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To determine the influence of skin preparations before application of an alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) on bacterial counts before and after elective surgery.Clinical prospective study.Veterinary students (n = 103) performing ovariohysterectomies on 140 dogs.Participants were randomly assigned to 1 initial surgical preparation on the day of surgery: A - hand preparation with medicated solution (4% w/v chlorhexidine bigluconate followed by an ABHR; B - application of a medication solution (benzalkonium chloride 0.1%-1% and polymeric biguanide hydrochloride 0.01%-0.1%) followed by an ABHR; C - nonmedicated pH-neutral soap hand wash followed by ABHR, and D - direct application of an ABHR. Samples were taken by pressing the distal finger tips to an agar plate before the hand preparation, after the hand preparation (n = 3), after ABHR application, and 120 minutes later. Colony-forming units (CFUs) for samples were determined. Total log CFU and CFU log10 reduction were calculated and used for comparison with P .05.Two hours after surgery commenced, the participants of groups that performed a hand preparation had lower total CFUs than those that did not perform a hand preparation (P = .001). In particular, the number of CFUs was lower when ABHR was performed after application of pHN compared to direct ABHR (P = .001).In this population, performing a hand preparation with pHN prior to applying an ABHR had better antimicrobial effect for the duration of surgery than not performing a hand preparation.Surgeons should wash their hands prior to ABHR before starting their first surgery of the day, even when hands appear clean.

Objectives The aim of this study was to determine whether high-protein and high-carbohydrate diets exert differential effects on serum cholesterol, triglyceride and fructosamine concentrations in healthy cats. Methods A randomised, crossover diet trial was performed in 35 healthy shelter cats. Following baseline health assessments, cats were randomised into groups receiving either a high-protein or high-carbohydrate diet for 4 weeks. The cats were then fed a washout diet for 4 weeks before being transitioned to whichever of the two studied diets they had not yet received. Fasting serum cholesterol, triglyceride and fructosamine concentrations were determined at the end of each 4-week diet period. Results Cats on the high-carbohydrate diet had significantly lower serum cholesterol ( P 5) had lower cholesterol ( P = 0.007) and triglyceride ( P = 0.032) concentrations on the high-protein diet than cats within other BCS groups. Conclusions and relevance Diets higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates appear beneficial for short-term glucose control in healthy cats. A high-protein diet was associated with significantly elevated cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in healthy cats, even though the increase was significantly less pronounced in cats with a BCS >5. This finding suggests that overweight cats process high-protein diets, cholesterol and triglycerides differently than leaner cats.