think there was much difference but I
was SO WRONG. There is ammonia in it. You know what happens when you mix bleach
and ammonia, right? Well...within 2 seconds I was choking and my chest was
tightening up. I opened the window with one fan blowing out (we always have that
fan ready just in case of any cooking accidents) and grabbed the fan I keep near
the kitchen doorway to blow toward the window - put them both on high and ran
through - stopping to turn down the thermostat so the furnace wouldn't come on -
to shut the french doors on the bird room and open their door to the outside and
let in fresh air - it was about 20º outside but better cold than dead. It took
me MAYBE 30 seconds to do all of that, I haven't run in years until then. I was
still choking and having a hard time breathing but more panicked about the birds
than me.
This happened a few days ago. Everybirdy is fine. I shake whenever I think about
it, and what could have happened. I'm so thankful that (a) the furnace wasn't
on, spreading it throughout the house, (b) I have had "drills" over fume
emergencies in the kitchen in my mind so many times that I didn't have to think,
just act, (c) I keep an exhaust fan and a fan at the kitchen door to blow back
into the kitchen at all times, and (d) the bird room is 4 rooms away from the
kitchen.
When I came out of the bird room, the rest of the house reeked of the fumes. I
kept their outside door open and the french doors closed for a good half hour,
while blowing all the fumes out from the kitchen. None of the birds are any
worse for the wear, it would appear. But...lesson learned, all dishwashing
liquids are NOT created equal.
Sherry
