6 Things I Learned from Our Ringworm Plague (book length....)

Oh my god Angieflux!!!! I cannot believe this vet wanted to euthanize the kittens !! What is wrong with people ! I would post terrible reviews on yelp and warn people. If they wanted to euthanize for ringworm, who knows what else they euthanize for inappropriately. So sad!!

In addition to the itraconozole have you been doing the lime and sulfur dips at home? Lime and sulfur dips will kill the ringworm much more faster and effectively than shampoo if you can do it. Have you been crazy cleaning especially vacuuming this will help the most if you vacuum with a good heap filter. I would vacuum the kittens area and your house where you and your other pets are. Also since ringworm is airborne even though your dog wasn't in direct contact with the kittens it could have easily transported on you or in the air unfortunately.

The only way to know if your animals don't have ringworm and if the kitten has cleared it would be to do the fungal cultures. Feeling scabs alone isn't a great indicator because it can take a long time for their skin to heal even when the ringworm is gone. I thought my cat still had ringworm for SURE as she still had some patchy hair loss and was itching, but she didn't her skin was still healing. I'm glad I did the culture because it saved me from doing more dips!! However I did buy a black light from EBay and used it until I saw no more glowing areas. This might be worth a shot before you spend the money at the vet. You need a black late that has 365nm wave length like this one http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=150743998157&globalID=EBAY-US

I am so sorry to hear about your situation, your doing a wonderful thing by treating and saving these kittens. Good karma is sure to come your way !!! Please let us know if you have any questions you've got a lot of people here that are rooting for you, and we know what it's like going through this annoying treatment process!!

Dear Angieflux,

This proves yet again that no good deed goes unpunished. How terrible that your first foster experience turned out to include ringworm. I have a friend who has fostered 391 cats so far, in 13 years, and she has yet to experience it. We got it with our first feral rescue kitten, so I know that life can be unfair. However, there are many feline health problems that are a million times worse: panleukopenia, FIP, etc. Ringworm is minor in comparison, but it's hard to keep that in mind when the treatment is so long and cumbersome and difficult. 

It seems to me that it is a violation of veterinary medical ethics to euthanize kittens simply because they have ringworm. Perhaps you live in an area, like parts of the southern US, where the stray cat and kitten population is overwhelming, and where healthy and friendly cats get euthanized routinely because there are too many for shelters to hold. But your kittens are already safe and cared for in a great foster home — and will likely find homes when they are cured, simply because they are young and cute, as all kittens are. That vet sounds either callous or burned out. You are right to be disgusted that she wants to end their lives because of a fungus.

Please, please don't be sad, except because you've got a terrible vet in your area. You are doing amazing work!  You have now saved those kittens' lives, not from ringworm but from a murderous and uninformed vet. You are a hero! Unlike you, I'm not in the center of this story, so, from my distant perspective, I can see that it had to be fate that brought those kittens to you. Not everyone can handle the treatment that you have already provided. Not everyone can deal with a vet like HER. You saved those kittens in more ways than one. 

To answer your question: Yes, I have read somewhere that Dr. Karen Moriello (ringworm expert, esp. in shelter cats) said that cats can still look pretty awful with scabs, etc., when they are cured, just as they can look fine when they are still infected. The skin can take time to heal even when the fungus is gone. Culturing is the only way to learn the truth. 

RosieT, a seasoned veteran of the ringworm wars, has given you some good advice, I see. The thing to do now is start culturing everyone if you haven't done so already. Culture your own animals as well as the kittens. This can get expensive, but it's the only way to really know what's going on. You mentioned a "black llight" but the only light that is useful for spotting ringworm is a Wood's Lamp, and it requires a certain amount of skill and experience to use it correctly. And they can show both false positives and false negatives, especially in the wrong hands.

Apparently it is a whole lot easier to treat dogs for ringworm than cats, so if your fears for your dog are confirmed, it should be faster and simpler to cure.

Keep in mind that, even with NO treatment, ringworm will often resolve itself in a matter of months. Knowing this makes me even more angry at that vet, however. It's always a good idea to channel all that negative energy into a useful activity, like housecleaning. 

I have found from experience that people who foster cats and kittens are generally the best people I know. Here you are with your first kittens and you already have my great admiration for dealing with ringworm so intelligently and bravely AND saving them from that vet. Keep in mind that many people would have run screaming from the whole situation. You are awesome and you should realize it! 

Thank you, RosieT and Bunnelina! Just reading your responses made me feel a bit better.

RosieT, I was unaware that you could just buy the lime sulfur stuff and do dips at home. I'm actually suspicious of everything that this vet claimed to do now...when we picked up the kittens from their first visit, they didn't smell sulfury at all. Their hair was bone dry, even though they supposedly had these dips done. I think I'll order some of this in bulk online since we have eight animals in the home at the moment (just saying that makes me nervous!). I do want to get a light, too, because that's the only thing the vet used to confirm the diagnosis...so we know that this strain will fluoresce. We have been vacuuming and thankfully have either laminate or tile throughout the house, no carpeted areas whatsoever. And we definitely want to warn people about this horrible vet!

Bunnelina, this was my first foster experience, but my wife had fostered (unofficially) several times before we lived together. She was always able to quickly find homes for everyone and never had to deal with anything like this. However, this was the first time that both of us actually answered a call to foster instead of just helping abandoned kittens, getting them vaccinated/fixed, and finding homes for them. I am wondering if we should call the people who handle vet licensing...but would they even do anything? We live in southern California, not a rural/country area by any means. The receptionist at the vet is likewise disgusted and wants to quit her job over this. She said that the itraconazole for all three kittens is only $85...and they don't haven't even confirmed that they still have the ringworm! So this vet basically wants to kill three kittens over less than a hundred dollars. The kittens have no other issues whatsoever and have been in perfect health aside from this (and a little bit of soft stool from the medicine). Either way, we are committed to these kittens and won't let anything bad happen to them.

Another question, if either of you (or someone else) knows: is itraconazole safe for a diabetic cat? One of our three cats (Ellen) is 12 years old and diabetic (she gets two injections of Lantus each day). If she happens to have ringworm, will her treatment protocol be different because she has a chronic illness? I'm trying to prioritize which of our five regular pets to bring to our regular vet first...definitely our dog that looks like she has it (Lilly), and probably Ellen, too.

Anyway, thank you both again for your thoughtful replies!

Hi again,

Southern California? I would never have guessed. 

Your wife may have fostered before but you're still at the top of my Heroic Fosters list because of what you're going through with a difficult vet and your first litter of kittens as a couple. Enough modesty. You really are doing important work saving these kittens. They will bring lifetimes of joy to some families, thanks to you. By all means, do what you feel is right about warning others about that vet. Lodge a formal complaint if you think it will help and you have the time and energy.

When cats are dipped in lime sulfur, they turn faintly yellowish after they dry and feel dusty, and they smell like gunpowder or fireworks (like "caps", if you are a certain age). Also, the smell of the dip would have hit you like a wave, even in the waiting room, unless your vet clinic is huge or has multiple levels. When my cats were dipped at the vet they would burn strongly scented candles all over the waiting room and didn't fool anyone. Perhaps your vet rinsed them after dipping, but that's wrong. The dip is supposed to air dry on them, an important part of the treatment. Once they dry, the smell fades gradually. In a few days, you'll hardly notice it.

Dipping is no picnic, but it's effective against ringworm. There are shampoos that people have used instead, with far less hassle, but I have yet to read that they are as effective. By all means google "Karen Moriello" and read what you can about her most up-to-date findings. She's the vet who has saved countless cats by coming up with ways for shelters to handle outbreaks of ringworm. She does studies to determine what treatments are effective. She's trustworthy.

Even here in Massachusetts, there have been shelters (Scituate, for example) that have closed down and euthanized ALL the animals because of ringworm. This is not because ringworm is deadly, but because they can't handle the expense and labor of the treatment, or allow volunteers work with the animals. The cats and dogs become isolated and lonely without much human or other animal contact, and the treatment time is long — months. The stress of that on top of the usual shelter stress makes them more likely to get other, serious illnesses, so the shelter just gives up. They sanitize the whole place and reopen a few months later. Dr. Moriello has been finding ways to prevent such tragedies: less-expensive but effective oral meds, the dipping protocol, and reasonable ways to clean and sanitize that still work.

If you are going to get a Wood's Lamp, make sure you get good instructions with it. You can read online about the issues Dr. Moriello has found with using them. They need to warm up and get to the right temp before they work properly. Other kinds of particles in the coat can fluoresce, so you need to know what ringworm fluorescence looks like as opposed to those. There's more to it than shining a light and looking for glowing areas. An experienced vet can likely help you out with a lesson or two. Our vet mainly relied on culturing, which is considered the "gold standard" for knowing whether a cat is negative or positive. 

I wish I could answer your question about your diabetic cat but I can't. Ask a vet you really trust who understands these drug interactions. Don't worry too much about the effects of the treatment on your cats' overall health as long as they are reasonably well. We had two pretty fragile, elderly Persians who got oral meds and weekly dips and cultures even though they never tested positive, along with our two new kittens, who did get ringworm. The Persians didn't enjoy the situation but they weren't all that freaked out, either. One Persian also picked up calici virus from the second kitten we adopted (days before we found out kitten 1 had ringworm). THAT is a nasty illness compared to ringworm. Both the cat and kitten were very ill with blocked nasal passages and no appetite. The Persian was bleeding from his mouth from sores in his throat, and had terrible arthritis from the virus, too. He needed fluids and syringe feeding for weeks. Then he got well enough to get dipped! He did fine with that although he was so vocal at the groomer that the staff was a bit shell-shocked. They had never experienced such a talkative cat and Persians are supposed to be quiet. We had tried to warn them.... All of our cats recovered nicely, and that whole period of serious nursing and anxiety over them seems like a dream now. This, too, will pass for you!

Okay quick update, I let Gotham the kitten out of isolation the other day because I notice a spot on my other cat buddy so I didn't think it was fair to keep him in the small bathroom if the other cat has it anyways now. I did give all 3 of my cats a Lyme dip when it came in on Thursday I have the scratches to prove that lol and you guys were right that stuff stinks to high hell but we got throught it. The shampoo came in yesterday so next time I do the dip I am going to use the shampoo as well.



Pluse therapy? The vet just told me to give one fourth pill to the kitten each day til it was gone. Do you think I should do the pulse therapy?

Hi there, I hope it is a lot less stressful for Gotham and for you now that he is out of isolation. Who needs more stress on top of ringworm?? And kittens need love and attention more than anything.

Giving everyone the lime-sulfur dip will help protect the cat who doesn't have ringworm and make infected cats less contagious AND less likely to get a more severe case. It's vile, but it's good stuff.

The lime dip is supposed to dry on the cat; you shouldn't rinse it off. I'd suggest letting it stay on the cat and skip the shampoo unless your vet has seen studies that show it works. The lime dip works. You could save the shampoo for when you have negative cultures and you want to get all that dusty lime residue off the cured cats. (We let ours wear off. I think we were too exhausted to deal with it. And, believe it or not, you will get used to the cats being that way!)

Yes, the doing the lime dip is a total pain, and you have to really soak them and sponge it on their faces. I hope the next go-round is a lot easier, now that they know what to expect. Maybe get some elbow-length gauntlets?

Pulse therapy: It's just what we were told to do six years ago. We gave terbinafine to our cats for two weeks, then we told to take a break for two weeks, and give it again for two weeks. When we got our first negative cultures on those cats, we could stop the oral meds. There are different ways to prescribe the medication, but as long as it works, that's all that matters. Your vet seems to be up-to-date: that medication is a fairly new one, and it is effective and much less expensive and less dangerous than some other ringworm drugs. You're lucky to have a good vet: Read the thread here and you'll find a couple fostering their first litter of kittens together.... and the kittens came with ringworm. The vet who gave them those kittens blithely told them she wanted to put them all to sleep! It just boggles the mind.....

Hang in there, and please keep us posted!

Having been through this, I just want to say that I feel for all of you going through this.  I am still so mentally scarred from that whole experience.  I swore I'd never get another cat but recently decided to provide hospice for a cat with a terminal illness.  I am assured the cat is ringworm free, and as I'm getting her from the place that diagnosed my ringworm cat with ringworm, I suspect they'd know.  Plus I've met the lovely old lady cat and she looks wonderful. I'm also having my own vet check her before I bring her home from the shelter.  And yet I'm still terrified.  I wish you all the best.  It does end eventually even if it takes a pound of flesh from you.  Keeping you in my thoughts.

Okay so bath two went with out a hitch noticed a spot on our third cat Varley. No new spots on Buddy and the ones on Gotham seem to be cleaning up. My attitude to this I whole thing has changed I was in full freak out mode but now I am like this isn't the black plauge that I thought it was I just have to let it run its course but don't get me wrong I still clean everyday but I don't go over the top with it I deep clean once a week .

That's a very healthy attitude, Rogue! It took me a longer time to get there myself. It helped to read messages from people here who had been through it and come out the other side. I also met people who had dealt with much worse, more dangerous health situations with litters of kittens, especially.

When we had ringworm, we had two kittens and two seniors. One cat and one kitten were very sick with calici virus and one senior also had chronic renal failure, so we worked out daily nursing schedules for all four cats: getting ringworm meds, antibiotics, pain injections, deworming liquid, subcutaneous hydration, syringe feeding, nose drops, and steam treatments for blocked noses. Plus the dips for the stronger ones (and more power to you for being able to handle those yourself!) and all the cleaning. We felt a bit like refugees without our rugs, curtains, cushions, down comforter, knick-knacks, and so on. The Indian bedspreads and old sheets covering the furniture were depressing as hell if we didn't make jokes about them.

I had to pick up the kittens' ringworm medicine at the pharmacy at Children's Hospital. Just walking into that place every couple of weeks was an education, since I was surrounded by families with a seriously ill or disabled child. Put everything into perspective. Shut me up when I wanted to complain.

I learned that my husband (an academic) was an excellent, compassionate nurse and was totally committed to our cats.I learned that I could, and would, do anything to care for our cats — and him.  We both developed some new respect and trust and admiration for each other from having gone through this. We know we can and will do anything for our cats, and for each other when the chips are down. With love and a little courage and humor, you can handle anything. I hope you are having a similar experience. It's the silver lining here. You are going to be a stronger, more powerful person for having dealt with this. Which is not to say it's easy, so keeping hanging in there. We're here if you need us.

I wish I had what you had with your husband it sounds nice, my roommate is anything but helpful. She is always buried in video game. She has yet to clean her room, she helped me with the first bath but not the second and she was sorry for my language during it.

Well, it would be a real drag if she got a few spots but it would likely energize her. You might mention to her that when people get it on their scalps, their hair falls out in those places. (No, it's not a fatal disease, but it is still sorta gross. I saw a woman who had it on her head, decades ago, and it looked awful. I never forgot.) It's very unsightly to have on one's face, too. As long as you are generally healthy with a good immune system... and aren't stressing out badly, you're likely to be fine and not get it yourself. But maybe you don't need to tell HER that. 

That might be a good idea thank you, but at the same time I don't think it will work she has been looking for an excuse to shave her head, if it wasn't for the rules at her work she would have done it a long time ago, I should tell her if she gets it then the doctors can't do anything and she will just have to live with it til it is gone. [emoji]128518[/emoji]

Hi all figured I would come and give you guys some good news all three of my cat got negative cultures, so we are off the meds I am not going to do the lime sulfur dip each week but I will give them a bath of the shampoo I got from the vet. Fingers crosses that the next culture is negative.

Hey, that's great! Congratulations! I hope you are out of the woods. Thanks for keeping us posted. It's encouraging for everyone else to hear that someone's hard work and dedication paid off.

Good to hear. 

It seems this is the place to come for support and I certainly need it. I had posted on this a few days ago before searching the topic. This is a great thread. 2 1/2 weeks ago I adopted 2 year old Rosie from a shelter. I put her in my isolation room for a 10 day incubation period. At the time I met her I had noticed that she had had the hair around an ear clipped the skin felt rough and just a little crusty and the hair had begun to grow back. I was told that she had flea bite allergies but had been treated with Revolution. A few days later I took her to the vet where under the woods lamp we found she had ringworm. The vet gave me topical Miconazol to apply twice daily. I got Sporanox to give once a day, 7 days on, 7 days off x3. I have a 4% Chlorhexidine shampoo that I have to use once a week. Just want to quickly add that if you belong t o Costco they have a veterinary med discount program at their pharmacies. Saved a bundle so Sporanox cost only $36. I could tell Rosie had RW in many more places than her ear . She scratched like crazy and I could feel hard crusty stuff around her neck, on her head and between her shoulder blades. I had to have the vet shave her down to her shoulders, around the neck and chest and up the back of her head. They left only little patches on her cheeks to avoid her whiskers. Yep, she has crusty pustules and one huge colony on her neck. I am very glad I had not yet let her roam my house because I have 2 cats besides her. My hubby and I own a carpet and upholstery cleaning company so because she is in a bedroom we cleaned the carpet and mattress walls etc.

It is just a miserable experience. Here in CA it has been so hot. I have no AC and she is upstairs baking. I had to put fans in with her even tho they blow spores around.I threw out her new cat tree and had to throw away my new comforter set. I have ordered mattress encasement for my brand new pillow top that is in the room.My question is- since she had never roamed the house do I have to basically scrub every inch of the whole house? Every day I clean her room. In order to do that I carry her about 5 ft into the bathroom and when I put her back I super clean the bathroom. She has now had two baths and to do that I have to take her (wrapped in a towel) to my kitchen because I have no bathtub and the kitchen sink is large. I promptly bundle her in a towel and she goes right back into the room.

 I am just sick with this. I got an air purifier for her room and vacuum every day, change bedding everyday swiffer walls etc. Today I can hardly move and have no strength.My husband thinks I am obsessing but he knows nothing of ringworm and certainly has not read about it. I cannot clean the ceilings, they are textured and I have no attachments to do so. Some of the ceilings in my home are 15 ft up and I don't know what to do. We have had a brief break from the weather over 100 but because of so many days in row of it her room is unbearable . Right now is a busy season for work and my husband is working 12-15 hours a day and just has not time to help me. I am working 10 hour days 6 days a week. I have not been good about changing clothes every time I go in and out of the room. I left some stuff in the room to change into and out of but I have to change in the hall and thati s right in front of a large window from which the whole neighborhood can see me.Making matters worse we are in the midst of a very bad drought here in CA. We have serious water restrictions with huge fines attached. All this washing etc. is going to get me in huge trouble. I could just kick myself. I am only on day 12 post diagnosis and I am exhausted . My two cats seem depressed, my new cat is depressed, my husband is beyond angry and I feel ill.Any advice is appreciated.

Hi Maureen, 

I am soooo sorry you are dealing with this. You are a wonderful caring person for taking this cat in and treating her back to health - you are doing a very hard but strong thing for Rosie try to remember that as you continue. Ringworm is a major pain in the ass, but it will be over and it will be a distant memory before you know it. It sounds like you are on the right track, however I would suggest one thing that you aren't currently doing if you feel like the ringworm isn't getting better fast enough. That is doing Lime and Sulfur dips. You don't need to have access to a sink to do it so you could do the dips in a laundry room or basement, but avoid doing it any where near carpet. You fill a bucket or what we did was use a storage tote, you know those plastic bins with the lids that you store sweaters in etc. You dilute the Lime and Sulfur with water - 1 cup Lime Sulfur to a gallon of water and soak your cat in the liquid. We bought a small cheap garden sprayer (the kind you fill up that has a little hose that you pump) and use that to soak to the skin the cat. Using a sponge around the ears and face (and NOT getting it in their eyes, it burns like hell). Also do wear gloves when you do this, the video I attached she does with her bare hands, this stuff will dry the crap out of your hands. Then they need to air dry, again having a crate works great so you can put Rosie in the crate to air dry while you clean her room or wherever you were doing the dips. I also put a medical cone on her, you can even buy a comfortable one from Amazon or a pet store that you can wash - this is good to put on so that she doesn't lick herself while she is trying as it is toxic. 

I bought a gallon of this stuff because I didn't want to run out:

http://www.revivalanimal.com/Lime-Sulfur-Dip.html

Video how to dip. Also note do the larger dose 8oz to gallon they use half the dose, (I researched this a lot and 8oz to a gallon is what is recommended)


Cone: You can probably find either in a pet store. Either of these work well, one is fabric washable and the other is plastic and goes on with velcor, easy to bleach and clean after.



Garden Sprayer:


The Lime and Sulfur dip is much more effective than the shampooing, and if you can do it twice a week with your husband it will expedite the treatment. In between the twice a week, I would even keep a bit of the mixture in a Mason Jar, and spot apply with a sponge to the areas that are really bad. 

Does the room you have her in have carpet? Is there any other room you could keep her in that doesn't have carpet like a bathroom or laundry room? The carpet is so hard to deal with while you are trying to get rid of the ring worm on her. 

Also, UV light including sunlight kills ringworm. So put anything that you want to kill spores on outside in the sun and it will do the trick as well. If it wasn't so hot out, I would recommend putting Rosie in a crate out in the sunlight while you clean her room as the sun will kill spores on her as well. But if it is 100 degrees like you said, it would be too hot for her. Maybe on a not so hot day if the temperature cools down, just another idea. 

I don't think you need to go crazy cleaning your whole house (you are lucky in that sense!!) if she hasn't been free roaming. But a good vacuuming as precautionary would be a good idea if you can do it maybe once a week. 

Also with ceilings, I had the same problem and used a vacuum attachment for the floor and basically vacuumed any of the ceilings I could reach as vacuuming is the best thing you can do to trap spores. Also vaccuming the walls in her room is probably more effective than using a swifter. Suck those spores out of the air! Just remember to throw out the filter every few weeks - do you have a HEPA filter in your vacuum? 

I hope this helps, stay strong, you will make it through all of this!! And Rosie will forever love and thank you for treating her back to health. Ask any questions here - this was a HUGE support for me when I was going through this. Other people experience is the best guidance sometimes was even more helpful to me than my vet. 

Best of luck hoping this will all be over soon for you!!!

Also Maureen if you feel up to the dips, you will definitely need a second person. One person to hold Rosie in the tote, and the second person to apply the Lime and Sulfur. It's way too hard to do on your own, I learned that the hard way The lady on the video has a really easy cat - my cat fought us tooth and nail. I even had to give her a light sedative to be able to do the Lime and Sulfur dips that my vet prescribed me. 

Thank you Rosie T! I am going to try the lyme/sulfur dip if this isn't better in a week. I do see improvement in her overall coat after the bath.My vet is a really good vet. She is the only one in my area acclaimed by the AAFP and she says she saves the dip for something like mange because she feels it is harsh.

 I appreciate knowing that a UV light is helpful. This dang air purifier I just spent a bundle on has one of those but I had not turned it on. It will have to do because if I bring her out in a crate she will be blowing spores all over my house on the way out the door and my cats are out a lot ( I have cat fencing) I don't want them to meet now. Ha-ha.

 I have to go buy a vacuum attachment for this vacuum. I need to get the ceilings. I have to accept that no attachment will get the ceilings along the stair case or in the dining room , they are simply to high. Do you think the fact that she hasn't been thru the house will help me fight this? I am worried .

I am a little cheered because my hubby was out fishing very early and I was looking at everything I need to do and was almost in tears. He ended up coming home and we tore up one room and washed it top to bottom. He thinks I am crazy and making to much of it. I think he will flip if this ends up all over and everyone including the other cats get it.

Truly, he is mad because this is not the first time a rescue/shelter has let me adopt a cat that they should have known needed medical care. A couple years ago I adopted Remy, he was 6 and spent 3 years in a no-kill open cage shelter. He seemed a little under the weather when I met him but I was assured he was fine. I was also assured he had been FIV- well, he wasn't he was very sick and had stomatitis etc. Long story short the rescue either never tested him or they were not testing every cat who came in and we ended up spending so much money and talking care of Remy until he died last Feb.We loved him but my husband is mad that once again we have to spend all this money....

I am trying to do this on my own because he is working such long hours and frankly would like me to give Rosie back to the shelter. That is not an option. She is an easy bather thankfully. If I have to do the dip I am on my own . Hubby helps with the bath but I know the dip would drive him crazy.

I really don't have anyone else to help. Usually my best friend would be here but she is sick and the medicine she takes weaken her immune system so obviously she can't be around ringworm.

Today I am relieved that the temp is down 30 from the past week but it is getting really humid.

 I have e-mailed the vet and asked if instead of 7 days on oral Sporanox and 7 days off maybe she could be on for the full 21 straight days I have heard other vets do.

 When my vet originally said 7 on and 7 off she didn't realize just how bad the ringworm is. The techs were the ones to shave her and the vet was not there.

Thanks once again, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help. I have been feeling really alone. I have to get this under control by Dec. Rosie is in our guest room and we have family coming for Christmas. I wish I could keep her in the bathroom but my bathrooms are so small I just could not spend time in one with her.I try to play with a wand toy in the evening with her she loves it. I have one with a plastic handle a stuffed mouse attached to a wire. The mouse clips off so every few days I throw it away and buy a new one ( ssshhhhh our secret) I can wash the handle and the wire so it is ok.

I keep telling myself- this too shall pass.

Hi Maureen!

I'm happy to help! This will definitely pass, and it is SO not your fault that the cat has ringworm. My husband too was unhappy about me adopting a ringworm cat, but now our cats are ringworm clear and nothing but love. All worth it I think. I know if I hadn't adopted Oscar, and someone else who didn't want to deal with ringworm might have returned the cat to the shelter and sometimes they put the cats down which is HORRIBLE since it is only a skin fungus and not a life threatening disease. 

I would not worry about the rest of your house. Maybe give your other cats a bath with the medicated shampoo just to be safe? It can't hurt and will only help protect them. We used Terbinafine instead of Sporanox, I am not sure which is better but worth mentioning to your vet as well. My vet recommended Terbinafine as it is supposed to be better on their liver, as ringworm medication is harsh on cats. 

Don't feel alone, you will get through this! 

Also have you called the shelter? When we found out Oscar had ringworm I called the shelter and they said they would pay for all of his treatment. You should try talking to your shelter manager, and most likely they will pay for your treatment including the most expensive part which is the ringworm cultures. Do you know much about the culturing process?