Highly Probable Fungal Infection

Hi,

A while back I believe that I posted about Shadow having a sore spot near the base of his tail. A cortisone shot was administered a couple months ago and it looked to healing up rather well, almost to the point where it was gone. The skin had grown back over and the hair was coming back. A couple of weeks ago the sore area was back and bigger than it was before. My vet advised me over the phone to clean it with iodine and then apply a cortisone cream to the area. This had no affect on it at all. I did some more research online and the sore area looked like the pics of a fungal infection. The vet came by today and had a look at it and at this point pretty much agrees me. She shined a special light over the sore spot (uv light?) and part of it showed a greenish/metallic like patch on it and said it looks like a fungal infection. She took some hair samples with her to be tested. Until I get the results back she wants me to keep cleaning with the iodine and also to apply an antifungal cream containing Clotrimazole, which I did earlier. Shadow squirmed the whole time. I imagine it must not feel any better with Daddy prodding around on it to clean it and apply the cream. I left a message on her voice mail a few minutes ago with the same question that I'm going to ask now: Can this same ingredient found in the cream (clotrimazole) also be found in a spray? This would seem like it would be easier and quicker to apply.

Thanks.

Any word back from the vet yet?

No idea if it can be found in a spra. But, it was a simple blacklight that detected the fungal infection, I can tell you that much!

Yeah, a blacklight! Thanks.

I won't hear back from the vet until sometime Saturday, she was off yesterday. The spot looked somewhat better yesterday. I know it's very early in the process but I'm encouraged by that alone. Hopefully, this will do the trick without having to resort to prescription medication. I keep telling the old boy that it's for his own good but he doesn't want to hear that.

Usually with a fungal infection, such as ringworm, as treatment begins the intact hair immediately around the bald patch will also fall out. That's because those hair follicles were already infected but the hair hadn't fallen out yet.

Yes, it does come in a spray form. It requires a prescription for online purchase or can be obtained from your vet. Just keep the cat from licking the area for a while.

My vet found a spray for me to use on Shadow, I just have to pick it up.

I'll update again after I have the test results, should be on Monday.

Awww poor Shadow but it sounds like his Daddy is on top of things ....... many quick healing vibes for your baby boy

Thanks, Pami.

Update time. The two tests that the vet had done on the hair samples both came back negative for a fungal infection. For now I have him on some prednisone and am still treating with antifungal spray. I'm not sure what to try next. The area isn't getting any bigger or worse but it's also not shrinking. He seems unaffected by it and has been pretty chipper lately. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I can't find my digi cam, I think the cats hid it to avoid having their pictures taken. I'll see if I can't borrow a cam to get a pic posted.

I'm not sure why the vet has him on prednisone.
The spray can take several weeks to work.
Getting a positive result on the fungal tests can be a matter of luck. False negatives can be common.

Well, back when this first started she gave him a cortisone shot and it looked like it was very close to being completely healed when there was relapse and the "sore" returned but was larger.

I already had some prednisone on hand from when Charlotte needed it. Instead of giving him another cortisone shot she told me to give him the prednisone for a week and see if that helps. It hasn't helped as far as I can tell.

I don't know what to do about this. Would a biopsy be in order? I really don't want to put him through that if I don't have to. The spot is soft to the touch but I wonder if his licking it when he grooms is might be contributing to it not healing.

The only good news is that is isn't getting worse and actually looks a little better than it did.

There are proteins in a cats saliva that actually promote healing, so it shouldnt be preventing him from healing. I wish I had some other advice as to what it could be though. I understand about stressing your kitty, mine are all high stress cats .... more positive vibes headed your way.

I went back to double check the dates/timeline on this outbreak, just to be sure I'm not rushing things.

My son rescued a puppy from a cemetary last spring. She had three bald patches on her body. My vet took one look at it and said it was probably ringworm. It was "iffy" looking under the Woods light. He didn't do the scrapings because he said they aren't always reliable and it takes too long to get back. So we started the spray twice a day, with good handwashing to prevent the other pets and even people from getting it. We also washed all of her linens.
In the first 10 days of treatment, it appeared to stay the same. Then there was a sudden loss of some of the hair around the bare spots. Not a huge amount, maybe an extra 1/16th of an inch around the edges. Then it seemed to just sit there for two weeks. About 4-5 weeks after we started the spray, she had noticable peachfuzz covering the spots. We continued using the spray until it was 8 weeks out from the starting point. She looks great and it hasn't come back.

I work in an elementary school, so we are used to seeing ringworm in kids. I know that it takes a very long time to get rid of, especially when it reaches the scalp. In humans, ringworm on the scalp requires oral meds for 6 - 8 weeks.

The point of the above, I still think you are dealing with ringworm. It just takes a long time to get visibly better.

Thanks, Mom of 4, I appreciate it.

I didn't realize that it could take so long to get rid of. Since I've only been aggressively treating for a little over two weeks I'll stay the course with the spray. I am wondering how he could have gotten ringworm, if that is indeed what he has. He's strictly an indoor cat.

He might (Oh, I hate to say it) be a carrier. They have outbreaks when they are stressed ...

Welcome to the creeping world of ringworm. UGH. I have mine on oral meds, even though his lesion is all better.

Good news!

Shadow has new skin starting to grow over the area. The new skin is covering at least half of it now with a dime size or smaller spot in the center of the area that isn't yet covered by new skin. I'm very encouraged by this.