When you have pets, it is mandatory to maintain cleanliness and sanitation in and around the house. Pets can become a source of infection if their maintenance is not taken care of. With kids or the elderly in the house, one needs to make sure that the house remains infection-free at all points of time.
Here are some points that will help you keep your house clean and infection-free at all times.
Whether you have a dog or a cat, or both, it is necessary to keep their bedding clean. Fur, dirt, dander, ticks, fleas, eggs, larvae, etc. can be serious sources of infection. Immunocompromised people and people suffering from asthma may get affected due to fur and dander in the environment, hence it is also important to keep the environment free from animal dirt.
The easiest way to keep your pet’s bedding clean is to vacuum every 3-4 days. Bedding should be washed with a mild fragrance and dye-free detergent every week. It’s important to note that the number of rotations and temperature are very important for the removal of all the harmful particles in mechanical washing. Cat’s bedding can be washed less frequently however, fur should be removed regularly by vacuuming or using a brush or tape roller. If there is urine smell in your pet’s bedding or clothes, you can use this procedure described on WebMD to get rid of it. To remove cat and dog mite allergens specifically, you can use detergent solutions at 25 degrees for 5 minutes. Adding an enzymatic detergent won’t work that well for cat and dog mite allergens.
Be it COVID or any other virus or bacteria, washing hands for 20 seconds is a must to ensure a germ-free environment. Most diseases spread because of unwashed hands since people use them for various activities like eating, cooking, writing, etc. Washing hands after being in contact with your pets reduces the chances of associated infections. You should use soap and clean water for 20 seconds to wash your hands.
CDC link for how to wash hands:
The bond between a pet and his parent is precious and divine. There are emotions of love and happiness, however sometimes it is necessary to create boundaries for your and your pet’s health and safety. Try not to sleep on the same bed, avoid entry of your pet in the kitchen. Having a fixed place for feeding and watering ensures a restriction for the spread of zoonoses. If you wish to allow your pets on the furniture, try to invest in more durable and easy-to-clean materials so that you can clean easily as and when required.
Your cat’s litter-box can be a source of germs, hookworms, roundworms and what not! The parasite Toxoplasma gondii can cause birth defects in children of pregnant women and usually, there are no signs to recognize it. Hence, it is very important to clean a cat’s litter box every day.
It is very easy to clean a litter box. Empty the litter-box, wash and rinse completely with washing soap. Allow it to dry completely. You can also disinfect it by using a mild bleach solution if required. The stains can be cleaned using enzymatic stain cleaners. Cleaning the litter box every day can help you control the ammonia levels. Also, it is recommended to have as many litter-boxes in your house as the number of cats.
We wash our food dishes after every meal, don’t we? So, why not follow the same strategy with our pets? Bacteria from pets spread via their saliva. It is important to clean their food bowls after every meal. You can use dishwashing soap to clean their food and water bowls. It’s advisable to wash their water bowls at an interval of every 1-2 days. The water in their bowls should always be fresh.
It’s very easy for dog food to get contaminated easily with bacteria and molds. It can also increase the vulnerability of kids and the elderly in the house. Hence, you must always store pet dry food in air-tight containers. Wet food needs to be refrigerated at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Raw food must be handled carefully. You should check the sources of raw food before feeding it to your pet and always wash it thoroughly as well. Here’s a link to help you understand how to wash raw food. The practices applied to humans and animals when it comes to handling raw food should be similar.
Pet toys can invite Coliform bacteria, yeast and mould. Toys should be cleaned with warm to hot soapy water and disinfected with a mild bleach solution. Animal collars should be washed every 4-6 weeks.
Tick fever is not a disease that can affect animals only, it can affect humans as well. There are so many cases of flea bites, allergic flea dermatitis in humans and animals reported daily. It is of utmost importance to keep the fleas, ticks and lice at bay. This will also prevent diseases like Bartonellosis. If you have a dog, wash its paws after every walk-in running water or with mild dishwashing soap or baby wipes.
Urine and stool stains can be removed using enzymatic odour cleansers. Enzymatic cleaners breakdown uric acid into carbon dioxide and ammonia which helps them remove the strong stench. It may take a couple of washes for the stench to go. It’s necessary to vacuum your house at least once a week to reduce the hair, fur, dirt, dander, etc. Airing the house is also a great strategy to keep your house disease-free. The impact of fresh air is greater than one may realize. Opening the doors and windows of your room/ house even for 10 minutes a day is a good way to let the fresh air in and the harmful air out.
In urban settings, it has been observed that pet owners are generally reluctant to scoop the poop from road sides or street. Feces of dogs are source of pathogenic bacteria and parasites, including antimicrobial resistant organisms. Some of the examples of microbes in dog and cat feces are, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, Toxoplasma, Echinococcus, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Toxocara spp etc. These pathogens are zoonotic and may cause human illness. Children playing areas and gardens if contaminated with dog and cat feces poses great risk to children. It is therefore important to scoop animal poop to keep the environment, yourself and your pets disease-free. If you have children in your household, it becomes more essential to scoop animal poop as they tend to put their hands in their mouth frequently and eat dirt. You can also use poop scoopers to make the process easier. Earth-friendly dog poop bags can be used to throw the faces and don’t forget to wear gloves.
Concentrated dishwashers, toilet cleaners, floor cleaners, etc. can be harmful to some pets. It is our responsibility to figure out what works the most for us and our pets. Try using natural cleaners. If they don’t serve your purpose, talk to your veterinarian about the appropriate chemical cleaners. Regular soap water and diluted bleach solutions are the best to keep homes clean but they have their own drawbacks.
While we are on the topic of cleanliness and sanitation, let us understand the difference between cleaning and disinfection.
- Cleaning removes dirt, grease, food residues and bacteria to a certain extent. However, it does not mean that it kills the bacteria.
- Disinfection involves killing almost all the bacteria and viruses.
- There are wide range of disinfection solutions and sprays available in the market for the purpose of disinfection. However, 1 tablespoon of liquid chlorine bleach added to 1 gallon of water can work as a great disinfectant spray.
- Remember to always clean before attempting disinfection.