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Ringworm
- Thread starter han73
- Start Date
- Joined
- May 13, 2012
- Messages
- 23
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Wow~ mine would riot and shred me and likely leave me a nasty surprise in a shoe if I tried bathing them. LOL! My husband is a little allergic also~~~ I never thought about bathing them regularly to help with that. What brand do you use? I may have to try that!
I've been using "Be Super Clean" shampoo from 1-800-petmeds. It's antimicrobial and antifungal, and smells like cucumber melon (I have to admit I actually washed myself with this during the ringworm outbreaks!) Here's the link: http://www.1800petmeds.com/Be+Super+Clean+Shampoo-prod11069.html . Yeah, the baths help a lot to keep the shedding and dander down. It's definitely not their favorite time, but they do ok. We started them out as soon as soon as we got them, when they were about 3 mos, so I think they're getting sorta used to it!
We used Malaseb shampoo. If I recall correctly (it's been years ago), I think I used to drop our cat off at our vet to have them shampoo her. It took a while but it finally worked after months of trying other methods. Here's a link to the exact packaging we used:
I'm hoping that Bunnelina or someone else with experience with both terbinafine and itraconazole (sporonox) is still around.
I have six foster kittens, all between five and six months old, who have developed ringworm. Well, my vet (and I) thinksit's ringworm. The first culture was inconclusive--color change but the growth couldn't be identified as ringworm--so he took a second one last night. I brought him three of the affected kittens to culture, and none of them glowed under the Woods lamp at all, which he said is fairly unusual in his experience. But the presentation is pretty classic, and it's certainly contagious: It's gone from one kitten to all six in the last two weeks. Two of them have lost most of the hair on their ears and now the hair loss is progressing down their necks. Two more are losing hair on and under their ears. And the two that I thought were asymptomatic just showed lesions tonight: one has a lesion just inside his nostril, one the tip of his nose, and a couple between his ears and eyes; and the other has darkened areas of skin on her upper and lower lips.
I also have two adult fosters, one of which is a former momma kitty who lives with the kittens and the other a Himalayan (she's growing out a lion cut so she's not in full coat, thank goodness), and five cats of my own, three medium-haired and two short-haired. Yeah, I know--way too many cats in one house, and believe me, I agree. I was never supposed to have these fosters for this long.
Anyway...I've got 13 cats to treat because my cats have certainly been exposed and are likely to get infected, no matter how careful I am. My vet is on board with treating everyone with oral meds, whether they have lesions or not. He recommended either ketoconazole or itraconazole. I told him ketoconazole was out because I've read it's pretty hard on the liver and can cause anorexia. Itraconazole is effective but appears to be--from what I can find online--crazy expensive. And then it has to be compounded, which is an added expense. The prices I'm seeing are upwards of $200 for 30 100mg tablets--and that's before compounding. For those who've used itraconazole: Is that a typical price? If not, what did you pay and where did you get it?
I asked my vet about terbinafine, which seems to be fairly new and somewhat unproven but is very cheap: Costco has 90 250mg tablets for about $33 and I just saw that Walmart offers the same amount for just $10 as part of its generics program. He'd heard positive things about it and looked it up for me, and he's willing to prescribe it for a pulse therapy of two weeks on, two weeks off at 30-40 mg per kg. I'm going to take him a study I found that found that cats treated with that protocol relapsed in six weeks and had to be treated with itraconazole but cats treated for three weeks on (I'm not sure how many weeks off) recovered without relapsing: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/vde.12069/abstract. For those who've used terbinafine: How long did you treat the cats? Were there any side effects--vomiting, lack of appetite, etc.? Did they recover and stay clear? How long until you saw improvement?
In terms of topical treatment: I've dipped the kittens several times already in lime sulfur and really don't want to do it again but will. I really can't handle more than once a week, though, and neither can they. Topical treatment on the adults is pretty much out of the question.
The kittens and momma cat are isolated in a large bathroom--not really large enough but all of the larger rooms are carpeted. I have another adult who appears to be getting a lesion isolated in a smaller bathroom. The rest--my other cats plus the Himalayan foster--are free roaming the house, although I've shut off three of the bedrooms and will shut off the fourth ASAP. Isolating my cats is simply not doable: Two are failed fosters who go absolutely bonkers if confined--to the point of tearing the carpet out of the floor and gouging the door with their claws because they're so frantic to get out.
I've read up on the cleaning regimen and talked to other fosterers who battled ringworm, so I'm pretty clear on what needs to be done. I just can't imagine how anyone who works out of the house full time and doesn't have help from a spouse/partner actually does it. I'm going to do what I can without exhausting myself. I have a good vacuum (a Miele) and a Swiffer. I know about the 10% bleach solution and have used it on everything that will tolerate it, although it burns the bejesus out of my nasal passages. By the way, I just read a summary of a new study by Moriello and Kunder that found that several readily available products kill ringworm spores with a contact time of 10 minutes, just as 10% bleach does: Formula 409, Clorox Clean Up, Lysol, and Accel (accelerated hydrogen peroxide). The first three still have a strong odor but don't bother me as much as bleach does. I'm going to order some Accel, which a lot of vet clinics use, because it has much less of an odor.
I'm resigned to battling this for quite a while--months, not weeks. I just want to get some feedback on whether I'm using the right meds from the get-go. I don't want to treat these guys for several months with terbinafine only to find out that it's not working and I should have used itraconazole, despite the ridiculously high expense.
I have six foster kittens, all between five and six months old, who have developed ringworm. Well, my vet (and I) thinksit's ringworm. The first culture was inconclusive--color change but the growth couldn't be identified as ringworm--so he took a second one last night. I brought him three of the affected kittens to culture, and none of them glowed under the Woods lamp at all, which he said is fairly unusual in his experience. But the presentation is pretty classic, and it's certainly contagious: It's gone from one kitten to all six in the last two weeks. Two of them have lost most of the hair on their ears and now the hair loss is progressing down their necks. Two more are losing hair on and under their ears. And the two that I thought were asymptomatic just showed lesions tonight: one has a lesion just inside his nostril, one the tip of his nose, and a couple between his ears and eyes; and the other has darkened areas of skin on her upper and lower lips.
I also have two adult fosters, one of which is a former momma kitty who lives with the kittens and the other a Himalayan (she's growing out a lion cut so she's not in full coat, thank goodness), and five cats of my own, three medium-haired and two short-haired. Yeah, I know--way too many cats in one house, and believe me, I agree. I was never supposed to have these fosters for this long.
Anyway...I've got 13 cats to treat because my cats have certainly been exposed and are likely to get infected, no matter how careful I am. My vet is on board with treating everyone with oral meds, whether they have lesions or not. He recommended either ketoconazole or itraconazole. I told him ketoconazole was out because I've read it's pretty hard on the liver and can cause anorexia. Itraconazole is effective but appears to be--from what I can find online--crazy expensive. And then it has to be compounded, which is an added expense. The prices I'm seeing are upwards of $200 for 30 100mg tablets--and that's before compounding. For those who've used itraconazole: Is that a typical price? If not, what did you pay and where did you get it?
I asked my vet about terbinafine, which seems to be fairly new and somewhat unproven but is very cheap: Costco has 90 250mg tablets for about $33 and I just saw that Walmart offers the same amount for just $10 as part of its generics program. He'd heard positive things about it and looked it up for me, and he's willing to prescribe it for a pulse therapy of two weeks on, two weeks off at 30-40 mg per kg. I'm going to take him a study I found that found that cats treated with that protocol relapsed in six weeks and had to be treated with itraconazole but cats treated for three weeks on (I'm not sure how many weeks off) recovered without relapsing: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/vde.12069/abstract. For those who've used terbinafine: How long did you treat the cats? Were there any side effects--vomiting, lack of appetite, etc.? Did they recover and stay clear? How long until you saw improvement?
In terms of topical treatment: I've dipped the kittens several times already in lime sulfur and really don't want to do it again but will. I really can't handle more than once a week, though, and neither can they. Topical treatment on the adults is pretty much out of the question.
The kittens and momma cat are isolated in a large bathroom--not really large enough but all of the larger rooms are carpeted. I have another adult who appears to be getting a lesion isolated in a smaller bathroom. The rest--my other cats plus the Himalayan foster--are free roaming the house, although I've shut off three of the bedrooms and will shut off the fourth ASAP. Isolating my cats is simply not doable: Two are failed fosters who go absolutely bonkers if confined--to the point of tearing the carpet out of the floor and gouging the door with their claws because they're so frantic to get out.
I've read up on the cleaning regimen and talked to other fosterers who battled ringworm, so I'm pretty clear on what needs to be done. I just can't imagine how anyone who works out of the house full time and doesn't have help from a spouse/partner actually does it. I'm going to do what I can without exhausting myself. I have a good vacuum (a Miele) and a Swiffer. I know about the 10% bleach solution and have used it on everything that will tolerate it, although it burns the bejesus out of my nasal passages. By the way, I just read a summary of a new study by Moriello and Kunder that found that several readily available products kill ringworm spores with a contact time of 10 minutes, just as 10% bleach does: Formula 409, Clorox Clean Up, Lysol, and Accel (accelerated hydrogen peroxide). The first three still have a strong odor but don't bother me as much as bleach does. I'm going to order some Accel, which a lot of vet clinics use, because it has much less of an odor.
I'm resigned to battling this for quite a while--months, not weeks. I just want to get some feedback on whether I'm using the right meds from the get-go. I don't want to treat these guys for several months with terbinafine only to find out that it's not working and I should have used itraconazole, despite the ridiculously high expense.
Hi,
I'm seldom online here these days but I saw your post and would love to know how you are doing. Thirteen cats, my goodness! It sounds like you have a good plan and I hope things are working out. The oral medication and the dips are the best thing you can do to kill the ringworm on the cats, and the vacuuming and disinfecting will help reduce the number of spores in the atmosphere. Think of them as dust mites. It's good you have a Miele. Just be sure to replace the filter on a timely basis, and again (to celebrate!) when you're sure your "plague" is all over.
Once-a-week dipping for the kittens should be fine. If your own five cats are mature and healthy, they may be able to fight off the infection. My Persians got oral medication and weekly dips and never tested positive on their cultures while living with two ringworm-y kittens in a tiny apartment. I hope yours are also lucky.
You've probably seen this post summing up what I learned about ringworm from my own encounter: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/210789/6-things-i-learned-from-our-ringworm-plague-book-length
We gave our kittens liquid Sporanox and NOT any generic version. It went on for a month. We gave our adult cats terbinafine, two weeks on, and two weeks off. They're the ones who never got any lesions. I had much more faith in the dips and the oral meds than any topical treatment directly on the spots. And the Miele, the Swiffer, and a nice piece of cake whenever I wanted one.....
I'm hoping there are lots of better research findings and treatments since ringworm happened to me in 2008-2009. Dr. Moriello seems to be the gold-standard expert. If you have any questions or need some support, please send me a private message....
Hang in there. This Too Shall Pass!
I'm seldom online here these days but I saw your post and would love to know how you are doing. Thirteen cats, my goodness! It sounds like you have a good plan and I hope things are working out. The oral medication and the dips are the best thing you can do to kill the ringworm on the cats, and the vacuuming and disinfecting will help reduce the number of spores in the atmosphere. Think of them as dust mites. It's good you have a Miele. Just be sure to replace the filter on a timely basis, and again (to celebrate!) when you're sure your "plague" is all over.
Once-a-week dipping for the kittens should be fine. If your own five cats are mature and healthy, they may be able to fight off the infection. My Persians got oral medication and weekly dips and never tested positive on their cultures while living with two ringworm-y kittens in a tiny apartment. I hope yours are also lucky.
You've probably seen this post summing up what I learned about ringworm from my own encounter: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/210789/6-things-i-learned-from-our-ringworm-plague-book-length
We gave our kittens liquid Sporanox and NOT any generic version. It went on for a month. We gave our adult cats terbinafine, two weeks on, and two weeks off. They're the ones who never got any lesions. I had much more faith in the dips and the oral meds than any topical treatment directly on the spots. And the Miele, the Swiffer, and a nice piece of cake whenever I wanted one.....
I'm hoping there are lots of better research findings and treatments since ringworm happened to me in 2008-2009. Dr. Moriello seems to be the gold-standard expert. If you have any questions or need some support, please send me a private message....
Hang in there. This Too Shall Pass!
And a PS: Liquid Sporanox was somewhat expensive and hard to get. I had to go to a pharmacy at Children's Hospital to get it, it was the only pharmacy in the Boston area that could get it.
Terbinafine is cheaper, but the size and strength of the pills, even cut into fragments, make them too dangerous for little kittens.
We used a AAA discount at the pharmacy and saved some money.
Terbinafine is cheaper, but the size and strength of the pills, even cut into fragments, make them too dangerous for little kittens.
We used a AAA discount at the pharmacy and saved some money.
Hi - I too have been plagued by this ringworm nightmare :/ long story short - I had two cats and one passed from lymphoma August 12, 2013 leaving me with one female named Jackie. Thought I wanted to get another kitten from a shelter but adopted 2 12 week old adorable kittens. Jackie my existing cat loved them too. Then I got ringworm but didn't know what it was until I had 12 lesions, my son got a bunch and well as my husband! My entire carpeted apartment was contaminated that I had to spend $$$$ to professionally hepa walls carpets floors and everything in 8 1/2 hours. This company works for cruise ship companies removing norovirus. Still changing sheets and bleaching 1:10 hard surfaces and now have a meilie 9 layer self sealing vacuum. I am still paranoid. Meanwhile, I found a vet to take Jackie - at first I wasn't trilled but spoke with the vet there (yes, Jackie went to the vet before the cleaning company came) who is bathing her with anti fungal shampoo and has started her on oral intraconzole - topical she had a reaction. I will wait to have another call from the vet to see how she handled the bath and the doctor said she might have to be crated at home because she hasn't eaten much and she needs to eat with this medication. It's going to be a long process until my Jackie girl can curl up on my pillow and sleep on my head. My baby Jackie is depressed and of course she is and I'm just feeling guilty that I created this. All my cats are indoor as I live on the 9th floor. I am besides myself!! And a heartfelt shutout to bunnilla who has been very kind with sharing we knowledge - prayers for everyone affected 
As for the dip - I can't find anyone to do it. I called this huge animal hospital in manhattan (huge and famous) where near I live and they don't dip. Basically they told me that they would give me an anti fungal shampoo and oral meds and good luck. But I'm interested in what I need to have federal expressed overnight from pets best for cleaning my house and using on Jackie. Since my apartment is all carpeted and I have two tiny interior bathrooms - the vet said that I souls buy and extra large dog crate and keep her in it in the kitchen because that is the only room with solid surfaces which I could clean easily and then on the flip side don't have to cook. I am so exhausted. Also anyone like me taking oral lamisil for human ringworm contagion - how long did you take it for? I have a 30 day supply.
Jackie came home yesterday and is happy to be back! She is in my sunny den that has been draped with old king sized sheets and will be only in here until the vet tells me she can have free run - at least a month I've been spending a lot of time with her watching tv and using the computer. She seems like she's in good spirits and taking her medicine like a trooper. It's been emotionally challenging since this began and my household has been topsy tervy since this all began. I do have to say that I am a bit less anxious because of the knowledge I have about this "plague". I'm only dealing with one cat. It was wise to keep Jackie in the hospital for a couple of baths and the beginning of oral meds that are 7 days off and on for a few weeks. It game me time to regroup my thoughts about what needs to be done going forward until she is 100% culture negative as well as put it into perspective and calm down. Jackie is happy - wants to leave the room, but basically sleeps all day anyway in her now beautiful little sunny prison with cable tv and everything she needs even her human family - it's emotionally stressful this ringworm thing, but with the help of a dedicated vet, this website and the kind people on it, and just some tenacious dedication from within ourselves to eradicate it, I think everyone unfortunate to have this afflict them will one day just chalk it up to experience -
I've been spending a lot of time with her watching tv and using the computer. She seems like she's in good spirits and taking her medicine like a trooper. It's been emotionally challenging since this began and my household has been topsy tervy since this all began. I do have to say that I am a bit less anxious because of the knowledge I have about this "plague". I'm only dealing with one cat. It was wise to keep Jackie in the hospital for a couple of baths and the beginning of oral meds that are 7 days off and on for a few weeks. It game me time to regroup my thoughts about what needs to be done going forward until she is 100% culture negative as well as put it into perspective and calm down. Jackie is happy - wants to leave the room, but basically sleeps all day anyway in her now beautiful little sunny prison with cable tv and everything she needs even her human family - it's emotionally stressful this ringworm thing, but with the help of a dedicated vet, this website and the kind people on it, and just some tenacious dedication from within ourselves to eradicate it, I think everyone unfortunate to have this afflict them will one day just chalk it up to experience -Thanks for the reply, Bunnelina, and my sympathies to catmom110. Here's my update:
--We still don't know if it's ringworm. The second culture came back negative, even after 3 weeks. I don't have any spots that appear to be ringworm. I've got plenty of healing scratches, scars, bruises, mosquito bites, etc. (fostering kittens can do a number on your skin), and some are circular, but none are raised or scaly. I'm certainly careful when handling the cats/kittens suspected of having ringworm (I wear gloves), and I shower in the morning and again at night after feeding them, cleaning, etc., but I would still expect to have gotten at least one lesion if it was ringworm. But it certainly looks a lot like ringworm and appears to be contagious. Only two of the kittens had true lesions (with scaly skin and crusting)--one just behind his ear, and the other all over her ear--while the others had hair loss and/or very small areas of pigmented skin. The hair loss was on their ears--three of them lost virtually all of the hair on their ears--and on their necks, and one of them, oddly enough, lost the hair on top of her back toes. Has anyone else seen similar patterns of hair loss in cats with ringworm? The vets I'm working with say the lesions did look like ringworm but the hair loss isn't really typical, based on what they've seen. They were tested for skin mites (negative), and it doesn't appear to be ear mites (their ears are pretty clean, and they're also on Advantage Multi, which kills ear mites). One vet said it definitely wasn't a yeast infection. The only other thing that seems like even a remote possibility is a staph infection, but the presentation is not typical.
--The kittens are now out of my house and in isolation at the spay/neuter clinic that works with the rescue group I volunteer with. Taking care of all the cats and kittens was wearing me out, and I didn't want to take the chance that they would relapse due to environmental contamination and have to stay away from adoptions even longer. So the change of environment was in order, even if I wasn't exhausted trying to take care of them. I'm now down to my five plus the Himalayan foster, which is somewhat of a relief but still very stressful and time-consuming.
--It took a couple of weeks of terbinafine to see any results, but the kittens improved to the point that the vet at the clinic examined them on Monday and couldn't find any signs of ringworm. It's impossible to say whether the improvement was due to the terbinafine or was just the natural progression of whatever this is and would have happened even without the meds. In one respect, it's a shame that the kittens have recovered so quickly. The clinic vet was going to do a skin biopsy on a couple of the affected kittens to see if that would show definitively whether it was ringworm. Now that there are no lesions or even any bald spots, there's nothing to biopsy, and the mystery continues.
--Unfortunately, another one of my adult cats showed up with a bald spot on his head last week and developed another on Sunday (just before I left for a business trip--great timing). I had my vet dip him after I found the first bald spot (he had to be sedated, poor guy), and afterward I confined him to a bathroom, and my sister is coming in once a day to take care of the cats. He's truly miserable, though, and is tearing up his claws trying to get out. I was able to get the terbinafine in him for about six days before I left and will continue dosing him when I get back. I want to find out so badly if this is ringworm so I know if I need to keep confining him. If it is, he could be tough to cure--he's medium- to long-haired, although not a Persian or Himalayan.
--The others were all OK when I left. Fingers crossed that they won't have developed any bald spots when I get back tomorrow.
--I'm still cleaning but have begun using a product called Benzarid highly recommended by several of the other fosterers who've deal with ringworm. They swear by it. You use it full strength for cleaning and dilute it 5:1 to wipe it on the kittens and cats as a topical treatment to reduce the dissemination of the spores. It's expensive, but it has almost no odor (unlike everything else that kills ringworm, even Accel) and the other fosterers found it to be effective against ringworm even on soft surfaces: upholstery, etc.
--I can't wait for this to be over, but I'm not sure how I'll know it's over, given how many stories I hear about relapses/recontamination after people think it's gone. I doubt that I'll breathe easy until my cats have gone at least six months without any signs.
--We still don't know if it's ringworm. The second culture came back negative, even after 3 weeks. I don't have any spots that appear to be ringworm. I've got plenty of healing scratches, scars, bruises, mosquito bites, etc. (fostering kittens can do a number on your skin), and some are circular, but none are raised or scaly. I'm certainly careful when handling the cats/kittens suspected of having ringworm (I wear gloves), and I shower in the morning and again at night after feeding them, cleaning, etc., but I would still expect to have gotten at least one lesion if it was ringworm. But it certainly looks a lot like ringworm and appears to be contagious. Only two of the kittens had true lesions (with scaly skin and crusting)--one just behind his ear, and the other all over her ear--while the others had hair loss and/or very small areas of pigmented skin. The hair loss was on their ears--three of them lost virtually all of the hair on their ears--and on their necks, and one of them, oddly enough, lost the hair on top of her back toes. Has anyone else seen similar patterns of hair loss in cats with ringworm? The vets I'm working with say the lesions did look like ringworm but the hair loss isn't really typical, based on what they've seen. They were tested for skin mites (negative), and it doesn't appear to be ear mites (their ears are pretty clean, and they're also on Advantage Multi, which kills ear mites). One vet said it definitely wasn't a yeast infection. The only other thing that seems like even a remote possibility is a staph infection, but the presentation is not typical.
--The kittens are now out of my house and in isolation at the spay/neuter clinic that works with the rescue group I volunteer with. Taking care of all the cats and kittens was wearing me out, and I didn't want to take the chance that they would relapse due to environmental contamination and have to stay away from adoptions even longer. So the change of environment was in order, even if I wasn't exhausted trying to take care of them. I'm now down to my five plus the Himalayan foster, which is somewhat of a relief but still very stressful and time-consuming.
--It took a couple of weeks of terbinafine to see any results, but the kittens improved to the point that the vet at the clinic examined them on Monday and couldn't find any signs of ringworm. It's impossible to say whether the improvement was due to the terbinafine or was just the natural progression of whatever this is and would have happened even without the meds. In one respect, it's a shame that the kittens have recovered so quickly. The clinic vet was going to do a skin biopsy on a couple of the affected kittens to see if that would show definitively whether it was ringworm. Now that there are no lesions or even any bald spots, there's nothing to biopsy, and the mystery continues.
--Unfortunately, another one of my adult cats showed up with a bald spot on his head last week and developed another on Sunday (just before I left for a business trip--great timing). I had my vet dip him after I found the first bald spot (he had to be sedated, poor guy), and afterward I confined him to a bathroom, and my sister is coming in once a day to take care of the cats. He's truly miserable, though, and is tearing up his claws trying to get out. I was able to get the terbinafine in him for about six days before I left and will continue dosing him when I get back. I want to find out so badly if this is ringworm so I know if I need to keep confining him. If it is, he could be tough to cure--he's medium- to long-haired, although not a Persian or Himalayan.
--The others were all OK when I left. Fingers crossed that they won't have developed any bald spots when I get back tomorrow.
--I'm still cleaning but have begun using a product called Benzarid highly recommended by several of the other fosterers who've deal with ringworm. They swear by it. You use it full strength for cleaning and dilute it 5:1 to wipe it on the kittens and cats as a topical treatment to reduce the dissemination of the spores. It's expensive, but it has almost no odor (unlike everything else that kills ringworm, even Accel) and the other fosterers found it to be effective against ringworm even on soft surfaces: upholstery, etc.
--I can't wait for this to be over, but I'm not sure how I'll know it's over, given how many stories I hear about relapses/recontamination after people think it's gone. I doubt that I'll breathe easy until my cats have gone at least six months without any signs.
Hello bailey - ugh - I know! And I cleaned everything with "shock wave" and swiffering all day. Vacuuming with my new vacuume with its 9 layer self sealing bag. Showered and went food shopping and made dinner. Exhausted is not even the close! I hear ya! Glad those kittens are at the vet. Makes it a lot easier. Oral meds (intraconzole) and 3x daily miconazole and weekly baths are what my vet prescribed. I had a hard time finding anyone to dip. The oral was prescribed for one week on, one week off, one week on and then off again and then pray 
That's if I'm not in the looney bin by then from this. My cat Jackie has been in isolation since September 11th and in my den for the last 11 days. And last night she made a getaway to the livingroom under the china cabinet. Omg! I was so tired that I went to lay down in my bed and who comes walking in but Jackie. She plopped herself on her spot on the end of my bed and we all fell asleep. This morning I called the vet and discribed what happened. He said, Ilene, calm down and breathe. He said leave her out! I was like "your sure?" He said with all the treatment already she's no spewing so many spores. Don't let her in your bedrooms and wash hands and bump up the cleaning ...:but only an hour. And if I want to cuddle her cover up and change clothing. I'm very unsure and really don't want anymore lesions to appear because is so unsettling on my own body. My son and my husband stopped taking oral lamisil and I stopped taking it 3 days ago. So if anything is going to happen.....I'll find out within 2 weeks. If I don't get any lesions, that means I've been doing my job with tenacious cleaning and making sure she is medicated according to the book. And then pray to the allmighy ringworm god to rid me of this nightmare that started before Labor Day weekend. She still has ringworm, but the spores should not be as concentrated anymore (I'm praying). Just telling you my story and hoping any experiences I have can be of help to you - happy cleaning
That's if I'm not in the looney bin by then from this. My cat Jackie has been in isolation since September 11th and in my den for the last 11 days. And last night she made a getaway to the livingroom under the china cabinet. Omg! I was so tired that I went to lay down in my bed and who comes walking in but Jackie. She plopped herself on her spot on the end of my bed and we all fell asleep. This morning I called the vet and discribed what happened. He said, Ilene, calm down and breathe. He said leave her out! I was like "your sure?" He said with all the treatment already she's no spewing so many spores. Don't let her in your bedrooms and wash hands and bump up the cleaning ...:but only an hour. And if I want to cuddle her cover up and change clothing. I'm very unsure and really don't want anymore lesions to appear because is so unsettling on my own body. My son and my husband stopped taking oral lamisil and I stopped taking it 3 days ago. So if anything is going to happen.....I'll find out within 2 weeks. If I don't get any lesions, that means I've been doing my job with tenacious cleaning and making sure she is medicated according to the book. And then pray to the allmighy ringworm god to rid me of this nightmare that started before Labor Day weekend. She still has ringworm, but the spores should not be as concentrated anymore (I'm praying). Just telling you my story and hoping any experiences I have can be of help to you - happy cleaningCatmom110, I know what you mean about freaking out. I've done it many times. Glad to hear that Jackie is home and feeling good.
I took my cat, Romeo, to a new vet on Saturday because I suspect that the previous culture came up negative because my regular vet didn't prepare or store it correctly. The new vet examined him and said that his lesions looked more like eosinophilic granuloma, essentially an allergic reaction, than ringworm, but she did a culture anyway. She thought that given how many lesions he had, it would come up positive within 3-5 days (i.e., by Thursday 10/3) if it's ringworm. So here's hoping I don't get a phone call from the vet.
However, I'm pretty sure I will get a call because I really think it's ringworm. Another one of my cats showed up last night with an ulcerated lesion is the same spot on his head as Romeo's. I was so depressed when i found it. Still am. I'm not even going to try to confine him because a. he'll go nuts, and b. it seems kind of pointless at this stage. For him to have gotten it, the spores have to already be in the environment. The worst and most puzzling thing is that he was on a preventive course of terbinafine (oral Lamisil) for 3 weeks and just started a "pulse" of another week of terbinafine--and he still got this lesion.
What do the lesions that you get look like? I've just had a couple of circular pinkish, raised spots show up on my arms. I'm hoping they're mosquito bites, but I'm putting antifungal cream on them nonetheless. I really don't have much idea what human ringworm looks like, beyond the horrific pictures online of really severe cases.
I took my cat, Romeo, to a new vet on Saturday because I suspect that the previous culture came up negative because my regular vet didn't prepare or store it correctly. The new vet examined him and said that his lesions looked more like eosinophilic granuloma, essentially an allergic reaction, than ringworm, but she did a culture anyway. She thought that given how many lesions he had, it would come up positive within 3-5 days (i.e., by Thursday 10/3) if it's ringworm. So here's hoping I don't get a phone call from the vet.
However, I'm pretty sure I will get a call because I really think it's ringworm. Another one of my cats showed up last night with an ulcerated lesion is the same spot on his head as Romeo's. I was so depressed when i found it. Still am. I'm not even going to try to confine him because a. he'll go nuts, and b. it seems kind of pointless at this stage. For him to have gotten it, the spores have to already be in the environment. The worst and most puzzling thing is that he was on a preventive course of terbinafine (oral Lamisil) for 3 weeks and just started a "pulse" of another week of terbinafine--and he still got this lesion.
What do the lesions that you get look like? I've just had a couple of circular pinkish, raised spots show up on my arms. I'm hoping they're mosquito bites, but I'm putting antifungal cream on them nonetheless. I really don't have much idea what human ringworm looks like, beyond the horrific pictures online of really severe cases.
Google "ringworm" and then press images. Don't look at the multiple ringworm worst cases. Just identify one and if it looks like it, it's pretty safe to say you should just check it out with your GP or dermatologist. Putting lamisil won't hurt even if its not ringworm. If you can confine Romeo to one room. Any room other than a bed room, I think that would be a good idea. What did your vet say about that? Clean the room everyday and wash your hands a lot. And if you do have it on your body, it's a good idea to change your own sheets and towels every day.
When you say lesions, do you mean that there is a bald spot where there was fur loss. Had they given you topical miconazole or something similar to put on the lesions? I guess it depends what stage the lesions are in. I also gently clean the area with a soft completely wet bounty towel or 2 and a tiny bit of Johnson's baby shampoo and carefully clean the crusty areas without scrubbing. Always I have been able to take away some crusty stuff and then apply fresh miconazole. It takes time and its a process - it's pretty upsetting I do know that, but I hope it gives you some kind of comfort to know you are not alone!
I'm over a month into the ringworm saga of my life - Jackie is on her second week of intraconzole and getting better although intraconzole makes her not hungry - she also might be mourning our cat Jason who passed August 12th of lymphoma the kittens I had adopted that introduced the ringworm to us are back in the shelter Where they are giving me a hard time about treating them. Blaming us for possibly bringing ringworm into our home on our shoe? They have been very unfair to me causing over $1000 in vet bills which doesn't include the kittens. I want them back, I actually miss them. I offered to pay for intraconzole and they said they were fine. Now the shelter manager said if I get the meds, she will administer it to them. Now all I need is their weight as per my vet. Left another message and no response yet hopefully I can visit them this weekend. I was told they have Ben dipped several times, but have not seen a vet as they only take sick cats to the vet - they have over 200 animals. They told me they are in a kitten room in a large crate with well kittens. They also adopted them to me in at the end of August knowing that they had had ringworm that they treated with dippings. So it's hard for me to trust. Jackie is not better yet, while she feels better, she's still losing fur from around the leasion that is healing behind her ear. It's the size as of you put your pointer finger and thumb together and make a circle. So if they are well I wouldn't want Jackie to infect them and honestly I feel that oral meds is the only way to go even though the dips are very effective. The shelter thinks I'm making a big deal of it. "Children get ringworm all the time", I was told. Hopefully I will manage to get the shelter to weigh them so I can have their meds ordered from a compounding pharmacy. This has been so frustrating as well as a learning period. Hopefully this will end in the next month or so.
the kittens I had adopted that introduced the ringworm to us are back in the shelter Where they are giving me a hard time about treating them. Blaming us for possibly bringing ringworm into our home on our shoe? They have been very unfair to me causing over $1000 in vet bills which doesn't include the kittens. I want them back, I actually miss them. I offered to pay for intraconzole and they said they were fine. Now the shelter manager said if I get the meds, she will administer it to them. Now all I need is their weight as per my vet. Left another message and no response yet hopefully I can visit them this weekend. I was told they have Ben dipped several times, but have not seen a vet as they only take sick cats to the vet - they have over 200 animals. They told me they are in a kitten room in a large crate with well kittens. They also adopted them to me in at the end of August knowing that they had had ringworm that they treated with dippings. So it's hard for me to trust. Jackie is not better yet, while she feels better, she's still losing fur from around the leasion that is healing behind her ear. It's the size as of you put your pointer finger and thumb together and make a circle. So if they are well I wouldn't want Jackie to infect them and honestly I feel that oral meds is the only way to go even though the dips are very effective. The shelter thinks I'm making a big deal of it. "Children get ringworm all the time", I was told. Hopefully I will manage to get the shelter to weigh them so I can have their meds ordered from a compounding pharmacy. This has been so frustrating as well as a learning period. Hopefully this will end in the next month or so.Catmom110, yes--by lesion, I mean an area with hair loss. Is Jackie doing any better? I have a cat on fluconazole (see below), and his appetite is fine; maybe your vet would consider switching Jackie's meds if her appetite doesn' t perk up on the itraconazole.
I'm surprised the shelter doesn't take ringworm more seriously. It's a huge problem in shelters, to the point where many will euthanize affected animals as a way to keep it under control. Our local animal control will only adopt animals with ringworm to rescue groups because of the risk of transmission to humans, particularly kids. I'm glad you're willing to take the kittens back because they're unlikely to be adopted by anyone else due to the ringworm. As far as treatment goes, I've found that every vet has a different treatment protocol for ringworm. The vet I'm using now only uses oral meds--no dips because they're so stressful for most cats and no topical creams because they make the cat look healed before it actually is. Another one I've worked with uses only dips and the occasional topical ointment--no oral meds. Another does weekly dips plus oral meds, and the vet for our rescue prescribes twice-weekly dips plus oral meds.
You can confirm with your vet, but my understanding is that after a cat's been on oral meds for about three weeks, the spores they're shedding should no longer be viable. So the risk of putting the kittens in with Jackie should be minimal, but it wouldn't hurt to put them on oral meds as long as they're at least eight weeks old. Our rescue vet prescribes 25 mg of fluconazole for kittens if they're at least 10-12 weeks old, regardless of weight. I've found that all of my cats and foster kittens appear to tolerate fluconazole very well.
Update on my cats (and me): Romeo's culture came back negative after 10 days, but about a week ago, I found a reddish, circular, slightly raised spot on my back up near my neck. I went to the dermatologist, and he thought it looked like ringworm, especially given what was going on with the cats, and prescribed an antifungal cream called Naftin. I also persuaded him to prescribe an oral med, which turned out to be terbinafine, but he was only willing to give me a course of five pills (one per day for five days), with one refill. I finished the first course and will wait a couple of weeks to see if I need to take it again. The first spot has pretty much faded away, but there's another on my arm that I'm treating. The Naftin seems to be very effective in eliminating them quickly, probably because I'm finding them pretty early. I'm feeling itchy on my neck and arms, though, and I'm finding patches of red skin, including one on my face. I don't know whether that's ringworm or maybe a reaction to either the antifungal cream or the bleach I'm using on my sheets, towels, and clothes I wear when cleaning or handling the cats. If the redness persists or gets worse, I guess I'll go back to the dermatologist.
Anyway, once I told the vet that I had ringworm, she prescribed fluconazole for Romeo despite the negative culture. He's been on it for about two weeks--I actually had some left over from my previous bout with ringworm in my foster kittens and started him on it because I was so sure it was ringworm--and his lesions are healing. The ulcerated ones on his head are dry and the swelling is gone, and the hairless areas are starting to regrow hair from the center out. He did get another small lesion a few days ago. I'm hoping that's the last one. I'm planning to take him back to the vet for a re-check later this week.
My other cat with the lesion on his head is also healing. The odd thing is that last week, the lesion turned into an open sore in the space of a day--like the skin just sloughed off. It scabbed over, and he scratched it back open once, but now it's completely healed, although there's no hair regrowth yet. I think he recovered so quickly due to the terbinafine that he's on. I'm also suspicious that he and maybe Romeo have a secondary infection causing the ulcerated lesions--maybe a yeast overgrowth or a mild staph infection. The vet found an unusually high amount of yeast when she sampled Romeo's lesion and looked at it under the microscope, but she thought it was a byproduct of the inflammation and would resolve once the lesion healed.
I let that cat continue to roam the house (I have the bedrooms shut off) and am monitoring the other two free-roaming cats for signs of ringworm. So far, they don't have any visible lesions, but both are shedding more than usual and scratching/grooming themselves a bit more than normal. Those can be signs of ringworm--almost anything can be a sign of ringworm, from what I can tell from various websites--so I figure they've probably got it. I can't administer meds to them because they're not easy to handle, so I may try again to see if they'll eat wet food with fluconazole ground up and mixed in. They wouldn't touch the food when I did that with terbinafine, but the fluconazole dosage is much smaller and I hope the pill doesn't taste as bad. I just want to stop them shedding spores into the environment long enough for me to get things cleaned up. It's slow going when you have to clean an entire house, wipe down and then ideally put away every object (book, CD, bric-a-brac, etc.) in a box or container, and clean things like blinds, HVAC vents, etc., all while working full time. I'm not making as much progress as I'd hoped. :/ I'm probably just going to ditch the blinds at some point and buy new ones (they're cheap plastic mini-blinds), and I'm considering doing the same thing with the CD jewel cases. The books are tougher to deal with. Does anyone have suggestions on how to de-contaminate books?
I'm surprised the shelter doesn't take ringworm more seriously. It's a huge problem in shelters, to the point where many will euthanize affected animals as a way to keep it under control. Our local animal control will only adopt animals with ringworm to rescue groups because of the risk of transmission to humans, particularly kids. I'm glad you're willing to take the kittens back because they're unlikely to be adopted by anyone else due to the ringworm. As far as treatment goes, I've found that every vet has a different treatment protocol for ringworm. The vet I'm using now only uses oral meds--no dips because they're so stressful for most cats and no topical creams because they make the cat look healed before it actually is. Another one I've worked with uses only dips and the occasional topical ointment--no oral meds. Another does weekly dips plus oral meds, and the vet for our rescue prescribes twice-weekly dips plus oral meds.
You can confirm with your vet, but my understanding is that after a cat's been on oral meds for about three weeks, the spores they're shedding should no longer be viable. So the risk of putting the kittens in with Jackie should be minimal, but it wouldn't hurt to put them on oral meds as long as they're at least eight weeks old. Our rescue vet prescribes 25 mg of fluconazole for kittens if they're at least 10-12 weeks old, regardless of weight. I've found that all of my cats and foster kittens appear to tolerate fluconazole very well.
Update on my cats (and me): Romeo's culture came back negative after 10 days, but about a week ago, I found a reddish, circular, slightly raised spot on my back up near my neck. I went to the dermatologist, and he thought it looked like ringworm, especially given what was going on with the cats, and prescribed an antifungal cream called Naftin. I also persuaded him to prescribe an oral med, which turned out to be terbinafine, but he was only willing to give me a course of five pills (one per day for five days), with one refill. I finished the first course and will wait a couple of weeks to see if I need to take it again. The first spot has pretty much faded away, but there's another on my arm that I'm treating. The Naftin seems to be very effective in eliminating them quickly, probably because I'm finding them pretty early. I'm feeling itchy on my neck and arms, though, and I'm finding patches of red skin, including one on my face. I don't know whether that's ringworm or maybe a reaction to either the antifungal cream or the bleach I'm using on my sheets, towels, and clothes I wear when cleaning or handling the cats. If the redness persists or gets worse, I guess I'll go back to the dermatologist.
Anyway, once I told the vet that I had ringworm, she prescribed fluconazole for Romeo despite the negative culture. He's been on it for about two weeks--I actually had some left over from my previous bout with ringworm in my foster kittens and started him on it because I was so sure it was ringworm--and his lesions are healing. The ulcerated ones on his head are dry and the swelling is gone, and the hairless areas are starting to regrow hair from the center out. He did get another small lesion a few days ago. I'm hoping that's the last one. I'm planning to take him back to the vet for a re-check later this week.
My other cat with the lesion on his head is also healing. The odd thing is that last week, the lesion turned into an open sore in the space of a day--like the skin just sloughed off. It scabbed over, and he scratched it back open once, but now it's completely healed, although there's no hair regrowth yet. I think he recovered so quickly due to the terbinafine that he's on. I'm also suspicious that he and maybe Romeo have a secondary infection causing the ulcerated lesions--maybe a yeast overgrowth or a mild staph infection. The vet found an unusually high amount of yeast when she sampled Romeo's lesion and looked at it under the microscope, but she thought it was a byproduct of the inflammation and would resolve once the lesion healed.
I let that cat continue to roam the house (I have the bedrooms shut off) and am monitoring the other two free-roaming cats for signs of ringworm. So far, they don't have any visible lesions, but both are shedding more than usual and scratching/grooming themselves a bit more than normal. Those can be signs of ringworm--almost anything can be a sign of ringworm, from what I can tell from various websites--so I figure they've probably got it. I can't administer meds to them because they're not easy to handle, so I may try again to see if they'll eat wet food with fluconazole ground up and mixed in. They wouldn't touch the food when I did that with terbinafine, but the fluconazole dosage is much smaller and I hope the pill doesn't taste as bad. I just want to stop them shedding spores into the environment long enough for me to get things cleaned up. It's slow going when you have to clean an entire house, wipe down and then ideally put away every object (book, CD, bric-a-brac, etc.) in a box or container, and clean things like blinds, HVAC vents, etc., all while working full time. I'm not making as much progress as I'd hoped. :/ I'm probably just going to ditch the blinds at some point and buy new ones (they're cheap plastic mini-blinds), and I'm considering doing the same thing with the CD jewel cases. The books are tougher to deal with. Does anyone have suggestions on how to de-contaminate books?
Ok -I bought shock wave that contains an antifungal - google it. I bought a gallon that needs to be diluted and it lasts a long time. I use it on everything except glass because it leaves a film. Even on wood with a microfiber cloth and even sprayed on fabric furniture lightly. It smells good too. Vacuuming with a hepa vacuum is great! About your books - I'd spray a cloth and then wipe them. If you have your home a good clean and went over baseboards with bleach/water and or shock wave and change your towels and sheets often you can rest (with daily cleaning) that this will subside. Ringworm in small quantities is microscopic and live in our environment harmlessly in small amounts. Bring this fungus into the house and its havoc! You might not get every spore but if you are religious about mopping, vacuuming and hand washing for a while it should be clear to rest after the first negative culture. Your doing the right thing about keeping bedroom doors closed. And 1 week of oral lamisil should clear you up. You just don't want to reinfect yourself by using a towel twice or sleeping on infected sheets. You seem to be "on it" and doing a good job with it all without going crazy!
My ringworm story continued - Jackie is on her last week of intraconzole!!! I picked up my kittens from the shelter and brought them directly to the vet. They need to be neutered badly! They are both adorable siblings
Male orange sibling and boy have they grown. They how no signed of ringworm, but they hadnt when they brought it in in August. I haven't seen them since right before Labor Day. Brought them to the vet and we looked at the gums and they were red. 7-10 testing for Bartonella! It's suspected because of gingivitis like appearance of the gums can someone just shoot me now? As well as the fact when they were rescued they were covered in fleas and whatever else from the hoarding situation they were found in last march. The shelter where I adopted them never had a vet see them. I know that Bartonella is a different thread, but I'm annoyed at the fact that the shelter manager said that only sick cats get looked at by their volunteer visiting vet. Makes me so angry how they are so irresponsible. They will stay at the vet two nights. They get neutered tomorrow and ill pick them up on Tuesday. Ill bring them home and hopefully Jackie will stay away from them. For now Jackie is the only one allowed in my bed and allowed to sleep over my head on my pillow. The kittens are named Jonah and Jacob and they are precious. They groom each other and sleep in a curled ball together and are mushy sit in your lap sweet. The kid of cats you can hold like a baby! This little adventure so far to date has cost me over $5000 and I'm hoping for the best!
can someone just shoot me now? As well as the fact when they were rescued they were covered in fleas and whatever else from the hoarding situation they were found in last march. The shelter where I adopted them never had a vet see them. I know that Bartonella is a different thread, but I'm annoyed at the fact that the shelter manager said that only sick cats get looked at by their volunteer visiting vet. Makes me so angry how they are so irresponsible. They will stay at the vet two nights. They get neutered tomorrow and ill pick them up on Tuesday. Ill bring them home and hopefully Jackie will stay away from them. For now Jackie is the only one allowed in my bed and allowed to sleep over my head on my pillow. The kittens are named Jonah and Jacob and they are precious. They groom each other and sleep in a curled ball together and are mushy sit in your lap sweet. The kid of cats you can hold like a baby! This little adventure so far to date has cost me over $5000 and I'm hoping for the best!
