Rash Developing on Face

Georgie started to develop a rash Friday morning on her face. At first I thought she had scratched herself but when I looked closer I could see the skin wasn't broken and instead, it looked like the skin around each of her hair follicles had turned red (the second picture shows this best.) I figured I would just keep an eye on it and today she has the same rash on the other side of her face as well. I'm going to give the vet a call on monday if they are still there and see what she has to say.

Has anyone had any experience with this. Is it allergies? My apartment complex did have the lawns fertilized Thursday and I have had the windows open but we live on the third floor so there wouldn't be direct contact. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks!

Hate to say it, but that second pic looks like ringworm. Is she losing hair in that area?

Other possibilities are acne (first pic looks like, but second does not), dry skin, flea bites, herpes (neither pic looks like herpes sores) and others.

If it started Friday and is getting worse (by the sounds of it), definately give your vet a call tomorrow. They may want to culture it, or can tell on physical exam if its something other than ringworm.

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

Hate to say it, but that second pic looks like ringworm. Is she losing hair in that area?

Other possibilities are acne (first pic looks like, but second does not), dry skin, flea bites, herpes (neither pic looks like herpes sores) and others.

If it started Friday and is getting worse (by the sounds of it), definately give your vet a call tomorrow. They may want to culture it, or can tell on physical exam if its something other than ringworm.

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It looks like ringworm to me... I would go to the vet to run a culture - if it is ringworm, you should treat it before it spreads.
If you research it, you will see some scary things about it, but please don't freak out... It's really not as bad as it seems. It's contagious for humans, but VERY easily treated with anti-fungal ointments, like the ones for athlete's foot and yeast infections.
Lucky had ringworm, but her skin was too sensitive for the treatment the vet prescribed, so I decided to treat her with colloidal silver. It went away, she is fine, and neither Bugsy or I never got it.
Good luck!

She's not losing hair around them but they are both about the same size and round. I found a picture of ringworm on a cat that looks similar. I'm really confused on how she could have gotten it though. I took her to the vet last week for an infection she had and she was given amoxicillin for that. Could that have weakened her immune system? Earlier this week we went back in for a check up and she was fine. I hope she didn't catch it from the vets office...I'm going to be seriously bummed. Ugh...I just read the spores are hard to disinfect. Does anyone know how long it usually takes for ring worm to show up after the first contact. That might help me figure out where it came from. We've been the vet about 5 time in the last month and I'm hoping its just a coincidence she's been sick with different things and its not a sign of something else, something more sinister.

Should I put her in isolation, or is it too late?

Originally Posted by Tofu

I took her to the vet last week for an infection she had and she was given amoxicillin for that. Could that have weakened her immune system?

..... Does anyone know how long it usually takes for ring worm to show up after the first contact. That might help me figure out where it came from. We've been the vet about 5 time in the last month and I'm hoping its just a coincidence she's been sick with different things and its not a sign of something else, something more sinister.

Should I put her in isolation, or is it too late?

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Your questions in order of asked:

- yes, the vet visits can stress them out, which in turn depresses the immune system... Moves, new stuff, etc. can all cause stress which weakens the immune system.

- ringworm spores can stay in the environment for 18mos. Cats can be carriers for ringworm and have it pop up when they are stressed. There is really no way of telling when/where she was exposed.

-if it is ringworm, isolation really doesn't do anything unless you lock her up and never go in the room. (because the spores can travel on you, her fur on your clothes/body) As well, the spores can get into the heating system/vents, even a simple slight breeze could blow them under a door.... IMHO isolation doesn't work in any case of ringworm.

the best you can do is make sure any other animals are stress free.... and if you happen to catch it, it takes bout 2wks to clear off a human.

Ringworm is really more of an annoyance/ pain in the arse than anything. Contagious to both humans and other animals. (in my house, one daughter and myself caught it...both of us had a virus at the time of catching it. My other daughter and husband did not catch it)

The only way to tell for sure if it is ringworm is for the vet to culture it... the results can take up to 2wks to come back.

My advice: research the treatments (there's anti fungal medicines, or ointments) and educate yourself on the hazards of the treatments so that you can make an educated decision with your vet on the treatment IF it is ringworm.

It's been awhile but I thought I would post an update. I took Georgie to the vet and it turns out she has allergies. The vet said allergies in cats are not that uncommon and often allergies manifests as skin irritations in cats rather then respiratory problems, like in humans. So, she had been scratching herself to relieve the itching. The vet gave us a cone for her to wear (that didn't last long) and some antihistamine to help with the allergies. I also trimmed her nails when we got home. So far, there haven't been any new marks and the ones she had have healed and gone away.

I think Georgie is very sensitive to pollen as well as chemicals in the environment. The first time she got sick was right after our landlord painted and put new carpeting in the halls. It really smelled chemically. This time, I was keeping the windows open because its been so nice out. The day before she got sick the grounds of our apartment complex were fertilized and I remember thinking the morning she got sick how much I could smell the fertilizers.

I'm just glad its not ringworm. That would have been a nightmare that I really don't need at the moment!