Ringworm... Nightmare?

sarah0315 · Feb 23, 2011

Since it's been almost another month, I suppose I'll update again.
Azshara is finally getting better! The vet put her on Oral Medication (finally -_-.....) it will be 3 weeks on Tuesday the 1st since she has been on them. As I've stated before this is my first ringworm experience. She is growing hair back even on spots that are still scabby or discolored. Does this mean that the ringworm is gone in the area?

As for my husband and I, I ended up going on Oral Medication. I still have a few spots. Maybe 5 left out of 30+ spots? I'm not sure I lost count and stopped paying attention because it was driving me into extreme stress, and almost depression! My husband didn't go on Oral medication, so he still has a few of his unfortunately (He is very stubborn) but they are fading slowly.

Who would have thought something so "harmless" would last this long, and it's still going!

mrblanche · Feb 23, 2011

While I was devastated at the many cats our shelter put to sleep due to a ringworm outbreak, I hope those who criticized the shelter for it have read through this thread and know that this is what could have happened with every one of those cats, had they been adopted.

sarah0315 · Feb 25, 2011

It wouldn't have been bad if we were informed that she had ringworm in the first place. Cocoa had no lesions, so she must have fought off the ringworm on her own, but it was still all over her fur since she was never bathed. Had we'd known she had ringworm, we would have still bought her from the breeder, she would have just been quarantined, and wouldn't have passed it to our other kitten, which passed it to us, and the other older cats in the house.

cemeterysiren · Feb 26, 2011

I had the same problem with my kitties. It started back in September. We got one kitten from a friend and the other kitten from the shelter. The kitten from the shelter, Seamus, came to us with some scabs on his back. I figured they were just from playing too rough with his litter mates. Then, our other kitten, Loki, showed a strange bald spot above his eye. We thought, at first, that he had singed his fur on a candle. Then the spot became grey and scabby. The vet did a culture and, sure enough, it was ringworm. We treated both kittens with oral medication (Griseofulvin), topical medication and medicated baths. We scrubbed our entire house, from top to bottom with bleach water, washed everything that could be washed in hot water, and steamed the carpets.
The were cleared to be released from Quarantine in November. That's when we noticed that our cat, Maggie, was missing the fur on her nose. Sure enough, she had it too. She went into quarantine and a few weeks later, Loki went back into quarantine because he reinfected himself even worse than the first time. Back to the oral meds, the topical meds and the medicated baths. Unfortunately, the Griseofulvin was not working. So, we switched to a strong, more expensive medication called Trichonizole. We cleaned the rest of the house a second time, from top to bottom. We vacuumed the quarantine room often. Finally, in January, our vet cleared them to be let out of quarantine. Loki was left with "scar tissue" on his head that was grey and wrinkly. Maggie's nose is now discolored (she has a white face). Loki's fur was very slow to grow back the second time, but it eventually did.
We took an entire day to clean the ringworm room. We bleached EVERYTHING from the carpet to the ceiling, including about 700 CD's. We vacuumed the crap out of the carpet, shampooed it and then sprayed with bleach water. We threw out the litter boxes that were in there and got new ones. Anything that could have been thrown away, I threw away. I even got rid of the vacuum cleaner that we used in that room. Anything to ensure that the fungus wouldn't come back.
Everyone told us that we would laugh about the experience when it was over. They were wrong! We are still paranoid over a month later and frequently check the cats for hair loss or any other sign that it might be back. My suggestion to you would be to keep them separated from your other cats until your vet clears them. Do not miss a dose of medication. Vacuuming with help keep the spore level down. I've read that spores can live in the carpet and other fabric for up to 2 years! You should spray everything that can't be washed with bleach water. Remember, wood is porous so things can get into it. We also threw away the carriers we used to take the infected kitties to and from the vet. Lysol came in handy for spraying down the couch, our mattress and other upholstered furniture. Make sure you dust BEFORE you spray or you will send ringworm spores flying everywhere. Use a swiffer cloth or a damp rag to dust.
I hope you can get something out of my experience. Good luck to you and your kitties!!

michelleco · Mar 14, 2011

I am wondering if anyone has an update on their experience with ringworm.

We have been fighting this battle since Dec 1, 2010. We have a kitten (who brought us RW), cat & puppy. We treated both cats and puppy with weekly Mal-A-Ket baths & daily griseofulvin for almost 7 weeks & thought we had 2 (-) tests but the second test came back (+) and about 8 weeks after hair had grown back, one of my cats showed lesions on his feet. Our golden retriever 11 month old puppy actually never showed signs or was tested.

Cat with lesions is now on Fluconozole. Both cats are getting lime sulfur dips weekly. Puppy is getting weekly baths with Mal-A-Ket. So far, no clinical signs in puppy or kitten, just my cat. Vet (derm specialist) said I didn't need to isolate and clean like crazy yet. I did that the first time! I still am cleaning quite a bit though & have isolated the cat.

Anyway, any words of encouragement and hope that this too shall pass would be greatly appreciated

sarah0315 · Mar 31, 2011

Finally! I think this nightmare is over with! The kittens have been off their oral medication for about 2 weeks. Hair has fully grown back except a few bald areas still but there is no lesion underneath. We can't afford to get cultures done on two kittens ($100 per culture) so we are crossing our fingers! The husband and I are ringworm free as well. We still have dark markings but they don't itch at all, and we completely stopped putting on creams etc.... For 3 weeks and we haven't been re-infected or gotten new spots.

What a relief! Were almost 100% positive that we are all ringworm free considering it's been 3ish weeks and everything is fine. I still bleach everything once a week though just it case (I was doing it everyday for the first few weeks, then every 3 days)

Azshara got so bad at one point her entire face was bald and legs as well. Thank you everyone for your messages and support/advice. I will stop by this post from time to time to give an update on whether we got re-infected or not

take care. Also sorry if this post has really bad grammar and lots of errors I'm typing this on my phone because I can't sleep and I'm in bed

goodnight!

feralvr · Mar 31, 2011

Very happy to hear this news. I know what an absolute nightmare ringworm can be. Thank goodness all is FINALLY well with you and your furbabies.

nekochan · Apr 1, 2011

Mine are all still on fluconazole. The last culture for the cat who possibly had lesions was still positive. I've been considering switching him to a different anti-fungal and am starting bathing him with Mal-A-Ket.

It's odd though because I only have one cat who showed possible lesions, and he also has severe food allergies and eosinophilic granuloma complex so we don't know for sure if any of his sores were actually ringworm, or were due to the other issues (they did not look like classic ringworm.) He did test positive for ringworm, though. None of the other cats has showed any clear appearance of ringworm, and none of the humans in the house either. I thought I had one spot on my leg but the doctor said it was actually eczema (which explains why the anti-fungal cream wasn't working!)

chrissyr · Apr 4, 2011

We've had multiple cases of ringworm over the years (multicat household) and I used to treat it. I used lamisil at first on us and the cats. Then I just let it run its course when we had another outbreak.

Happy to say it's been years since anyone furred or not has had ringworm. Good luck!

dirtiharri1 · Feb 17, 2013

I adopted 2 cats 2 weeks ago from a shelter. I do appreciate the services they provide and have also volunteered

previously. I walked through and picked up a kitten. The volunteer advised me that the kitten probably has ringworm. They doubled checked and verified that it had ringworm. I placed the cat back in its crate and told her I was not interested. They were about to close and not thinking, I did not wash my hands. I have no idea how many cats I touched. I adopted the cats and came home. I have 6 nursing puppies that now have ringworm as well as the mother. I will never be able to sell them and certainly can't keep them My granddaughter has 29, I have 15. 8 of them are on my face, and my best friend has 5. A sign should have been placed on the kennel of the cat with ringworm's. They had no problem putting up a BAD CAT sign on a kitten you could fit in the palm of your hand. I have small hands. Within a few days of talking to the kitten it quit hissing. I wanted to adopt it but it was put to sleep while I was doing my volunteer work. I guess I will never get it. As far as the ringworm problem, I guess I will spend my paycheck at the vet and the doctor since this is completely mind boggling and we are totally freaked out. It seems like a never ending battle.

birdie01 · Nov 8, 2013

I just got a new 12 week old British Shorthair kitten from a small breeder. I already have a one year old from her and he is fabulous. I took the new kitten for vet check after three days. His vet tech noticed 2-3 small white bumps on the kitten's back along his spine and said he was certain it was ringworm. He is doing a fungal culture and I am waiting for results. According to his instructions, I will need a HazMat team in my home to cope with this. Isolation for the kitten, which I am trying to do, but only have 1200 sq.ft., bleaching, washing all bedding, rugs, discard cat carrier, vacuuming and discarding bag, dusting with electrostatic dusters, and on and on. I am freaking out waiting for results. In spite of all my precautions, I don't understand how I can get rid of all spores. He said they can live for two years in my house. I am worried about my other cat and French bulldog as well as myself. Even if cat is isolated, I need to go back and forth so how does this contain? I don't even know if this is ringworm yet. None of the kitten's littermates have ringworm or any other kittens/cats at cattery. The owner had her vet come to her house to inspect everyone as well as taking her children to the doctor. Could this be anything else? I'm wondering how to hold onto my sanity while I wait for results. Any comments or suggestions?

jina · Jan 11, 2014

My family and I recently adopted a kitten...well, he adopted us.

Regardless, he had a bit of diarrhea, so I decided to take him to the vet. He had ear mites, a high white blood cell count (infection + fever), and GIARDIA. Don't worry about the giardia. The treatment is a 5 day course of once per day medication. Our adult cat got it too, but he's being treated for it as well. It is NOT contagious to humans, so you can give your kitten all the love you can!

Unfortunately, our new kitten also developed ringworm, which DID spread to our adult cat. This has been a true nightmare for us. We have been using a 1% miconazole liquid ointment from the vet, but it hasn't helped. A friend recommended using Monistat 2% (or higher) cream made for humans. I've only applied it 3 times so far, but it seems to be reducing the redness of the lesions. We are waiting for the pharmacy to get the oral medication to give to both cats. Unfortunately, we won't be able to start it for a few days because it had to be special ordered. I think I'm also going to have cones put on both cats so they can't groom away the topical medication.

tcbemis · Jan 11, 2014

We went through it last year with a rescue kitten. My daughter (8 at the time) had it up to her eyes for Christmas. It was awful & discouraging & depressing. It took 4 months, $2000, ruining all my silver jewelry (temporarily) with the sulphur dip & many tears. In the end we had to have the vet shave the kitty and board her for a week.
Think outside the box when you're cleaning (we used a dilute bleach solution that we mixed up daily) ; mop with it (windows open!), but also try to spray where the kitty will have left spores and will pick them back up. Under chairs, up under your bed, places you can't get to but your cat will again at some time. For us it was the plants. When we brought her for her spay/shave/board we took a clean toothbrush and ran it through the soil... It exploded with ringworm after the vet cultured it for us. In the end, it took throwing out all our plans, or at least the soil. We kept clippings.

From my research your couch pillows, dry places are going to be fine. The spores are a fungus that like warm moist places (I wouldn't recommend steam cleaning & storing your rugs unless you know they are completely dry... You'd hate to pull them out and have had spores surviving there and reinfect the house).

We bathed the 2 cats and dog twice /week for 4 months in the lime sulphur before we got a negative culture from Rubie. In the end we kind of cheated because she'd had all her fur shaved, so of course she'd be negative. But we've never had a recurrence, and our adult cat & dog never got it. My husband had several spots, my son had 4, my daughter had over a hundred.

My daughter and Rubie took oral Fluconazole for 6-8 weeks, so there's hope one you get the kitty on it. Our kitten got so she would just open her mouth for it, it was kind of sad. I never got it and couldn't figure out why. I take Fluconazole twice a month because I get thrush in my mouth from my inhaler (thrush, athletes foot, ringworm.. . All the same yucky fungus!), so I was inadvertently protecting myself lol.

Best of luck and please don't get too discouraged! It WILL clear up. Maybe in a year you can laugh about it like we do. Of course, you'll have to have kitty shaved to go back and look at the pictures.

Keep us posted!

cprcheetah · Jan 11, 2014

Jina said:
My family and I recently adopted a kitten...well, he adopted us.

Regardless, he had a bit of diarrhea, so I decided to take him to the vet. He had ear mites, a high white blood cell count (infection + fever), and GIARDIA. Don't worry about the giardia. The treatment is a 5 day course of once per day medication. Our adult cat got it too, but he's being treated for it as well. It is NOT contagious to humans, so you can give your kitten all the love you can!

Unfortunately, our new kitten also developed ringworm, which DID spread to our adult cat. This has been a true nightmare for us. We have been using a 1% miconazole liquid ointment from the vet, but it hasn't helped. A friend recommended using Monistat 2% (or higher) cream made for humans. I've only applied it 3 times so far, but it seems to be reducing the redness of the lesions. We are waiting for the pharmacy to get the oral medication to give to both cats. Unfortunately, we won't be able to start it for a few days because it had to be special ordered. I think I'm also going to have cones put on both cats so they can't groom away the topical medication.

Actually you can get giardia from your cat, the risks are small but I have heard of it happening. http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/giardia/giardia-and-pets.html As for the ringworm, I have been there, done that. Had a cat that had it literally covering her body when she was a kitten. I used Clotrimazole (Athlete's cream) ointment/spray on her and she had weekly medicated baths at the vet, they used Miconazole shampoo on her. It took a while to clear up, but none of my other cats caught it (miraculously).

ashley widmer · Mar 4, 2014

What did you clean your hardwood floors with that kills the ringworm? You can't bleach the hardwoods. I've been using apple cider vinegar...no idea if that's working.

tcsrah · Mar 1, 2015

Can someone tell me if putting movable objects such as cat towers outside in our sub zero temperatures here in Wisconsin kill ringworm spores? I put a couple cat towers outside in my detached unseated garage a week ago after vacuuming them hoping that the freezing temps would kill any remaining spores. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

mastooka · Mar 31, 2015

def kitty said:
I'm sorry you have to deal with this, I know how frustrating it can be. I had ringworm on 8 cats and multiple spots on my body (over 50... yes, my immune system is a mess). The most important part of the treatment were oral medications for both me and the cats, but the cats also got 2 lime sulfur baths and I showered a few times with antifungal shampoo. Actually 2 of the cats were suspected to be pregnant so they only got lime sulfur baths, and it looks like it was enough for them. Their last culture came back negative, and I have been ringworm-free for a month so I suppose it really is gone, because with my immune system I am sure I would have got a few patches if there were still ringworm spores in my house. Which brings us to the cleaning.

I am really lucky to be allergic

So there are no carpets, curtains and upholstery in my home. That made cleaning and vacuuming a breeze. What I would definitely suggest is that you have all carpets steam-cleaned, and then store them somewhere until the ringworm has cleared up. It is much easier to clean wooden floors. For upholstery, your vet was spot on, protect your furniture with blankets and that will be enough. (Though paranoid as I am, I would still steam-clean it first, in case some spores got on it before you went to the vet). I washed the floors a few times with disinfectant, and all tiles in bathroom and kitchen with bleach. You don't really have to do it often but I would do it once during the treatment and once after it. Just to cover all bases. I also washed all clothes and bedding I could in hot water, and what I couldn't I let it sit in disinfectant overnight before washing... not sure if that was taking it a bit too far, but I was in a very fragile state of mind back then!

Good luck to you and your kittens!

mastooka · Mar 31, 2015

I want somebody to help me please! It's really a nightmare to me! My sweet kittie has ringworm and take oral medecine griseofulvin twice a day & lamisil cream too! For about 3 weeks now!! Hair started to grow back and the white patch turned her pinkish skin color but once we stopped the griseofulvin her hair started to fall again badly!! What is this and what shall I do! I'm so sad for her .. Help me please

tracie holladay · Dec 20, 2016

ChrissyR said:
We've had multiple cases of ringworm over the years (multicat household) and I used to treat it. I used lamisil at first on us and the cats. Then I just let it run its course when we had another outbreak.

Happy to say it's been years since anyone furred or not has had ringworm. Good luck!

Lamisil cream can be used on a cat??

SeventhHeaven · Dec 30, 2016

Diatomaceous Earth purchased @ health food store

good reading/info not promoting his product brand...

http://www.ringworm-treatment.net/diatomaceous-earth-and-ringworm-manage-ringworm-in-pets-naturally/

*Clays really work google for more info plus Bentonite clay.

Ringworm... Nightmare?

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