"Dirty" Needles?

[CPL]

I have a few plastic syringes with a needle on the end. How would you go about disinfecting them. I was told to run them under hot water. Does that kill anything besides the skin on my fingers? Also vet said don't use soap. Just curious if there's more I need to be doing. Thanks.

 

[donnaIL]

Why not just throw them away and buy new ones? they are cheap...you could clean the syringes and can the needles..I would at least do that. Needles only cost about .20 so what is the issue? donna

 

[Howdyjabo]

Getting new ones is the best option.

We disinfect needles with Novalsan(sp) between shots-except live vaccines,those we change needles every three or four calves.

 

[cowgirl Ibara]

What I do is boil my syringes and needles in hot water for half an hour.

 

[Outrigger2]

get disposable needles. wouldn't worry about trying to keep used needles

 

[grannysoo]

Throw them away. You don't know where they have been, how many times they have been used, and what they have been used on.

If you would not stick it in your own arm, don't stick it in my cows....

 

[sidney411]

You can boil them. Hot tap water would not be hot enough to sterilize them. I have found you can usually only boil them once or twice before the rubber in the syringe gets hard and makes it difficult to use. The needles get dull also. Don't use a dull needle, you can feel it when it starts to get dull.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

"A Penny Wise...A Pound Foolish"

Buy disposable needles & syringes. Use new needle for each animal vaccinated each time. Use separate syringe for each different vaccine formulation. After a vaccination "session", toss the syringes you used.

Don't "cross-contaminate" between animals. Remove the "variable" (unknown) of any possible "bug" transmitted from one animal to the next.

 

[shorty]

I use a new needle each time , last time I got needles I paid 8.50 for a box of 100 18 ga.x 1 in. , at that price is doesn't pay to fool around .When I'm doing a group of animals at one time I will reuse the syringe but always a new needle.

 

[born2run]

Herd manager uses Nolvasan (chlorhexidine) and another "syringe and needle cleaner". With all the shots they give using a new one every time isn't much of an option.

 

[CPL]

It will be about another six months before they are used again so I'll probably throw them out. I was just told I could keep them, but I guess I see most everyone's point. Thanks.

 

[samm]

i throw the needles out, but keep the syringes, to use for worming the goats, just one round of cydectin for the goats will ruin the rubber on the syringes, also smears the cc/ml on the barrell of the syringe, so i just save em all and use em till the ruber is shot or the doses are erased,....then i chunk em...im not a thrower awayer at heart...

 

[andybob]

I use disposables once only, they are also inclined to become blunt quickly, so unsuitable to be re-used.