Ring Worm

Over the summer I rescued some kittens who were very sick and wouldn't have made it. Well they must have had a severe case of ringworm because it has spread rapidly. A wildlife rescue place helped them get healthy (cause they were beyond unhealthy). and they staff there got ringworm badly, even though the kittens were in quaranteen. I got it, my sister got it, my mom got it. then we thought it was going away, and we ended up keeping the kittens. then my mom got it back VERY badly, i had never known a case of ringworm to be so bad. so the kittens are still on medication and my mom is back on it.
i came home today from college and noticed one of my 3 older cats looked like she had a scratch. so i looked at her face, and well...she definitely has ringworm. and so i looked at one of my other cats..and well.. guess what...yeah her too. the 3rd one i haven't checked yet.. i'm kinda scared to. but its not small, so i'm assuming they've had it for a little while. I feel so bad, cause i thought i was doing something good, and i ignored the health of my own cats. so now i don't know what to do. we have some cream that the wildlife rescue gave us and we are going to use that for now. but we can't even get one of them to the vet yet to get medication because we have no money. but i feel so bad. are my cats suffering in any way? Im scared to pet them like normal now cause i don't want it again, even though i probably will. I didn't even sleep in my bed tonight cause they'll sleep w/ me, and the thought of the ring worm is so gross. what should i do? I feel so bad for my babies!

I'm sorry to hear about your ringworm. I have been through it before and we just got rid of it at our house, almost 5 months later.As for some advice, all the cats who have it need to be quarantined immediatly to prevent any more spreading. If any of the ones who have it have been in the rest of the house, you will need to do a THROUGH clean of your entire house to help prevent re infection. When you go visit the infected kitties, make sure you change clothes immediatly and awlays wash your hands. Your laundry and anything they have/do sleep on needs to be washed in hot water. It is usually more of a hassle and nusiance than anything. You really do need to get them to a vet though. If so many anmals and people have it, a vet should be involved to help you with the treatment. Good luck.

Some cats AND people very a lot more prone to it than others.

For instance, we took in a young stray a few years back. We already had five other cats at the time. We had NO idea the stray had ringworm, so we let her mingle with the others. Within a couple of weeks, the stray was almost completely bald, and all but two of the cats had spots of furless skin. Even I had two spots of the fungus. My cat, Sassy, and our Siamese, along with my parents didn't get it at all. One of our cats only had a spot of it in her ear. Another was becoming as bald as the stray. But it took only a couple of weeks of meds to get them all better. =)

I suggest you do exactly as the person above me suggested; separate them all until everyone is comepletely healed of it, or they'll keep giving it to each other, over and over again, and pretty soon, the medications will stop working.

Hi - I've been through this and I know how horrible it can be. I am going to tell you the only things that worked for me and my cats, and we were all covered in ringworm from head to toe. For me, the only thing I found that worked was "Tea Tree Oil". It is an anti-fungal. Nothing else worked and I had been to 3 dermatologists! You can get it at a Vitamin Shoppe or a place like GNC. Make sure it says 100% pure tea tree oil. I paid $20. Only use this on humans, not your cats. Put it on several times a day. It smells horrible, but it works. Every time I have a spot pop up on me, I start using it and it's gone within a week.

As far as your cats... the only thing that got rid of it on my cats was Lyme Sulphur Dip. I have attached a link. It is a rinse that stays on them and does not get washed out. Once you pour it on them, keep them someplace like a bathroom until it dries. Even after the ringworm is gone, you should continue to use this as maintenance every 3-4 months, or if the ringworm comes back. Read the instructions on the bottle as to how much you should mix with water.

Like others have said, you will need to keep them in a separate room until the ringworm is gone or you will continue to pass it back and forth.

It is frustrating and can be a pain, but if you follow these steps you should be able to get it under control.

Good luck... let me know if you have any other questions.

http://www.1800petmeds.com/pdetail.asp?SK=2583