Skin Problem in 8 month old kitten

peaches08

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Yes, less red and it looks to be drying up!  Let us know what the vet says.
 

stephanietx

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If you're unable to go to the vet with your kitty, send a list of questions along with your boyfriend and have him write down the answers.  I do this when hubby takes the kitties to the vet, though over the years, he's gotten much better at getting all the info I want.
 
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valg

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Thanks ladies! :) feeling better now. That's just the antibiotic. I was told to leave it alone and not put anything on it. Hard as it's been!! I'm glad you think it's less sore. He's scratching at it too so must be healing. Think the scabs will come off if he carries on!

Believe me Stephanie he has a massive list haha! I am taking them tomorrow :) both of them haha. Can't be doing with taking one this week then back again with another! I did find this tonight. Any ideas? I swear I look for things! Haha. He does play fight with the younger kitten - quite rough. Wasn't sure if could be a nip in the skin that's bled and scabbed over?

 

stephanietx

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I would ask the vet to culture it to rule out ringworm or any other fungal disease, since this is a new spot.
 
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valg

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I will ask her. It does look like a cut in the skin from grappling with my other kitten. There has been no change in its appearance in the last 2 days. Just scabbed over a little. My other kitten had a glowing strain of ringworm two months ago so I will ask her to do UV woods lamp first. I have been treating my other kitten for two months now to keep it at bay and cleaned and steamed every other day on the environmental side. Let's hope it's nothing.
 
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valg

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Bad news.

The smallest bit near his nose is ringworm. How it wasn't a week or so ago I don't know. We had a definite small green glow. Few specs on the larger bit too. It's confusing as the antibiotic seemed to improve the skin condition and I know they don't work on fungal infections.

Sooo. Vet is putting them on itraconazole. Doses to be confirmed. That's both my cats. Phoebe is obviously the carrier so to avoid one then the other getting it we are treating both.

Other than the obvious side effects (I'm also aware if possible liver damage in the extreme) - has anyone had experience with this drug and it's effectiveness?

At my whits end now. Never ending vet bills and it's so expensive is this drug. I'm claiming off the rescue as they promised they'd help if he contracted it.
 

quiet

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Ringworm is only diagnosed through a fungal culture. The woods light isn't accurate since things other than ringworm will glow. I would not treat your other cat unless they have active ringworm due to how toxic the drugs can be.
 
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valg

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It's 100% ringworm. My kitten brought it home and one of her siblings was diagnosed the other day for certain by positive ringworm culture. The vet did explain that dandruff and dry skin glowed but that there was a distinct glow about the ringworm. It was indeed very neon. I don't doubt the woods lamp. It's more the drugs. I've tried topical treatment for 2 weeks with no improvement so I'm not sure if u have another choice? I will however speak to my vet after your advice tomorrow before I collect any treatment from them :)
 
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valg

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Sorry I misread. You meant my other kitten. Sorry. Been a loooong day and been cleaning since got in! Madness I tell you.

I will ask my vet tomorrow. She is the carrier so I think that's why she wanted them both treated so they didn't keep passing it to one another. Thanks for the advice.
 
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valg

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Thanks Stephanie. It is very useful. I do pretty muh 80% of that. I can't toss my carpets out though. It's a new house we have and it's not practical. I Hoover daily (throw the bag out and bleach the cylinder container) and steam the carpets the day after. Steam the kitchen floors and do 1:10 bleach and water on all counters.

I am determined and hopefully on the oral meds we can beat this! She didn't recommend more topical creams as they irritated his skin and he licks them off too. Soooo this is WAR!! :) I will beat this!
 
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valg

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Help!

Right... He has been on Itraconazole for 7 days now and will now be on 7 day break. So far no side effects. However, his face is worse. In fact no improvement at all with the antifungal. Making me think.... Could it be an allergy? Something is causing the issue to worsen and no response to topical or oral antifungal meds makes me think that ringworm is only secondary and that the skin is 'developing 'hot spots' for another reason. He now has a identical spot under the hair follicles on the other side under the whiskers.

Vets tomorrow. A different vet for a second opinion and hopefully a skin test. Any ideas?

Thanks again :) Val x
 

balibabies

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Ask your vet for Lamisil. It is weight dosed so weights need to be checked regularly so the dose can be adjusted. Ringworm has resistive strains but Lamisil is AWESOME!!! It has to be reconstituted into a cat dose. I too had a nightmare with a kitten about 5 or so years ago, spent at least 10 grand on getting rid of it. Your cats should be isolated in a room that can be bleached everyday. We crated this kitten in a very large dog crate. Litter was dumped every day and food and water bowls were disposable so they too were changed everyday. The cats go in a crate while you are bleaching and then the crate gets bleached afterwards. You need to seal off the air duct in the room they are in because the ringworm can travel through the air and get in other rooms or your whole house. We also created an isolation environment where plastic sheeting was hung from floor to ceiling and then another small anterior room was made with the same plastic sheeting where I could leave all the trash I accumulated. I wore isolation gowns, gloves,shoe covers and bonnet. Our kitten was soaked for 10 minutes 3 times a week in lime sulfur. We had to protect her eyes. I did all this because I read veterinary journals of studies done on ringworm. It is a highly resistive fungus. The stuff can live for two years in any environment. Which makes your cats constantly reexposed to it because it's in their environment. The only thing that kills it is temp. Over 110 F. for 4-6 hours or 1:10 bleach, not even freezing works. It is zoonotic and I had to be treated for 3 months with Lamisil. The ringworm lives and grows based on the active and dormant phases of their hair growth. When the hair growth is dormant the infection is dormant, active hair growth every three weeks brings it on. Our kitten was treated with three different meds with the actual working med being Lamisil. It took 120 days and we did not let her out until three cultures each with 21 days in between cultures were negative. It was a nightmare but we beat it. The kitten who was 9 months by the time it was all over was given to our neighbor who knew of our situation but didn't have any cats. The fear is that the cat could be re infected from a dormant spore in the hair shaft therefore infecting the house and other cats before you even know it. The report given to me about 2 years ago was the ringworm never returned. We actually moved from the house that year although not specifically due to the ringworm but it was a very sad nightmare. None of my other family members or cats got it. I also had to fungal culture my two other cats three times over 90 days to make sure they never got it. Good luck!!
 

balibabies

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You can ask for Bactroban. It is an ointment. Another name is Mupirocin 2%. This treats staph infections. I think the problem is the environment has to be controlled and bleached heavily every day or they reinfect.
 

peaches08

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Could this be autoimmune like pemphigus?  Google pemphigus in cats for pictures and compare.
 

balibabies

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One more thing. Make sure you are feeding a grain free diet. We like Life's Abundance but there are other grain free foods as well. Have they been checked for felv/fiv?
 
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valg

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Thank you both for the advise. I honestly am thinking it's something of an allergy. I don't know for certain if it is ringworm yet. No culture has ever been performed. He just glowed green in a small area last week under the woods lamp.

I was thinking it could be food intolerance. I changed his dry food approx 7 weeks ago and 5 weeks ago this all started. So far none of us have it. If it is ringworm it's caught from our new kitten who had a mild case of it when adopted her. Hers glowed also. Her sibling had a culture confirmed ringworm too.

I will google pemphigus when get home. I find it odd it's only on his whiskers and nose area (down the side of the nostrils). Which could make it more food allergy that starts it all. He has a very sensitive stomach too. So far that's ok though.

Without a skin culture I am unwilling to accept a ringworm only positive. The cream worked on my other kitten and unless it's developed into a very resistant and entirely different fungus I would say it should also respond to the creams.

Getting very upset about it all :( hate seeing my Frankie like this :(
 
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valg

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Ok yeh it could be the pemphigus. I've attached a photo I found on google of a cat with similar symptoms to Frankie but in a different place.

Other symptoms I've noted in the last month - excessive scratching around his ears and neck, shaking his head, excessive grooming of his face, legs and belly, he has sores that do not heal but responded to the antibiotic he had healing it a bit, some areas (small) are flaky and brown discoloured skin flakes off. This has not spread at all from the dot on his ear and under his eye.

His general appearance is fine other than his muzzle. Coat is healthy. Appetite is normal. No diarrhea or vomiting and he's playing enough. Still mischievous as anything. Haha.

I have been bleaching daily and vacuuming daily. I steam the floors where possible and the carpets every other day. I can't do more than I am doing as work long hours and physically an emotionally exhausted. In tears writing this as just had enough. I don't know what it is! Sick of all the guessing I must say. Need a firm diagnosis regardless of cost. Not sleeping or eating. If anything I need the doctor haha. Never mind.

 
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valg

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Here are Frankie's photos. If you look carefully on the second two. The muzzle is just showing a sign of redness. When touched it feels like a spot coming to a head? Slightly raised. The spot on his ear is flaky but no bigger than last week. And the first photo is just the same. That small area near his nose glowed green under UV and he has speckled dots on the larger circle. But only speckles. Hence me thinking it being secondary if fungal at all



 

peaches08

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A biopsy will help determine if it's pemphigus.  A skin scraping will tell what bacteria/fungal stuff is growing there, but without a biopsy you won't know if it's primary or secondary.

it may just be simple allergy.  Maybe try switching back to what they were on before and see if that helps?
 
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