How worried should I be for my cats with air quality over 400?
June 7, 2023 4:24 PM Subscribe
I don’t have air conditioning, so there is no airflow or filtering happening. I’m not sure what else I can do to help. I’ll be gone for work for 3 days and I have to leave my cats, and I don't have much time or money to improve the situation.
I guess I should leave the windows closed, but should I use a fan to move air around at least? I thought about getting an affordable air purifier but it seems like they don’t do a good job at addressing smoke specifically. Any recommendations?
I can probably throw about $100 at this problem, and only have until Fri morning.
Also, how worried should I be for my cats? It seems like there are a lot more days of this coming.
I guess I should leave the windows closed, but should I use a fan to move air around at least? I thought about getting an affordable air purifier but it seems like they don’t do a good job at addressing smoke specifically. Any recommendations?
I can probably throw about $100 at this problem, and only have until Fri morning.
Also, how worried should I be for my cats? It seems like there are a lot more days of this coming.
How big is your space?
As this is only the beginning of fire season, I would splurge on a well-reviewed air purifier, but even something your local drugstore carries (or a DIY as oceano suggests!) will make a difference for them and you.
posted by scrubjay at 5:04 PM on June 7, 2023
As this is only the beginning of fire season, I would splurge on a well-reviewed air purifier, but even something your local drugstore carries (or a DIY as oceano suggests!) will make a difference for them and you.
posted by scrubjay at 5:04 PM on June 7, 2023
Yes, close windows. Fan's totally optional unless you find it helps with the heat.
Your cats will be okay. High AQI is not good for cats anymore than humans, but there are lots and lots of street cats in places in the world with AQI that's habitually this bad. A few days will be all right.
Air purifiers do a great job on smoke! Including the DIY kind that oceano posted. When you get back, here are some tips for optimal use of your air purifier. The short version is that you want to run it with doors and windows closed while the AQI remains bad, but if that lasts a long time, you will want to "flush" the CO2 out of the room every once in a while by opening the window for a bit while you're not in the room.
(Just as a tip, don't rely too much on AQI predictions; I've found they are just not very accurate, I don't know why. Unless you live in an active fire risk zone the factors affecting when and how badly smoke will reach you are very variable so the weather predictions about 'should be clear tomorrow' or 'we're in for weeks more of this' just... don't pan out very much.)
posted by peppercorn at 5:12 PM on June 7, 2023 [5 favorites]
Your cats will be okay. High AQI is not good for cats anymore than humans, but there are lots and lots of street cats in places in the world with AQI that's habitually this bad. A few days will be all right.
Air purifiers do a great job on smoke! Including the DIY kind that oceano posted. When you get back, here are some tips for optimal use of your air purifier. The short version is that you want to run it with doors and windows closed while the AQI remains bad, but if that lasts a long time, you will want to "flush" the CO2 out of the room every once in a while by opening the window for a bit while you're not in the room.
(Just as a tip, don't rely too much on AQI predictions; I've found they are just not very accurate, I don't know why. Unless you live in an active fire risk zone the factors affecting when and how badly smoke will reach you are very variable so the weather predictions about 'should be clear tomorrow' or 'we're in for weeks more of this' just... don't pan out very much.)
posted by peppercorn at 5:12 PM on June 7, 2023 [5 favorites]
Response by poster: The DIY option is good, because I have two boxfans already!
In answer to the size of my space, it’s kind of a loft-like space with high-ish vaulted ceilings. It’s an apt in a very old house with original windows, and tons of gaps all over the place.
Also, my very athletic cat just lost her balance while making a difficult climb, but one she usually does everyday.
I’ll look into the options mentioned, but any other recommendations for specific purifiers I can buy after this weekend are very welcome. Including ones well over $100 if they are genuinely good. Thanks!
posted by asimplemouse at 5:29 PM on June 7, 2023
In answer to the size of my space, it’s kind of a loft-like space with high-ish vaulted ceilings. It’s an apt in a very old house with original windows, and tons of gaps all over the place.
Also, my very athletic cat just lost her balance while making a difficult climb, but one she usually does everyday.
I’ll look into the options mentioned, but any other recommendations for specific purifiers I can buy after this weekend are very welcome. Including ones well over $100 if they are genuinely good. Thanks!
posted by asimplemouse at 5:29 PM on June 7, 2023
Air purifiers absolutely can be useful for this kind of smoke.
Purifiers may not always work well on tobacco smoke, which is a very fine aerosol, but wildfire smoke contains lots of larger particles that can be captured by a HEPA filter. There are other gases and volatile compounds in smoke that won't be filtered by your typical purifier, but that's not the main concern here.
posted by theory at 5:30 PM on June 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Purifiers may not always work well on tobacco smoke, which is a very fine aerosol, but wildfire smoke contains lots of larger particles that can be captured by a HEPA filter. There are other gases and volatile compounds in smoke that won't be filtered by your typical purifier, but that's not the main concern here.
posted by theory at 5:30 PM on June 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
The cloud of smoke appears to moving very quickly, if that's any solace. It was bad upstate yesterday, got worse today, but things are significantly improved by this evening. I thought maybe the smell would linger, but it is completely gone. I would honestly not worry too much about short term exposure, but I admittedly have no sources to back that claim up, so take me with a grain of salt. Perhaps other posters can enlighten us on any immediate dangers caused by short-term exposure to very poor air quality.
posted by Amy93 at 5:35 PM on June 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Amy93 at 5:35 PM on June 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's been hard to find good info about when this will pass, but this meteorologist, who I've found very reliable, says today's the worst it will be. It's going to be better (but still bad) tomorrow and then much better Friday.
posted by Mavri at 5:41 PM on June 7, 2023
posted by Mavri at 5:41 PM on June 7, 2023
I’ll look into the options mentioned, but any other recommendations for specific purifiers I can buy after this weekend are very welcome. Including ones well over $100 if they are genuinely good. Thanks!
The Coway Airmega that Wirecutter recommends has performed well for us in multiple fire smoke seasons (and we have an air quality monitor to verify); it can run pretty quietly for maintaining clean air once you've de-smoked, and is also fairly easy to carry; we move ours from living room to bedroom at night.
posted by Superilla at 5:43 PM on June 7, 2023 [9 favorites]
The Coway Airmega that Wirecutter recommends has performed well for us in multiple fire smoke seasons (and we have an air quality monitor to verify); it can run pretty quietly for maintaining clean air once you've de-smoked, and is also fairly easy to carry; we move ours from living room to bedroom at night.
posted by Superilla at 5:43 PM on June 7, 2023 [9 favorites]
but there are lots and lots of street cats in places in the world with AQI that's habitually this bad.
Cats can reproduce before they reach a year in age. So, yay, obviously they're fine in polluted air if they can live over seven months!
Just kidding -- just because you can see animals alive in terrible conditions, that does not mean they are living normal lifespans or living quality lives.
So: I'd definitely rig something up, if only a box fan with a filter taped to it. Honestly, that sounds like a pretty good idea :)
posted by amtho at 7:37 PM on June 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Cats can reproduce before they reach a year in age. So, yay, obviously they're fine in polluted air if they can live over seven months!
Just kidding -- just because you can see animals alive in terrible conditions, that does not mean they are living normal lifespans or living quality lives.
So: I'd definitely rig something up, if only a box fan with a filter taped to it. Honestly, that sounds like a pretty good idea :)
posted by amtho at 7:37 PM on June 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
You can run the fan on your furnace without the heat on. If you have a filter on your furnace this will help. Also air purifiers are definitely good for smoke - the top one here is great.
posted by Toddles at 7:48 PM on June 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Toddles at 7:48 PM on June 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Your best bet is a Corsi-Rosenthal box. I think Costco has a good filter sale. Better to have two fans with two filters each than one fan with four filters. Performancewise this blows away commercial units.
posted by Sophont at 9:09 PM on June 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Sophont at 9:09 PM on June 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
I’m in California and we have the Coway purifiers in every room; we leave them running on one of the lower settings 24/7. There are cheaper/DIY options, but the Coways are sleeker and less obtrusive looking. They make a big difference for even just the normal pollution that gets past our vintage windows, but are critical during fire season.
posted by CtrlAltDelete at 9:10 PM on June 7, 2023
posted by CtrlAltDelete at 9:10 PM on June 7, 2023
I was also going to recommend the Corsi-Rosenthal box - they are amazingly effective and really cheap, especially if you already have the fans and just need to buy the filters and some tape.
posted by metahawk at 4:20 PM on June 8, 2023
posted by metahawk at 4:20 PM on June 8, 2023
« Older Ok.This is getting ridiculous. I need suggestions... | Reschedule furniture delivery due to air... Newer »
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by oceano at 4:26 PM on June 7, 2023 [11 favorites]