Balancing Comfort and Hygiene: Stainless Steel Kennels in Veterinary Care

Stainless steel kennels are a mainstay in many veterinary clinics for the housing of our patients. These kennels are a careful balance between excellent biosecurity and hygiene while still maintaining patient comfort during their hospitalization.

Comfort - Bedding

Bedding is clearly an important consideration in the comfort of a patient, as stainless steel is hard and non-porous, which is ideal for hygiene but is not appropriate to house animals on directly. 

Species consideration

Bedding should be used according to species – veterinary hospitals see everything from dogs and cats to birds and rodents; all have very different husbandry requirements. Species-specific husbandry and bedding provision can help in stress reduction in hospitalized patient, allowing them to display their natural behaviors.

Bedding, particularly when discussing canine and feline patients, should be non-slip and durable. Rodents, lagomorphs, avians, and reptiles all will require the provision of very specific bedding and husbandry. 

Life stage consideration

The age/life stage of the patient needs to be considered.

Many geriatric animals will benefit from a padded orthopedic mattress in the kennel for extra support as a high percentage of geriatric animals will have some degree of osteoarthritic changes, or muscle atrophy.

Young patients, particularly dogs, maybe a foreign body risk and therefore the bedding provided must be durable and unable to be torn into small pieces which could be inadvertently ingested.

However, neonatal and juvenile animals may require more sleep/rest periods, and therefore provision of suitable bedding is essential. 

Disease process consideration

Furthermore, animals with certain diseases can experience cachexia and will need extra padding to support them. Other disease processes can cause patients to be unable to thermoregulate well, which will result in staff needing to warm or cool their environment and provide bedding appropriate to their specific needs.  

Orthopedic mattresses, useful in both geriatric and sick patients, can be obtained once kennels have been measured. A waterproof and durable outer layer is important to maintain hygiene.

Laundry

Soiled hospital laundry and animal bedding may be considered a potential source of infection to both staff and patients and may cause cross-contamination of the environment.

All reusable linens and bedding that have been contaminated with blood, urine, feces, or any other bodily fluids or exudates must be subjected to a decontamination process.

All bedding should be checked for soiling regularly and changed whenever there has been contamination. Using single-use absorbable sheets may help in cases of incontinence, hemorrhage, diarrhea, or vomiting, to help protect the bedding. 

Biosecurity and Hygiene

Compelling evidence has accumulated in human medicine to confirm the important role of the environment in pathogen transmission.

Infection prevention and biosecurity are an essential part of patient care to avoid hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), therefore should play an important role in daily practice – with several team members involved in ward and kennel cleaning and hygiene and all team members be educated and aware of the importance.

There is a real financial risk of failure to ensure biosecurity – with potential losses to the veterinary hospital and the client. Careful and strategic evaluation of disinfectants, implementation of thorough cleaning practices, and environmental swabs of the veterinary hospital can prevent these kinds of HAIs and the added cost of treating and controlling them.

To aid in this process, it is desirable that surfaces in animal housing and clinical spaces are cleanable and nonporous, such as stainless steel in the kenneling areas. 

Common factors that can lead to poor hygiene measures include, not following the dilution instructions on the disinfectants, failing to reach designated contact time, incorrect storage or use beyond the disinfectant’s shelf life, and mixing inappropriate cleaning chemicals which can result in dangerous interactions (such as the release of chlorine gas).

Furthermore, if the team does not adequately remove gross debris prior to the application of the disinfectant, it may render the chemicals ineffective.

Quality Control

Environmental swabs can be taken to monitor and audit the effectiveness of current hygiene protocols. This should be done throughout the veterinary hospital but should include kennels, including monitoring the cleaning of the bars and openings to ensure specific ‘touch points’ aren't getting missed. 

Conclusion

Consideration of comfort and hygiene in hospitalized patients is essential.

It takes a whole-team approach to maintain veterinary practice hygiene, and education should be on a systemic level so all people within the organization are aware of why protocols are used.

Particularly in kenneling areas, stainless steel units provide an excellent non-porous material for decontamination and disinfecting – but care should also be taken to furnish the kennel with appropriate bedding to maximize patient comfort and experience while still allowing excellent hygiene measures to be undertaken.

References

AAHA (2017) ‘Infection Control and Biosecurity in Veterinary Medicine’ Available Online: https://www.aaha.org/globalassets/05-pet-health-resources/virox_booklet24.pdf

Anderson, K.L., O’Neill, D.G., Brodbelt, D.C. et al. Prevalence, duration and risk factors for appendicular osteoarthritis in a UK dog population under primary veterinary care. Sci Rep 8, 5641 (2018).

Traverse M, Aceto H. Environmental cleaning and disinfection. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract. 2015 Mar;45(2):299-330, vi. doi: 10.1016/j.cvsm.2014.11.011. Epub 2014 Dec 30. PMID: 25555560; PMCID: PMC7114656.

Kerrigan, L. (2015) ‘Care of ageing patients: general considerations for nursing’ Available Online: https://www.vettimes.co.uk/app/uploads/wp-post-to-pdf-enhanced-cache/1/care-of-ageing-patients-general-considerations-for-nursing.pdf

Mark A. Mitchell, (2009) CHAPTER 2 - PREPARING YOUR HOSPITAL FOR EXOTIC PETS, Editor(s): Mark A. Mitchell, Thomas N. Tully, Manual of Exotic Pet Practice, W.B. Saunders.