Young Fawn Mixed Breed Puppy Laying on Striped Bed

Contributed by Kaivac.

A lot of people are unaware of this, but hospital-acquired infections – disease that we acquire while in a hospital - can happen to pets also. Pet owners may take their four-legged friends to the vet because they are sick and find out their pet has acquired a new disease because of their stay at the vet.

It's not uncommon. According to a study, "Hospital Acquired Infections in Small Animal Practice," hospital-acquired infections do "occur in veterinary medicine and are likely to increase."

Unsanitary conditions can lead to disease such as canine parvovirus, a severe and highly contagious infection that affects dogs, leptospirosis, which is transmitted by the urine of an infected dog, as well as an assortment of other infectious diseases.

Because of this, the Pet Hospitals of Memphis, TN, wanted to make sure their seven locations in the Memphis area are clean and healthy. However, they were having problems keeping their new downtown location up to their high standards.

One of the problems at this new location was the fact that it did not have floor drains.  This means that after mopping floors – which is one of the most unhealthy ways to clean floors - they then had to use a shop vac to vacuum up the moisture, contaminants and cleaning solution.

"My staff was doing the best they could with mops and a shop vac," says Chris Henderson, Chief Operating Officer for The Pet Hospitals in Memphis. "But I knew we could find a better solution."

And a better solution was found: Kaivac's OmniFlex Spray-and-Vac Cleaning system.

Modeled after Kaivac's now famous No-Touch Cleaning system, the system does not use mops. Instead, a precisely measured amount of cleaning solution is sprayed onto surfaces, including floors. It is then vacuumed up by the machine.

This allows many more surfaces to be cleaned. Does not require the use of mops. And moisture, soils, and contaminants are all vacuumed up by the machine without needing any other equipment such as a shop-vac.

But here's why these machines can prove so useful at not only at cleaning veterinary hospitals but all types of facilities.

Independent studies have found that Spray-and-Vac cleaning systems are up to 60 times more efficient in removing bacteria from grout lines than mopping. This is important because very often contamination is spread through pathogens in grout lines and on floors.

In the year since purchasing the Spray-and-Vac system, according to Henderson, the downtown location reports fewer incidents of infection. And while they had never received complaints from customers about the look of the Downtown location "we are now getting compliments about how well maintained the location is and how clean it smells.

The OmniFlex has performed so well that Henderson plans to purchase another one for a new location now under construction. "The veterinary industry should definitely consider using Kaivac," he says. "To give Kaivac two thumbs up for their Spray-and-Vac cleaning system would be an understatement."