Ringworm question..

Hi all,

I am 95% sure Monet has ringworms.. some sort of fungus for sure. I called the vet, and she suggested a dab of bleach and Lamisil. I diluted the bleach a lot and dabbed to his ears, let it dry, cleaned his ears and applied Lamisil. She said give it a week, if it gets worse or reddens, she'll prescribe the pills for him.

His ears has bald patches. Upon first noticing on Sunday, there was grey/red scabby crusts that I cleaned off when I gave him a bath (with human antibacterial bar soap, the only antibacterial soap I had.. and his kitty shampoo). After cleaning his ears, the bald spots were red.. probably from my rubbing. Yesterday morning to now.. the spots look clear, some shiny areas, some skin tone. Slightly crusty along the edge of the ears. just by looking at it, one would think I took a piece of tape and ripped spots of fur out of his ears. It does not bother him.. he's not scratching or shaking his head.

He's also been very mooshy the last night too. He let me do things to him that he never let me do (ie, lay my head on his tummy. I should've trimmed his nails at this time!). but I think it was because his ears were burning from the bleach.. every once in a while he'd jerk his head. He's eating, drinking and playing like normal. This morning he was back to his old self.

I am being more paranoid than I should, and I know it, but I can't help it! I gave my apartment a 120% cleaning, with bleach and all sorts of disinfectants and even scrubbed my carpet by hand! I took all my beddings, my coat that Monet sleeps on, and all the cats beddings to the cleaners this morning. I feel better by doing this, and I will continue to clean and vacuum until after I see Monet 100% better. I am praying that Cassie does not get the fungus.

how can I tell if he's getting better at all aside from hair regrowth? Can anyone offer advice for anything regarding Ringworm? Something to give me a peace of mind?

thanks

There are medications specifically for ringworm that are in ointment form. I've not heard of a pill form to treat it. Ringworm is actually a fungus so it is treated with a fungicide. I believe that fungus is the same as what causes athlete's foot. If you get ringworm on you (it is contagious), you treat it on yourself with a product like Ting. Years ago one of my dogs got ringworm. The vet didn't tell me this, but his vet tech shared with me that the active ingredients for ringworm are the same as the active ingredients in some human medication for fungal infections. But she warned me that not all human fungal medications will work, and in fact some will harm your pet. Perhaps it was Lamisil. I never used bleach on the pets, but did use a bleach solution to clean the environment. Ringworm remains in the environment so you will want to use bleach to clean your house.

The sign that it is going away is hair regrowth and no further spreading on the body. If a cat is healthy, it will clear up fairly quickly. I have heard stories here of it taking months to clear up ringworm when they're cats are not healthy to begin with.