A comic-book-style graphic showing a Portland resident coming face to face with a rat in their bathroom has sent plenty of county residents into a spiral this week, but health officials say the scenario behind the artwork is about as rare as it sounds. The advisory, titled “What To Do If There's a Rat in the Toilet,” was shared by the Multnomah County Health Department and depicted the unsettling encounter across six panels.
The county told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the PSA worked exactly as intended, designed as an eye-catching and provocative way to deliver guidance on an issue that does occur locally, though thankfully not often. Officials described toilet-rat encounters as highly unusual and not something most people need to worry about, according to the same report. Still, the county says its Vector Control program fields about a dozen calls a year from residents reporting a dead or living rat in their toilet, per the county's account to the outlet.
Why Rats End Up in Toilets at All
According to the reporting, rodents turning up in toilet bowls are often traced to heavy rain and flooding that washes them into sewers and then through pipes into homes. Sewer breaks or broken pipes that let food scents reach drains can also be a factor, the outlet noted, and homes with older plumbing are typically at greater risk. The Portland Mercury reported that the county health department's own post put it simply: excess rain can enable rats to swim into a sewer drain, and a sewer break can do the same thing.
That mechanism isn't new. Back in 2014, Multnomah County Vector Control manager Chris Wirth told oregonlive.com that the agency received 10 to 15 calls a year from Portland residents who'd found rats, dead or alive, in a toilet. Wirth said at the time that rain drives rats from the main sewer into the smaller lines connecting individual homes to the street, and that rats are more likely to turn up indoors from fall through spring as their outdoor food sources dwindle.
What the County Wants You to Know About Rat Biology
Part of what makes the scenario plausible, and unsettling, is that rats are capable swimmers. The county said rats can swim and hold their breath for up to three minutes, according to the OregonLive account, which helps explain how one might navigate sewer pipes into a home's plumbing in the first place.
Multnomah County's advisory lays out specific steps depending on what a resident finds. For a living rat, the guidance recommends closing the toilet lid and flushing; if that doesn't work, adding a few drops of dish soap to the bowl before flushing again. A large rat that won't flush should be handled by closing the lid and calling pest control instead. If the rat is already dead, the county recommends wearing gloves, double-bagging the animal, and placing it in an outdoor garbage can, and washing hands thoroughly afterward in either scenario.
A County Agency That Isn't an Exterminator
Despite the alarming imagery, Multnomah County Vector Control is quick to clarify its own limits. The program, which otherwise manages mosquito and pest populations, says plainly on its website that it is not an exterminator. “Although we're not exterminators, Multnomah County Vector Control can help you find the cause of your rodent problem. We can also give you free snap traps and advice,” the county says on its rats information page, which can be reached at 503-988-3464 or [email protected].
The county's broader guidance includes sealing openings the size of a dime or larger to help keep rodents out of homes, and it notes that persistent holes in a parking strip, under a sidewalk, or in a front yard may signal a broken sewer line. Separately, the county has said its Vector Control program responds to about 300 rat-related requests and hands out 1,500 to 2,000 free snap traps annually, though those figures cover rat issues broadly rather than toilet encounters specifically. The program also offers free rodent inspections focused on prevention, education, and suggestions for long-term rat control.
A Pattern Beyond Portland
Toilet rat reports aren't unique to Multnomah County. Similar incidents have surfaced in Seattle and New York City, according to the OregonLive report. In Washington state, the New York Times reported last December that the public health department for Seattle and King County issued its own toilet rat warning, cautioning that flooding at the time could sweep rats into sewers and lead them toward home toilets.
Back in Portland, broader rat activity has actually shown signs of easing in recent years. County rat inspections fell from nearly 620 addresses in 2019 to about 290 in 2023, a 53% drop, oregonlive.com reported. A local pest-control company separately told the outlet it logged 98 initial rodent services in 2022, compared with 71 in 2023 and just 51 in 2024 as of late November that year. Those numbers track general rodent activity rather than toilet encounters specifically, but they suggest the county's provocative PSA, however spiraling it made some residents feel, is addressing a scenario that remains the exception rather than the rule.
