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Veterinary Field Veterinary disinfectant is an important feature in all veterinary practices and animal hospitals, which are subject to the same four rules that apply in human medicine for protecting against infection: separate, quarantine, clean and disinfect. If these rules are bent or ignored, in the worst case pathogens can spread and infect other animals. Choosing and applying suitable veterinary disinfectants can be a real benefit for veterinary practices.
Is a special veterinary disinfectant that necessary? From the media: ‚Cats are not properly cared for at animal hospital XYZ. Quite the opposite, in fact – six kitties have died there recently, all of a cat virus. Last Friday, the pet clinic was forced to close because of the highly contagious disease, reports TV station XYZ.‘
Feline calicivirus only affects cats. ‚We are presently in the process of cleaning and disinfecting the entire clinic. Because all rooms are required for quarantine, we are not accepting dogs for inpatient care at the moment,‘ states the veterinary practice on its website.
‚This will take some time. The clinic will be open again for cats in two weeks. However, if you detect indications of the disease in your cat, please bring it in for treatment immediately – waiting too long can be lethal for your kitty.‘
Besides the grief felt by the owners of the deceased pets, the financial damage to the veterinary practice is enormous. In order to resume operations, it is vital to choose a suitable pet safe disinfectant.
A veterinary practice faces this question the moment it wants to procure a suitable pet friendly disinfectant. But what does suitable mean? As a rule, there is no single pet safe disinfectant “to rule them all”. Each of veterinary disinfectant products has specific properties and advantages, but also always comes with some negative side effects.
The result can be a disinfectant which rapidly kills off a wide range of pathogens in a veterinary practice, but also corrodes and destroys the surfaces in the treatment rooms. A material-compatible veterinary disinfectant on the other hand is likely to be slow-acting or promote pathogen resistance. It might also be flammable and form vapours.
Therefore, the question as to which disinfectants for veterinary use are right for veterinary applications must always be answered with another question: ‚What is its purpose and objective?‘ Only by clarifying the type of application, contact time, spectrum of activity and perhaps material compatibility is it possible to select a disinfectant for veterinary use.
Disinfectants used in veterinary practice can be divided into functional groups, although the lines here are blurred and sometimes overlap.
These are used for hand disinfection in veterinary practices and animal health. They usually consist of a range of alcohols such as ethanol or propanol and skin-care substances to protect the skin from drying out due to regular use.
These are used in veterinary premises for regular disinfection of small and large surfaces. They are applied according to the hygiene plan, which also stipulates regular cleaning of critical surfaces in veterinary treatment rooms as well as boxes and cages in quarantine areas and waiting rooms. The spectrum of activity varies substantially from oxidising to non-oxidising and/or alcohol-based veterinary disinfectants to more or less useful mixtures of different agents.
These disinfectants are primarily used in veterinary settings when either a special type of application is selected, as is the case with aerosol disinfection, or if elevated biosafety is required during an outbreak of contagious pathogens. It is also feasible to use these products and standard products in rotation to prevent resistances.
Veterinary settings successfully use the following disinfectants in veterinary practice from our product range:
Hand disinfection: for hand disinfection, we recommend our alcohol-based hand sanitiser Rapid S Mano. It contains no colourants or fragrances and protects the skin from drying out.
Surface disinfection: when disinfecting surfaces with a veterinary disinfectant, it is important to determine whether they have first been cleaned with a detergent or a veterinary disinfectant cleaner. For cages, transport boxes, etc. which have already been cleaned, use Sanosil S003. We recommend using a cold fogger and a targeted disinfectant spray; wipe down afterwards with a cloth if required.
For floor disinfection: a ready-to-use sanitising detergent such as Sano Clean AR is a popular choice. It can be easily applied with a damp microfibre mop, cleaning up dust and minor dirt and disinfecting all in one go.
For special disinfection to eliminate tough pathogens, we recommend Sanosil S010 (HC), and to disinfect rooms using an atomiser (Q-Jet) we suggest Sanosil S015.
