Ringworm?

I used to have an account here a while back, but can't find my login info anymore, so had to make a new account.

About a week ago, I noticed that my DSH was missing a little patch of fur on top of her head.  It's about the size of a dime.  It didn't appear irritated, and she wasn't scratching it, so I assumed she'd lost a little tuft of fur in a tussle with our other cat.

I was looking at it again last night, though, and realized that the spot is roughly circular, and that most of the fur is missing in a ring.  The hair in the middle isn't quite as short.  Still no sign of irritation of the skin, and my cat pays it not attention at all.  Also, I can't tell if the missing fur is entirely bald, or just short (she has dense fur, so it's hard to get a good look).

Could this be ringworm?  Both cats are indoors full-time, and we don't have a dog that might have brought something in.  I have fairly regular contact with my mother's dog, but he definitely doesn't have any signs of ringworm.  My only other contact with other animals is when I occasionally go to the dog run with my mother, but I very rarely touch the other dogs and always wash my hands when I get home.

I'll be calling the vet for an appt tomorrow, but anyone have any ideas in the meantime? Does this sound like early ringworm, or something else?  

A big hint if it is ringworm, look very closely at the skin where the fur is missing, is it a bit reddish, scaly, lightly scabbed?

If not, then it's probably nothing to worry about.

Ringwormed skin also will have tiny black dot type things, always a tell-tale sign.

If your cat is an adult, their immune systems generally will resist ringworm unless there was direct contact with a very infected animal who has it, although the virus (spores) can survive quite a while on their own/on surfaces.

The skin seemed perfectly normal, as far as I could see.  I'll have my husband check later.  I'm pregnant right now, so very wary about coming into contact with anything contagious (I know ringwork isn't dangerous, but it's certainly gross!).  

Thanks so much for your response!

Okay, just had my husband check.  He says that the skin looks totally normal.  No flaking or redness or black dots.  He says that the outer ring is almost hairless, and the inside has dense fur that's shorter than normal.  Either way, I'd be more comfortable with a trip to the vet.

If the bald spot has NO hair at all, give it at least several days and see if new fur starts to grow. If not, then I would probably head to the vet, just to be safe, but ringworm causing hair loss is because of the fungus growth on the skin. If her skin looks just fine then rest assured it is gone for some other reason, could be many harmless things though.

Also ringworm will only occasionally look round, it's usually missing spots of fur sort of randomly, with dryish, reddish looking scales from the fungus.

From my experience and reading, ringworm can take on different appearances in different cats.  (My Leo had several different appearances at once when he had it and sometimes the bald spots had skin that looked normal.)  I would not rule it out without a fungal culture done by the vet (or a blacklight test which isn't always conclusive and might need to be followed by a fungal culture.)  It is a bit unusual for an adult cat to get it out of the blue.  But I've read that they can be carriers with no symptoms for a long time then maybe stress or a scratch could cause symptoms.  I'd definitely see the vet and take precautions as if it might be ringworm until it is ruled out.  Good luck.

Thank you both!  We decided to err on the side of caution and get her checked out.  She has an appt later today.

I heard ringworm got its name from the raised circular appearance, but when Patricia had it, all I saw was dark brown splotches on her face. It made me forget the culprit is not a worm. (It is a fungus, Catwoman.)

People can give ringworm to their cats.

Back from the vet and the verdict is...she's not sure what's causing it.  Without any itching or irritated looking skin, she's leaning away from ringworm as a diagnosis.  She tried the blacklight, and it didn't flouresce, but that's only diagnostic when it does flouresce.  Her suspicion is that our cat has a minor skin infection.  So we have a topical AB that we're applying three times a day for a week, and then we'll check in with the vet again to report any changes.