Newbie with ringworm questions

I was googling feline ringworm and came upon this site and found a lot of useful information about ringworm.  Here is my story and current nightmare (sorry, this is long):

I rescued a 10 year old cat in April that had been languishing in a shelter for over 6 mos. Her name is Clara, she is gray and white and long haired and now that she's adjusted she is lovely (most of the time, a bit testy, that one!). Clara had lived with another cat in her prior home and after she adjusted here it seemed to me she was lonely.  I have a 3 year old rescued mutt but she's in doggie daycare all day while I'm at work so Clara was alone.  I saw a 9 year old short haired gray and white cat with epilepsy on a rescue (or maybe it was a shelter) website. Talked to my vet, epilepsy didn't seem to be that big of a deal so I contacted them. He was living in an animal control facility, had not been on anti-seizure meds since his owner surrendered him.  He had not had a seizure that anyone knew about while he was in animal control.  I adopted him.  His name is Gilligan.  Within a few days of my bringing him home it appeared he was having seizures again. I did not see him have a seizure but twice found him lying in large pools of urine on my bed. Always fun to scrub that out of a mattress.  I took him to my vet and while there she noticed he had infected ears and scratches on his head.  She cultured the scratch for ringworm, though I had no idea what that meant.  It was some sort of quick culture, would take 4 days to come back. She suggested I quarantine him for that 4 days but I really didn't have a place to do that so I didn't.  The culture was negative, started him on seizure meds, and we all started settling in.  The vet thought the scratches were probably from his scratching at his infected ears.  Oh, and it turns out he's 2, not 9.

Since I got her, Clara has been diving at the door to get outside.  She got out a couple of times but never really went anywhere.  Mostly she'd sit on the front steps in the sun. Once she went under a shrub by the front door but that's about it.  She's very attached to me and I don't think she has any desire to get away.  So I stopped being so hypervigilant about the door because she never went anywhere when she got out.  Gilligan never showed any interest in the door.  One day, two weeks after I got Gilligan, I was taking trash out the back door and a neighbor called to me and I went over to chat for a few minutes. I totally forgot about the door, didn't look to see if it was open or not.  It was open.  Gilligan was long gone when went back inside about 15 min or so later.  I put up about 60 signs around the area, called animal control in my town, the local animal rescue league, the woman I adopted him from at the other animal control, etc. I walked hours every night with a flashlight, looking under shrubs and porches and in the woods and along the streets. No sign of him.

A week later, my town animal control officer calls me and says she's pretty sure he was found.  I went and looked and Yay!  It was him! I brought him home and all was well. He was not microchipped so I called around and learned the local animal rescue league has a chipping clinic once a month.  I brought him there, which turned out to be exactly 20 days after I got him back.  The vet took him into the back room and almost immediately came out and said he was pretty sure Gilligan had ringworm. I said no, he'd just been tested and the marks were scratches from the ear infections. I didn't see what the big deal was but the vet was a little freaked out.  Now that I know about ringworm, I can see why since I had just brought an infected cat into a shelter.  Anyway, he called my vet and talked to her and lucky for me the vet was still open that night so I brought Gilligan right up.  He glowed like a Christmas tree under the Wood's lamp. She did a 14 day culture anyway to be sure ,but we started him on griseofulvin, 1 tsp 2x a day with 1 tsp corn oil 2x a day, and topical microconosol.  No dips, she never mentioned it.  He is now quarantined, has been for about 16 days now.  It has been a brutal 16 says for me.  I brought my dog Juliet up to get checked, she got cultured and was ok.  She has a weird spot but it's apparently not ringworm. I had one of the owners of her doggie daycare come to the vet with me when she got checked so she could hear for herself whether she could go to daycare.  Based on the visual and negative wood's lamp, vet said ok to daycare.  Culture was negative at day 14.  Took Clara up last weekend.  She has just so much hair!  Vet did a full skin check and a Wood's lamp. Not one thing on her glowed.  Vet determined she did not need to be treated and was ok. She is not quarantined.

Gilligan is not doing that well, we're headed back to the vet tomorrow. One of the spots on his ears is now ringed with a crusty bloody scab, which doesn't seem right to me 16 days in.  I wouldn't think it would still be getting worse now. I'm wondering if his seizure meds are impeding things. It's been a blast giving him 2tsp of liquid and pilling him twice a day.

Here is where I really REALLY need some support and help.  The cleaning.  Before I put Gilligan in the room where he is I emptied it out of as much furniture as I could.  All that is in there is an old chair (which I will throw out after this) that is covered with a sheet that I change and bleach every few days or so, and my desk with a desktop computer on it.  I had a bunch of stray furniture I took out, washed, rinsed, bleached and wiped.  Much of that furniture is now down in my basement. I Swiffer the floor in there every day, the walls and ceiling every 2-3 days, use disposable dishes for food and water and toss them every couple of days. I wet Swiffer the floor every couple of days. I wear gloves, and leave clothes and slippers in the room to put on. I go in naked.  Last weekend I got down to it and scrubbed everything with spic and span, rinsed it all, dried it, then sprayed the 1:10 bleach on it, let it sit, then wiped it off. He was in the carrier in the bathroom at the time.  it was horrible.  And, it appears, completely useless since I noticed last night that the bleach I got is not for disinfecting. I'm allergic to bleach so I never have any around and bought some that was scented because I get migraines and all I could think was that not only was I going to have hives from all this bleach but I'd have migraines to boot. Well, apparently the scented bleach does not have disinfecting properties.  I plan to bleach and wipe down again tomorrow just before we leave for the vet.  Should be in the 50s here, figure I'll put him in his carrier on the front steps, spray, wait 10 min and wipe. Not too many bleachable surfaces in there so I figure it will take about 20 min. I'll open the window to vent while we're at the vet and put him back in the room tomorrow, along with another clean sheet on the chair.

It took me 12 hours to scrub my bedroom.  I am throwing out a ton of stuff. Took me 6 hours to do my bookcase. I threw out about 100 books. I washed, rinsed and bleached everything else, including cds, bookends, etc.  The bookcase is painted wood and I'm not sure if bleach is effective on that or if it's technically porous since it's wood but I bleached it anyway.  Guess it doesn't really matter since I used the wrong bleach.

I am gone for work over 12 hours a day. I leave at 6:30 am and get home 6:45-7:00.  I have been trying to do some cleaning but frankly I'm exhausted and overwhelmed by this whole situation. Doesn't help that I suffer from extreme anxiety and this has made me so anxious I cannot sleep or eat.  I am trying to Swiffer all the floors every night.  Last night I spent 2 hours vacuuming my couch and loveseat, then wiped them down to get off any remaining hairs I could get. it felt futile. There is hair I can see but cant' remove.  I did get a ton of hair off but I'm certain there is plenty left.  I am trying to tackle the big cleaning/disinfecting of one room each weekend day.  I have 4 rooms left. I feel so guilty that I simply cannot work on this to any degree after work.  I'm exhausted and paralyzed from anxiety over this when I get home.  So... if you're read this far, some questions?

1)  does the fact that neither Clara, Juliet nor I seem to have contracted ringworm mean that we probably won't at this point since Gilligan is quarantined and the house is slowly getting cleaner?

2) and I doomed to having him get reinfected because I have to wait for weekends to do the big cleaning? I am so depressed by this whole thing, and am discovering just how much useless junk I have in this house. The only good thing out of this is that my house will be clutter free by the end. Rather than try to clean stuff I'm just throwing things out.  15 bags of trash this week alone, but that was also my rugs, curtains, bedding, pet beds, cat climbers, etc too.

3) I am petrified that Juliet, in particular, will get it because I cannot clean the house fast enough. If she gets it she can't go to daycare and then I'm just screwed.  I'm gone 12 hours, she'd probably need to be walked twice, which I probably can't afford, and where am I going to find a dog walker who will come into a ringworm infested home?  And would she need to be quarantined also?  Where exactly am I going to be able to do that? I don't have another spare room.  It would make this nightmare just completely unbearable.

4)  is there anything I can do for Juliet to stop her from getting it from the not yet totally disinfected house, or even after since I fear I will never be able to do this job appropriately?  Can I dip her in lime sulfur dip now, will that prevent her from getting it?  Would an antifungal shampoo help? If she gets it, anyone know if it takes as long to clear in dogs?

5)  Does Lysol actually work to kill ringworm? I think it said it was effective against athlete's foot, but not the canis variety for ringworm.  I have been using it in the places I have not yet been able to adequately clean.

6) Should I just throw out this couch?  What are the odds of the couch infecting Clara or Juliet (both of whom have always slept on the couch, as did Gilligan at least twice that I know of.  Saw him perched on the arm for a couple minutes that's all, but who knows while I was at work - it's in front of a huge window).

7)  I have washed as many clothes as possible in bleach, but since I'm allergic to bleach, I have to wash them again in just soap after.  And I used the wrong bleach.  Do I have to wash everything again?  Is there any other way to do this other than bleach? My electric bill from all this laundry is going to be sky high.  The sheer cost of everything I've had to throw out, the vet bills for the 3 animals, his meds, the cleaning supplies etc are really killing me.  And we're coming into heating season.  I'm just bleeding money.  I'll do what I need to do, within reason, but if there's any shortcut or no-bleach solution I'd love to hear about it.

8) I'm losing it having to do this alone.  I'm exhausted and overwhelmed and feel like this will never end.  Everyone keeps telling me to just euthanize Gilligan.  I'm very weepy about this.  He's a lovely boy and I vowed to take care of him when I adopted him and yet I feel I have failed him utterly.  Does anyone know if there are cleaning companies that will come clean a ringworm house? How many times do I have to disinfect the whole house?  How often do I have to bleach Gilligan's room? I think I'm on target to finish disinfecting the house either this weekend or maybe next, or maybe one night this coming week.  Is my time lag dooming us all?  This is so hard to do alone.  How many times do I have to disinfect the whole house?  I figure if I have to do it again it will take much less time since things are now clean and I can Swiffer and then just bleach.

9)  Had anyone ever tried to disinfect either an elliptical or treadmill? How on earth do I do those????

Any tips, advice, help, support anyone could give would be much appreciated. My dad and best friend are both end stage cancer are on chemo and I'm petrified of giving this to them, so I haven't been to visit since this started. Just a little added stress.  I'm not going till next week and I'm meeting both in public so no spores that are on me get in their houses.  It feels like this has ruined my life.  My beautiful little house that I took such care to decorate over the years is going to be bare with no curtains and blinds.  It feels like it will never been ringworm free. I feel in such desperate need of help but there is no help coming.

Emme

Hello and welcome to TCS.

So sorry your having this going on. Take a deep breath and relax a bit.

If he is confined and not running about the house, the only cleaning needed is where he is. The only laundry you need to do is what you wear when you handle him. And just wash your hands afterwards. The bleach needs to be very diluted..10 parts water to 1 part bleach. Use this on areas you can't vacuum. Vacuuming is the best thing to control the spores. Empty the bags or canister each time. Most healthy cats will fight off the fungus, and remember, it is just a fungus, not a fatal disease to fear. Ringworm typically looks worse before it gets better.

He had free run of the house for 20 days before he was diagnosed. Wouldn't he have shed spores then?

Yes, but it sounds like everything you have already done is quite enough. It has been well over 2 weeks, the others have been checked out as ok, so now just confining him and treating him should do the trick. Just keep vacuuming. Try to relax a bit.

Lordy, I hope you're right.  I haven't scrubbed the living room or kitchen yet!  Doing those this weekend.  I hope you're right and I don't actually HAVE to scrub and bleach them, but I'll feel more relaxed if I do. I want to get as much of this out of my house as I can.  I've had pets my whole life.  Until this round of cats, all of my cats were indoor/outdoor and none of them ever got this.  I'd never heard of it before.  Very distressing stuff.

I think Clara may have it.  She woke me up scratching her ear incessantly and there is a tiny pink spot on her ear. I'm going to try to get her to the vet with Gilligan this morning.  I am past my wit's end. I started cleaning at 3am and am exhausted and not done yet with a first time whole hose disinfection.  I could not forcibly medicate her. I can barely get her into a cat carrier without needing stitches. I did not get a close look at the spot on her ear because I couldn't hold her still long enough to see it.  I need help.

Sorry I took so long to reply to you, have been working. Did you get Clara to the vet?

Clara was checked along with Gilligan on Saturday. The vet does not think she has it but did a 4 day and 14 day culture. Clara is now isolated in yet another room and doesn't understand why.  Gilligan is not improving.  I have medical issues of my own and got pets to calm me and instead this has become hell.  I cannot handle this.

So sorry your going through this, and I know it can feel overwhelming. Most cases of ringworm do look worse before they look better, but if he is on the medication, Gilligan will get better. It takes about 30 days.

I do think you need to take a deep breath and relax some. Easier said then done I know, but your doing everything right and this will pass.

This is day 22 of medication and he looks worse, not better. I have asked my vet to call the local veterinary school to get the latest protocol but I have no idea if she will do it. I am about to run out of my first month of meds (which is an orange flavored griseofulvin that the cat hates) so I need to change meds now if I'm going to.  Both cats are quarantined and miserable. I don't know for how long their culture needs to wait before it's declared negative. My vet says she is using a 14 day culture but I've read that isn't long enough. There is so much information out there, much of it conflicting and I have no idea what to do. I will  never own another cat.

Is he also being treated with a dip or fungal shampoo? Also Itraconzole anti fungal medication is supposed to be more effective. Can you ask your vet if this may be a good time to try this? Does your vet also think Gilligan is not improving? If so, then perhaps trying Itraconzole may be a good idea. Systemic medications should be given for a min of 6 weeks. This is to totally kill the fungus even if the cat looks recovered.

he is not being dipped or shampooed. vet recommends that for things other than ringworm but nor for ringworm. she is looking into itraconzaole And will get back to me. When he recovers i will be looking for another home for him. I do not want to own any more cats but think no one will take him because of his epilepsy. Every shelter I have contacted so far has said no way. I am trying to place my other cat with a friend now. I cannot deal with this right now and the cats are better off elsewhere.

Vet is willing to switch to itraconazole but has had good luck with griseofulvin and thinks we should stick it out with that for another month to see if he improves. he is not being dipped, maybe because he has lesions only on his ears and has topical miconosol for that. i have too much information. I am overhwelmed, my father is dying, my best friend is on end stage chemo and is alone and i work 12 hours a day, I myself am not well i am swiffering as best i can, leaving clothes in his room to put on when i see him and feeling like i am failing him at every turn.I have no more energy to devote to this. he will have to get better based on what i'm doing or i will not be able to keep him, no matter what that means. i worry about my dog getting it, and if my other cat has it. i appreciate the advice here but what i really need to hear is that i'm doing ok, that what i'm doing is enough and that he will get better and that i have decontaminated my house enough so that he will not get it again. anything else is adding to my already intolerable stress load. stress exacerbates my medical condition and i fear i'm a half step from being hospitalized again. if that happens gillligan will be euthanized, clara will go to a shelter that will take a ringworm but not epileptic cat,and who knows what will happen to my beloeved dog. please, can someone please tell me what i'm doing is enough and it will be ok? I plan to follow my vet and stay on the griseofulvin until his next culture on the 7th then reasses. i am doing all I can.

So sorry to hear about your father and your friend.

IMO you are doing everything right. Gilligan will get better. From everything you have said, I certainly think you have cleaned very well, enough to contain any spread, again IMO.

Thank you. I am doing the best I can. My vet offered to shave him but I hesitate to do that eith winter coming. i couldn't afford to heat the house warm enough to keep him warm if he's shaved. his spots are on his ears and one over an eye. i'll keep the griseofulvoin until he gets rechecked on the 7th. i hope he's better/by then and we can culture him then and atart going for 2 clean cultures.

Hi Emme- my family and I have been going through a similar situation.  We adopted our kitten from a shelter (he was in foster care) and did not know he had ringworm until about a week after we had introduced him to our other older, longhair cat. Needless to say our other cat got it and three months later, here we are with both cats isolated from eachother and going through the endless laundry, cleaning, etc..., not to mention all three of us humans got it too! The great thing is that the shelter has been dipping the cats for us and the shelter vet became our new vet, because we felt she had more knowledge about ringworm.  Our older cat went on itraconazole, because she had lesions all over.  Her long hair was cut short and within a couple of weeks, she looked noticeably better.  Our kitten is a carrier and still testing positive (he doesn't have lesions but is still carrying the fungus on him), so we are waiting to hear from our vet how to proceed with him.  Our older cat is now double negative (two consecutive negative tests) and she looks so much better.  I totally understand the stress you are feeling, but believe me, it sounds like you have done a ton more cleaning than we have!! You can only do so much around the house and you need to find time to relax! Our old vet wanted our cat to take the griseofulvin, but the dosage and the taste of it were too much for her.  We have had a lot of success with the itraconazole.  I don't know if this helps, but I hope it does.  It is very exhausting, but you should make sure you are getting time for yourself first and then do what you can with the cats.  Good luck!

Thanks so much for your reply.  My other cat is quarantined too while we wait for her culture to come back but my vet and I are both pretty sure she does not have it.  The tiny spot she had on her ear has not changed, and since she has allergies her scratching all the time is typical. I am just ringworm phobic.  She has no other signs of it at all, did not fluoresce, has no lesions.  She is longhaired but so far her culture is negative and it will be 2 weeks on Saturday.  My dog has no signs of it either, negative culture at day 14, no lesions, nothing.  I bathe her 2x a week in antifungal shampoo to keep her from carrying spores with her.  I have nothing, either.  Gilligan is slowly getting better on the griseofulvin.  We were going to switch him to itraconazole but it needs to be done by a compounding pharmacy and I had a family crisis come up that prevented me from dealing with getting new meds for a few days so we decided to just keep him on the griseofulvin until his next culture on the 7th.  He looks much better except for one small spot that is bloody, not like a ringworm lesion but like a small cut he had that he picked the scab off of. Hard to explain.  He is not being dipped, probably because his lesions are mostly confined to his ears.  Although, my vet does not generally use lime sulfur for ringworm.  We'll check all this out again on the 7th.

My much bigger issue right now is I came home tonight and it's clear he had another seizure while I was at work today.  There is an upholstered armchair covered with a sheet in the room where he is quarantined and the sheet and the back of the chair were soaked in urine.  I have had to pill him his phenobarbital since he stopped taking pill pockets,a nd it is getting increasingly difficult to give him the griseofulvin followed by the corn oil.  The walls in that room are going to have to be repainted from stray drops of both when he jerks his head to avoid the dropper.  The stress of being isolated maybe is causing the seizures, I don't know. I'm feeling a little perturbed at this whole situation.  He was supposed to be 9, with a remote history of seizures.  She had had him in an open room with other cats for 6 mos and never took him to the vet and never gave him any seizure meds.  Wtihin a week of my getting him he had at least 2 seizures, releasing large amounts of urine on my bed each time. I took him to the vet and we discovered he was 2, not 9. I ahd been looking for a companion for my 10 year old cat. I would not have taken him if I had known he was 2.  I should have checked his medical records when she gave him to me but  I didn't.   She should have at least known his age. She works for animal control in a town, not at a shelter and Gilligan was an owner surrender.  She is very good hearted but she thinks ringworm is no big deal, just rub some bleach on him, give him a pill, cover the furniture with a sheet and all is fine.  she has no clue how contagious is it, and how long it takes to treat. I am overwhelmed by the ringworm, terrified my other pets will get it, got rid of so much soft stuff in the house I'll have to replace (rugs, curtains, bedding, etc), and now he's having seizures again.  I don't care about the chair since I had planned to throw it out when he gets clear anyway but I can't deal with his having seizures and peeing on all my furniture.  there is a shelter that will take him with epilepsy but not ringworm, and I may have to consider giving him up.  I will be unable to medicate Clara if she gets it.  She is a tough old broad.  The vet and her tech had a very difficult time even plucking hairs to culture.  No way I could medicate her alone.  there is a shelter that will take her if she has ringworm, so if she gets it I may have to give her up also.

I am devastated by all of this.  I wanted to give a difficult to place cat a home and my home is ruined, I am broke, and he is miserable, stressed and having seizures.  I never even got to bond with him.  I had him for a few days and he had seizures. he got put on meds a week after I got him and was zoned out from them.  Five days after that he escaped from the house. I put up 60 signs and looked for him for hours every night. I got him back a week later and he brought ringworm home with him and has been quarantined and alone since he got diagnosed 20 days after I got him back.  My life has been turned so far upside down by this poor cat that I wonder if I would ever be able to bond with him at this point.  The uncontrolled seizures are now just the icing on the cake.  I wonder sometimes if he will be happier somewhere else when he recovers from the ringworm.  I am not sure I can bond with him now and I am disappointed in myself for that.  Right now I wish I had no pets at all and if you knew me you'd be shocked by that statement. I have never been without pets but I just can't see any others in my future after these pass.

Anyway, best of luck with your situation.  I hope all passes quickly for you.  We are on week 4 of meds and quarantining for Gilligan, week 2 on Clara's quarantine.  I clean the cats' rooms every night with Swiffer mops and dusters, but clean the rest of the house only on weekends. I have no rugs so it's not so difficult.  Just exhausting on top of all the family crap I have going on.

Emme- it sounds like you have gone above and beyond for all your pets and I think all that you are feeling is completely understandable!  I'm sure Gilligan's ringworm will be gone soon. It sounds like he has rounded the corner with that and the cleaning you're doing and the precautions you are taking definitely sound more than adequate!  You need to do what is right for you and think of your well-being. Again, you have certainly given the cats and dog so much of your energy and care!  So many people would not even do half of what you are doing.  I wish you well and hope that things get better soon!

Thank you for your kindness.  I have been trying to find a cleaning company to help me with the cleaning because I cannot keep up.  If anyone knows a person or company in central Massachusetts that can help please let me know.  Gilligan seems better but medicating him is getting increasingly difficult and he doesn't even see the vet again for another 2 weeks.  Which means it's at least another 6 weeks of quarantine for him.  My vet did not call with Clara's culture results, not sure if this is oversight on her part or if she's running it for longer than the 2 weeks.  Gilligan had another seizure and soiled the chair in his room.  I truly wish I was pet free right now and will never own another.  I am completely undone by this.

Hi Emme, we are trying to find a cleaning company too. I think whatever help you can get is good. Have you asked your vet, local shelters for resources? I was at my wit's end
when we finally called the shelter where we got our kitten and asked for help. They now dip the cats twice a week and we connected with our new vet that way. If you have help no matter what it is or how small at least you will feel that support which helps through this ordeal, so you shouldn't hesitate to ask for help! If we find a good cleaning company, I will let you know. Take care!