Ringworm, PLEASE HELP!

I began to search for the perfect kitties for show/breed about a year ago now. To date, I have four wonderful females, all show quality and one male. I purchased the male last, as it took me a while to find a kitty with the pedigree I wanted.

To make a LONG story short, I have spent close to $2000 on this new boy in the last two months. He has had cultures, biopsies, blood work. When he got here he had a severe URI. There were unknown lesions that we did a hair pluck and fungal culture on - both were negative. Then an infected tissue mass surfaced from being on the antibiotics. He had surgery to have that removed. We had tried PROGRAM and anti fungal baths and antibiotics. He ended up getting an ulcer from the last antibiotic he was on and so we decided to do a biopsy. AND... it came back RINGWORM! He has had ringworm since arriveing (which I knew because of the lesions he came with AND because AFTER putting this poor kitty through test after test and treatment after treatment the breeder finally confessed that he did indeed have ringworm before leaving but she THOUGHT it was gone!).

Any how... I have cleaned like a crazy lady. Given them all anti-fungal baths, lym dyp on the kitty that has the lesions. And the vet suggested putting them all on Fulvicin, which I agreed to. I have children in this house and will not have a bunch of kitties running around with ringworm. Our dog now has ringworm as well but so far the others are clear.

I have used the lym dyp on our dog and he is also on the Fulvicin. How long before he can come out of isolation? Does anyone know? He is miserable having to be in the puppy play pen. He is use to being with the kids and sleeping on the couch. He doesn't even want to eat. I have six different bones in with him that he won't chew on, and he has not touched his food. He will only eat the wet food that I put down infront of him twice daily with his Fulvicin in it.

Please... if any one else has had experience with ringworm please contact me! I want to get rid of this completely... and I have spent so much time and money (that I don't really have) trying to beat this.

TIA

first, take a deep breath....
I am sorry you are going through this.... Ringworm might seem worst than really is... Ringworm IMHO is just really a big nuisance....

As far as the isolation... forget it - IMO it is as good as nothing. The spores are so tiny, they get everywhere, so you might as well let him free. It will do no good for him to have him not eating and depressed.... Ringworm is ALL about immune system.
The most important thing to pay attention to is the immune system of the whole family.
In case you or the children get it, it can be easily treated with athlete's foot ointment, or monistad 3. I would stay away from the internal meds, as they are very strong in the liver, but that is just me.

If it all fails, it should run its course in a couple/few months...
I had experience with Ringworm - My kitty Lucky came home with it. I tried many many things, until that I decided on Colloidal Silver and just leaving to nature.... and voila!
The worst thing I did was to google Ringworm - I wanted to return her, and peel off my sky and move out of my apartment in the process.
Once I decided to leave it be and check it to see it where it went, my life and Lucky's life got all better!
So, here is my advice for you: Breathe, and take for what this is: Your kitty has athlete's foot... Not horrible when put this way, right?
Good luck, and I am sure you will receive tons of good advice in here!!

Completely agree with what carollinalima said. We went through the whole ringworm thing at the same time and I can honestly say that I freaked out when I started Googling it. Everything I read then scared the heck out of me. I "cured" it by doing nothing. As soon as I got Tofu's food allergies under control, his immune system got better, and it went away on its own. I ended up donating the $250 oral meds that I got from the feline vet to a rescue.

I had ringworm in my multi-pet household. I used oral anti-fungal meds on *everyone* (Fluconazole), treated the lesions with a topical anti-fungal cream (Conofite), & bathed every 2 weeks with anti-fungal shampoo. We almost always have cases of ringworm at the shelter - Fulvicin is, IMO, not that effective, expensive, & much harder on the cats than other meds. Fluconazole might not work for your kitties - but might be worth a try. The tablets end up costing about $20 per cat to treat for ringworm - for a shelter when we're treating 10 kitties or more at a time it's much more cost effective than Fulvicin!

Before using any treatment, please discuss it with your vet. As many things safe for people & toxic to cats.

It's ringworm and not anything serious. I just ran the course with a litter of kittens someone dumped into a dumpster. Even my oldsters got ringworm and on the older cats the ringworm doesn't strip the hair, it just causes scabs and sores to appear. I put the kittens on oral meds Sporanax after determining that the lyme sulfur dip was pointless. There were five kittens with active ringworm. I also started dropping GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract) in their waterbowls and in their food and am finally coming out on the end of this. But, it has been months. The kittens were 7 weeks old when they were dumped, and now they are 4 months old. Because I can't bath some of the strays here (they were formerly feral) I resorted to making a mixture of GSE and water and dabbing it on the open sores and lesions. Mostly the long hairs were affected, but I have a few shorthairs with it as well. I developed an immunity to it years ago and the dog who was never treated or isolated is fine. She has never gotten it.

Personally, I would rather deal with ringworm any day versus some of the other afflictions out there that affects cats and kittens.

Thank you for the advice everyone.

I do understand that ringworm is not life threatening and I of course would rather deal with this then something more serious. However, this is a cattery situation and showing is a big part of the "plan". My show kitties are so far, lesion free. I guess I just want to make sure that this is taken care of in the quickest and most effective way possible. I have been told that Fulvicin is the way to go by other breeders and by the vet. It has cost me HUNDREDS of dollars to buy it. The cost is approximately $2.25 per capsule!

My kids are all sick with a cold, as am I. I must say that it is very strange that none of us have contracted it after two months. I didn't even realize our dog had lesions until I actually ran my nails across his back and felt scabs. We then completely shaved him down and dipped him in lym dyp.

It would just be a shame to have spent hundreds of dollars if it won't work. What can I do to ensure it DOES work?

Thanks again!

I would be careful with your prescribed treatment. The side effects in cats can be daunting in long-term use. That's why I went to Sporanox.

Sometimes life doesn't go as planned. You just do the best you are able to do and hope it works out in the end. One way to minimize ringworm is to isolate each animal with it- but if you have a lot of animals that gets difficult. My vet calls it a free agent and when it comes calling you just hope you can stamp out the visiting pass quickly.

I agree with the advice to take a deep breath. Overzealousness sometimes does more harm than good.

For instance, please be careful about shaving anyone - the tiny nicks from the razor can actually help the ringwork fungus get a better grip. Keeping their hair cut short is good - but only because it helps you see the sores/lesions.

Also, overcleaning does no good - just because a) the spores are usually not killed and b) too much cleaning solution, especially those with bleach, can be as harmful as the germs you're trying to kill.

Just like carolinaman said - its athletes foot. Sooner or later, your pets will develop an immunity.

I know how important timing can be. I had two fosters who outgrew their cute kitten stage while developing their immunities. By the time they were clean, they were seven months old. I did find them a home and when I though about it, actually felt better because I knew their adopters weren't just in love with the cuteness.

The good news is, once everyone is clean, they will all have an immunity to this fungus.

caitscats I know how you feel. My husband bought a siamese kitten from a breeder that had no signs of ringworm, health guarantee, and vet check before he was brought home. The kitten was a carrier of ringworm. It's turned my life upside down. Over the last 7 months I have spent close to $1000.00 on vet and medicine bills. I agree, the more you read about ringworm the crazier it will make you feel. My animals have had a lot of fungus baths, topical treatment and were put on itraconazole for 3 months, the (carrier the new kitten 4 months). The ringworm seemed to just run it's course no matter what I did. Still not in the clear yet. I have tests to do when I can fit it into the budget. I felt a scab yesterday on my Pom, he was the only one who did not break out w/ ringworm. I pray it's not ringworm. His hair is still there but I have no clue what it is. I have done all the extreme cleaning in the house. I feel better to do it but has it helped?? I Don't think so because it's taking so long to be free of this. Four of my cats are 12- 14 years old. I had to put my Joy to sleep sept 17th 2009 because she fell very ill and I did not have the finances to cover trying to treat her. It's heart breaking because in the last 6 months of her life I could not be close to her or any other pet in hopes of not spreading ringworm more then it had already. I think I'm having such a hard time clearing this up because all my pets except the siamese are old.

IMO there is no way to ensure what will work because there are so many different types of ringworm fungus. Boosting their immune system is a good idea. I'm going to try Colloidal Silver as a preventative asap. The grapefruit wouldn't hurt. If you want you can read through my topic on ringworm here: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=204282

After it looked like everything was clearing up and I had multiple neg fungus tests The kitten had to be neutered because he had been spraying. He lost a patch of hair and had a lesion where they gave him the anesthetic 10 days later (I did not have him tested for ringworm again). I panicked and treated him for ringworm using this advice: http://www.showcatsonline.com/x/keto...ringworm.shtml

It's very affordable. I payed 25.00 on ebay for the ketoconazole meds. 2 pills treated him. The treatment is on the showcats site. You might want to ask your Ask vet about ketoconazole. My kittens lesion cleared up in 5 days with the pill treatment and I did fungus baths once a week for 3 weeks in a row. I only did the 1 week treatment of the pills. He has not been tested yet. I will update after he has been tested for ringworm.

I hope you pull through this soon! Let us know how things are going and what is working for you. I wish everyone in the family well.

Since the breeder admitted that the cat had ringworm before he was sent to you, I'd be sending her a bill for at least part of the treatment.

Thanks again.

Sigh... I have some breeders telling me that the Fulvicin, Dermazole and cleaning WILL work and others saying that it won't. I am just a mess to be honest. I worked so hard setting up my (in home) cattery. I spent a lot of money buying the best cats that I could to start my show career with. And now THIS! I am so frustrated.

Originally Posted by caitscats

Thanks again.

Sigh... I have some breeders telling me that the Fulvicin, Dermazole and cleaning WILL work and others saying that it won't. I am just a mess to be honest. I worked so hard setting up my (in home) cattery. I spent a lot of money buying the best cats that I could to start my show career with. And now THIS! I am so frustrated.

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Ringworm is not the end of the world - it WILL go away. It is not a death sentence, it is not a serious disease, it is not cancer, it is not painful, is not anything serious. So, While I really do understand your frustration, worst case scenario, you will lose a few months... This will not end by any means your show career.... Enjoy your kitties, as they are with you for a life time...

Thank you. I guess my fear is that although the cats I have will eventually not have ringworm, that when I get kittens that the kittens will then contract it. I do not want that. I really hope this treatment works.

Originally Posted by caitscats

Thank you. I guess my fear is that although the cats I have will eventually not have ringworm, that when I get kittens that the kittens will then contract it. I do not want that. I really hope this treatment works.

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... only time will tell... But IMHO you can't freak out for what might or might not happen in life... especially for something that is really not that serious... If it was Feline leukemia, or something really really serious.... sure... but ringworm? no...
Believe me, I get it... When Lucky had it, and I researched it, I freaked out too. Even here, in the site, I freaked out big time... Then some members started telling me what I am telling you, and thank God I listened to them! from that time on, my life became all better. I was SO paranoid with ringworm, that I was not even enjoying her... I was not giving my poor baby the love she needed either...
The bottom line is that ringworm is really nothing more than a nuisance.
The only case that it become serious, IMO is if you are trying to adopt out kittens, and time is of the essence, in a shelter, rescue or foster situation... Then it does become a problem, as people do not want to adopt a pet with ringworm. Other than that, it is really not that serious... And of course if a member of the family has a immune deficiency...
So, my advice for you, for all that is worth, is to follow the treatment that you feel that makes sense - I would advise to discuss with Nat (white cat lover) - , and take it a day at a time, and for what it is, athlete's foot.... Love your kitties.... IMO isolation is useless - let him loose, it is much more important to have him happy and healthy with a strong immune system....
and breath and calm down! you are going to be just fine! Enjoy your kitties - there shouldn't be a cattery without love and enjoyment, that is the bottom line!

Fulvicin will work. I assume you are to give it for 1 month. I had it recently in my cattery, mine were on the same medication for a full month then totally clean after it finished. My queens are all perfectly healthy now with no complications at all. The only down side is that the spores can lay dormant for 2 years. I did the whole steam carpet thing after as well as bedding. I also got some F10 and sprayed that all around the place. Spring cleaning came early to this house.

I agree with the fluconazole, I've had good luck with that and Melassab flush topically. Also, while talking about boosting the immune system, I don't think I saw anyone mention L-lysine. I do rescue work and usually have a ton of cats/kittens - it's L.A. and the breeding season never ends - and I add l-lysine and benebac to the wet food every day.

It will pass, it's just a matter of giving it enough time.