The other day, a veterinarian showed us a cage company’s brochure comparing their cage features to competitive cages, listing 5 factors of veterinary cages and panels that matter.
The veterinarian asked us, “Are your cages on that brochure?” We took a look and found that no, our veterinary cages were NOT included. We can only assume they left out the TriStar Vet Titan cages in their comparison, because nothing is as durable, quiet and sanitary as our Titan cages.
The veterinarian wanted to know why Titan cages are so much better than any other cages out there… so we decided to provide this helpful cages check list for anyone purchasing veterinary cages.
We invite you to consider the 5 elements that make our Titan Veterinary Cages the best choice if you’re looking for non-shifting, quiet and sanitary cages that last the lifetime of your practice.
Element #1: Frame Construction (the cage panels)
First, to create square corners in the cage’s frame, most cage companies notch-out all 4 corners by cutting the steel. This means they’re left with blank (empty) corners that need to be covered, so they use steel plates, attached with screws, to cover the corners.
Why is this is a problem?
Consider the daily vibration of dogs constantly moving within the cages – times 20 if you have 20 cages attached together. Plus, when you add the motion of doors opening and closing over time, all that constant vibration makes the cages shift. This loosens the screws and plates, causing the doors, hinges and latches to become misaligned. You may have seen this in your practice — the doors are constantly getting out of whack.
Some companies have tried to overcome this problem by adding 1” square tubing on the corners to give extra support, but this still requires screws. Even companies that bend the steel and flip it over use plates and screws… with the same shifting problems over time.
Here’s why the Titan is different.
TriStar Vet’s hand-welded Titan cage corners turn the frame into one solid piece; no screws or plates to shift over time.
Instead of adding plates and screws to cover up the “open areas,” we create matching stainless steel fill-ins and hand-weld them for a substantial amount of strength. Yes, it takes more time to do this, but you end up with a cage frame that’s all one piece. There’s no give, no wiggle room, and no screws that come loose during vibration, even after YEARS of use.
Finally, our Titan cages use the heaviest-gauge stainless steel in the industry, which the competitors don’t discuss in detail. We use 18GA stainless steel to practically eliminate the chance of shifting.
Plus, heavier gauge stainless steel absorbs sound, so it’s a quieter environment for patients needing a calm recovery environment. We found that other companies use flimsier steel and simply place a small piece of “sound barrier” tape on the cage panels. This is not as effective, which is why we don’t take this approach.
Element #2: Cage Door Hinges
When it comes to hinges, most cage companies are equal in most ways. Except, one of our competitors boasts that they use plastic hinges, which is not as strong as stainless steel.
What would you rather have over the lifetime of your veterinary cages — steel or plastic? Plus, our hinges allow you to lift off the cage door as needed to clean them/sanitize them separately the easy way. This is not possible with most other cages.
Element #3: Hardware Used
While other cage companies talk about their hardware… we actually don’t need to. That’s because we don’t cover up anything. Our Titan-strength welded corners eliminate the need for plates and screws, so we have to ask ourselves, what are they hiding behind their hardware?
Element #4: Cage Door Latches
We’ve found that all reputable cage door companies use the same helpful slam latches in stainless steel. So we have you covered there. Nobody offers a huge “edge” over us when it comes to latches.
Element #5: Cage Doors
As you may know, agitated or even playful dogs will try to bite and bend cage doors. Some pups just can’t help themselves. They’re not use to being caged away from home.
Therefore, you want the strongest cage doors possible so you never have to worry about the way they take a beating.
Here’s where the Titan cage rises above other cages. Our door frames (the horizontal bars) are made of 3/8-inch stainless steel round rod, and the vertical bars are ¼-inch thick. This is significant because this is heavier than anyone else’s gauge. In fact, it’s double the gauge and strength of all other cage doors.
In summary, when you combine these 5 elements in your veterinary cages checklist, nothing can compare to Titan cages for strength, sound absorption and lasting reliability.
We’re guessing that’s why we’re not included in the others cage manufacturers’ comparison charts.
What’s your question about selecting veterinary cages? Contact us at sales@tristarvet.com or 877.459.7827. Thank you.