We recently discovered a pharmaceutical grade disinfectant called Petsep that works the same way as bleach does. Only that this doesn't sting hands or stain clothes when used! We also like it for the fact that it comes in tablet form and it is therefore an end to carting heavy bottles of household bleach from the store. So all in all kinder for humans to use. It is also safe for cats to come into contact with as it can be used as a topical wound disinfectant.
How it works, is we add 4 tablets of Petsep to 1 litre of water and fill an old used empty bottle with it. We also have it in spray form for spot cleaning and we add some to the fleece blankets and pillows that cats use. One bottle of Petsep tablets contains 100 tablets so that's 25 litres of disinfectant. Rounds off to about $5 per litre of disinfectant if you want to compare it to hospital disinfectant (generic Dettol).
For handwashing, also very important especially because we don't want our volunteers or visitors to bring home any infectious diseases, we use a surgical handwash that uses 4% chlorhexadine, Bactishield. You can buy this from pharmacies. Cheapest would probably be at Pharmex at Kaki Bukit or Kembangan Plaza.
We try to err on the side of caution and be a bit paranoid about disinfecting. Never mind the humans getting diarrhoea from kitty poop, some foster homes have had half the cat population wiped out because of infection. Thanks to our volunteers, the foster space, cat suites and litterboxes are disinfected at least 3 times a week. Want to help? Join us for play/clean volunteering on Tuesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays. Every bit of effort counts!
