THIS IS NOT A TEST.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Do you have natural gas appliances? Do you use propane in your house?

DO YOU HAVE A CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR?

If not, you need one!

We have one, and last night it started going off. No one was in the house overnight, and the cat was evacuated. This morning the Fire Chief inspected the house and found 20-25 ppm CO throughout the house. The gas company was alerted and immediately came by to turn off the gas until the source could be located and neutralized. Now, I know that 20-25 ppm CO is not deadly, but it's well above the EPA's standards for outdoor air (9 ppm for 8 hours, 35 ppm for 1 hour) for longer exposure times. (Also: 20-25 ppm causes small cats to throw up. Repeatedly.)

Please, please, if you have gas appliances, buy yourselves at least one carbon monoxide detector for your bedroom, and never ignore it. It is meant to warn you before the levels are high enough to render you unconscious.

(Note that the detectors are probably more reliable than small cats at detecting CO. There are

many things that might cause small cats to throw up, other than CO. You would hate to wake up your soon-to-be-grouchy loved ones and evacuate your house at 3:30 a.m. because a moth didn't agree with your kitty's tummy, wouldn't you? Alternatively, a CO leak could cause erratic behavior in small pets without inflicting nausea. Cats are strange enough that you might not notice a bit of extra odd behavior and miss a crucial warning sign. Please, I beg you, adopt a cat only for the extra hassle and frustration they will bring to your life, and leave the CO detecting to the certified detectors.)