Ringworm help!!

I finally found out that my cat has ringworm. He's 6.5 years old and has never had a health issue before. We brought home a new kitty from the shelter and boom...Stewie (the 6.5 year old) has ring worm. I need some help...

I've taken him to the vet. Right now we are treating it with a topical and baths three times a week. It seemed to be getting better - but now it looks like a mess...overnight! The new spots don't look "right" either. What I mean by that is the biggest new spot is free from hair (it's fallen out) but it looks not like little round spots, but like long skinny scrapes. It almost looks like he's scratched the hair off and scratched himself. Right now I'm treating it like ringworm until I can get him to the vet tomorrow. Any suggestions?

I also just feel defeated! I've been battling for at least 1 month and it's not getting better! I'm almost about to confine him to one room so I can sanitize it daily. He has the run of the house right now and I can't clean the whole house every day. Is this necessary?

Finally, the newest kitty lays all over Stewie...they even sleep on top of one another. He has NO ringworm...nada. The doc says he might be a carrier. If he is a carrier...does that mean we will be battling this disease for the rest of our lives? I mean...if Stewie gets better - will he just get re-infected time after time?

Frustrated!!!!

thanks
mk

I don't know about the carrier part. I do know that it can take months to treat ringworm. IMO, the baths aren't very effective. I used an oral anti-fungicide as well as topical(Conofite-topical & Fulvicin/Griseofulvin-oral). You have to clean all the time....I confined my kitties to the bathroom with they had ringworm.

** Please keep in mind that the following advice comes from someone who has absolutely no experience with ringworm and has only the vaguest idea of what it is....

When I was picking up my kittens from the vet I overheard a conversation between a cat foster-mother and a vet tech about ringworm. The vet tech, who often has to deal with this problem in her own foster cats was strongly recommending using Monistat cream to topically treat the ringworm. She was saying that it's a thick cream that keeps the area moisturized for a long time and is therefore very effective.

Now, I know nothing about this and only heard part of the conversation, so I would strongly suggest talking to your vet before slathering some cream on your poor cat based on some very uneducated advice you heard on the Internet. But perhaps it would be something to look into, as the vet tech was saying it works quickly and effectively.

Yeah, Monistat works. You can also use any anti-fungal(athletes foot, jock itch) cream. Check with your Vet first though

I am just getting over this problem with my cats - 3 of them got it, as did I! And I don't know where it came from, either. The baths were horrid - apart from them hating it every three days, the fungicidal shampoo dried their skin and so much fur fell out I thought they would be bald. What has worked are fungicidal tablets- in their case Nizarole, in mine Lamissil. I also used Lamissil cream on everybody twice a day. The course lasts four weeks. I have of course done extra cleaning, changed their collars, washed and boiled bedding etc and now I can only wait and see if it comes back. We have a week of tablets left. For the moment all of them seem clear and the lesions on my neck and back have gone. Good luck - I have never known anything which made me feel so disgusting.

Another tip is to use the black light to check the rugs andother areas. I think the ring worm shows up as white. It helped me treat portions of my oriental rug. the ringworm can live for years on anything organic, not sure on synthetic things. But natural fibers such as cotton in a towell or rug left untreated will just keep reinfecting anyone who touches it. My experience is you need to treat the cats with a pill, and a topical, and treat the house everywhere you suspect may be infected, and check everywhere with the black light. Also, I learned that cats with compromised immune systems get ringworm. My cats that had it also got Feline Leukemia. Unfortunately, I was left with treating me and the house. They had to be put down. No more outdoor cats for me. Ringworm is outside everywhere, on a decaying tree stump, anything organic. Easy for a cat with a compromised imune system to pick up. this has been my experience, hope some of it is helpful.

When I got Bakker from a cat rescue he came home with ringworm. My vet prescribed Grisfulvin for all 4 cats for 4 weeks. Myself, DH, my mom and sis got it too. I cleaned the hard surfaces of my house with a bleach/water solution and restricted where Bakker could go. When you vaccum you will want to change vaccuum cleaner bags everytime just in case. Good luck.

It might help, like you said to keep them confined to one room for a while so that you can at least keep the rest of the house free from germs. Good luck, hope you can get it under control soon! Poor kitty!

When I find the ringworm with a black light - can I just vacuum it or is there some other cleaning that needs to happen?

Lamisil works, used it on Tammy-Timmy.

Originally Posted by michellek75

When I find the ringworm with a black light - can I just vacuum it or is there some other cleaning that needs to happen?

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I'd like to point out here...

there are 3 types of ringworm. Only one of the three types will show up under a blacklight...and of that one type...it only show sup 60% of the time! (Unfortunately) It can still be ringworm even if it doesn't glow under a blacklight!

Ringworm won't show up on your carpets, furniture, etc. What I did was vacuum everything in my house, wash what I could, & then vacuum again. I vacuumed every 2 days or so. I also used a diluted bleach solution to spray everything. Mind you, I tested the diluted bleach solluntion for color fastness on the fabric before using it everywhere....

I didn't know that. Well - hopefully it will help a little. I'm paranoid this stuff is everywhere in my house and I have a 4200 sq ft house...yikes!! I should note that my cat has two big spots, one medium spot and several tiny spots (pin size). I have one dime size spot on my arm. So we're not talking a SEVERE breakout. But I can't get it under control. This means it's probably everywhere.

Back to the drawing board. Thanks for the tips and support. It's very frustrating!

the ringworm showed on my carpet for me with the black light. I canot remember what exactly I put on it. I think just soap and water, or selson blue shampoo and water. scrub it with the soap and then rinse it with water, blot it with some paper towels and check again when it is drty. I would think vacuming without doing that first would just spread it all over the rug.

Ringworm showed on your carpet? I din't know it could...was it likes the spores spread all over....or was it like hair/scab from a cat? And there was no chance it was cat urine? I guess I always assumed ringworm wouldn't or couldn't show up on carpet!

It show up as a white mass under the black light.

My guys are now confined to the bathroom as of last night. I took out the rugs and the shower curtain. I plan on keeping them there until they are under control and I'm able to deep clean the house. I put a clean sheet in there. This morning I folded the sheet in half so they have a "fresh" spot to lay on. Tonight I will bleach that and put a new one in there (while the other one is washing). I will put them in the crate while I bleach the bathroom. I will also bathe them in the tub (instead of taking them downstairs into the laundry room). Hopefully this will help a lot. I'm getting tired of this!!

Thanks for everyone's help! I can't wait until my black light comes in. i had to get one off of ebay because nobody sells them unless it's Halloween! At least I have a new toy for Halloween (trying to keep my spritis up!!).

thanks!

michellek75 said:

My guys are now confined to the bathroom as of last night. I took out the rugs and the shower curtain. I plan on keeping them there until they are under control and I'm able to deep clean the house. I put a clean sheet in there. This morning I folded the sheet in half so they have a "fresh" spot to lay on. Tonight I will bleach that and put a new one in there (while the other one is washing). I will put them in the crate while I bleach the bathroom. I will also bathe them in the tub (instead of taking them downstairs into the laundry room). Hopefully this will help a lot. I'm getting tired of this!!

Thanks for everyone's help! I can't wait until my black light comes in. i had to get one off of ebay because nobody sells them unless it's Halloween! At least I have a new toy for Halloween (trying to keep my spritis up!!).

thanks!

Click to expand...

I had 3 cats. Took in a kitten in October. Didn’t know it had ringworm. I’ve been fighting ringworm for 2 months. I’ve had ringworm 3 times. I’m in my third time having it. I’ve cleaned and medicated and spent countless money for vet and medicine. I can’t get ahead of this fungus and I’m worn out with it. Beyond frustrated and disgusted. And so tired of vacuuming, wiping, and washing. Just so tired. This is a nightmare. It ruined Thanksgiving and Christmas. Nobody can come to my house and don’t want me at their house.