Hurricane Sandy

[Rodents=Love256]

I was just curious who else was affected.

There is alot of devastation in my area, my neighbor has a tree through his roof. Luckily, they were not hurt. I have several trees down in my yard and was stranded in my neighborhood because of one that fell in the road. I am yet to get power back, they are saying it will be a week before its restored. We have a generator (only big enough to run our refrigeration), but all local gas stations are closed or running out of fuel. Our lives are upside down here in Jersey.

[W0LFPR1NC3SS]

I just got power back today. (northern nj)

[FinnishChick]

I wish the best for anybody who was affected! I live in California, but I was so nervous while reading about what was happening with a few of the people on the forum in a different thread having to do with Hurricane Sandy. Goodness! I never imagined something as terrible as this could happen, and people in my area, in my age group, barely cared about this while others' homes are devistated! I wish everbody the best of luck, and sincerely hope it wasn't too bad for anyone


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[RatzRUs]

We only got bad winds and rain here! Nothing compared to you or jersey. Sending lots of prayers to you there

[jd882]

I hope I'm not stepping on any toes by adding a question onto this thread... I'm also without power here in North Jersey. Our area got hit pretty hard and because we don't have power, we don't have heat. No generator so we lost all our food in the fridge. I made the choice to bring my son to my mother's house a couple towns over where it's ok... I've been driving back and forth once a day to check on my animals - give them new paper towels and fabrics to cuddle with. I have blankets over their cages so to avoid any drifts and keep most of it insulated. They are all very happy when I get in to say hello because I have been here crafting treats and play things for them every day so they don't get bored. Ok. So after all that, here's my question. What is the best thing I can do to provide heat for my rats? I'm concerned because I heard one of my rats sneeze when I was home. I checked them both out and they are both looking fine, no one feels too cool or too warm, and on today's visit, they were more active than they normally are! LOL Both are eating and drinking... Nothing out of the ordinary. Now my neighbor said her cat was getting the sniffles so I was wondering if I could do something to help keep everyone warm and make sure no one gets sick. (Unfortunately, my parent's house is the only one in my family with power and everyone here is extremely allergic to all animals so I can't bring any of my furry babies. It makes me so depressed.)

[RatzRUs]

JD~ you can try googling huts for feral cats in the winter. It tells you how too make an insulated box type of thing too keep the feral cats warm.

[RatzRUs]

If you need ANYTHING! Please let me know!!! I'm not sure if mail is being sent in and out of there,but if it is PM me of there is anything I can help you with!

[jd882]

Thank you so much for the idea! I will definitely look that up! I did take a cardboard box and cut a hole in it and lined it with paper towels... It's supposed to be downright chilly tonight so I'm hoping the furry kids make out ok. I notice that they actually act like they miss me when I get home. They are very sweet and want to climb on me. I did put an old shirt in each of the cages too. I figure if anything, they can cuddle with that and keep extra warm. I know my allergies flare up when they pee on fabrics but I'm not home! I can just throw them out when I get back.

And thanks for the offering of supplies... I always have an obscene amount of supplies on hand so all my animals are more than stocked for at least a month or two. To those around me, if you need anything just let me know. I'm not sure what's open as far as pet stores or grocery stores because I've been focused on trying to get around road blocks from my mom's back to my house just once a day...

[unlikelyfather]

Just got power back this afternoon. Very pleased to be able to wash hoodies again, I hadn't been holding Rasputin nearly as much since his tendency to mark things didn't go along with not being able to do laundry or to shower. He's currently asleep in the back of my hood while I chill out and watch TV. All is back to normal. Five days of being without power takes kind of an exhausting toll on you. I have no idea how pioneers, pilgrims, and indigenous peoples did it. Probably because they never knew what they were missing, right?

On the subject of sniffles, I wouldn't be too surprised if they were sneezing from the swinging temperature levels. A few days of that had me in sniffles, too, and now my nose is congested like crazy. I think I've gotten a cold from being cold all the time, it's certainly screwed with my immune system. I took an allergy pill. At one point it was lower than 60 degrees in the house, circa 57 or so. Way too cold for a house.

[Rodents=Love256]

I am still without power, but it makes me feel a little better that everyones hopes and prayers are coming our way. We got my grandparents set up with a generator, because my grandfather is on oxygen. Its a real struggle, but my rats are fine because we have a wood burning stove and my house is at least 68 usually.

As for keeping rattys warm, I also recomend looking up feral cat houses.

I send support to all my fellow power-less rat owners!