Which intestinal parasite’s cysts are more likely to collapse in Sheather’s sugar (SG about 1.27) but remain intact in 33% zinc sulfate (SG about 1.18)? I ran back-to-back fecal floats at 7 a.m… today and the difference under 40x was hard to miss.
@JanelleRDH I size brushes chairside with a color probe and send two adjacent sizes on a keyring; telling them “snug, no force” makes it click — like picking the right catheter gauge for a grumpy cat. Caveat: for tight contacts or bonded retainers I still demo tape floss or Superfloss — have you tried that right after varnish?
And in our vet dental ward, barriers beat pouches — right around $0.45/patient on high-turnover days — mostly from monitor and handpiece sleeves. Switching to “barrier film roll instead of precut sleeves” and trimming to size shaved about $0.12/patient for us. Are you pouching cassettes or individual instruments?
Giardia — the cysts ‘collapse in sugar, intact in zinc’ is classic: Sheather’s (about 1.27) crenates them, while 33% ZnSO4 keeps them plump, so we centrifuge in zinc and read within 10 minutes. Sugar still wins for coccidia/helminth eggs; if your 7 a.m. float looks borderline, back it with a Giardia Ag or DFA. Dog or cat sample changes the pretest odds.