Ringworm - eeek!!!

Hey guys! Sorry for the long post today. 

I adopted a 5 month old Ragdoll and turns out it was ridden with ringworm, which I was told was just a rash, shame on me for being so gullible. So the vet did the black light test and the cat was glowing like the 60's; tail, ears, hip and foot are all shaven now. So they have me giving him ointment, rinse and deworming paste for ingestion. They also fear he might have FIP because he's sneezing quite a bit, however he's super active, eats a ton... but starts sneezing when he purrs too hard. So for the FIP they have him on this expensive immune booster serum and antibiotics; seems to be working for the most part. His poo is normal now, his sneezes are decreasing slowly and his eyes are clearing up. 

Question,

I have never encountered ringworm before, and I found a lovely ring on my inner thigh and seems one might be popping up on my hand. My friend seems to be finding some on her arms as well, and her cat has lost most of his hair around his neck from the fungus; we hang out at least 2 times a week. I've been washing my sheets and towels every 2 days, vacuuming 2 times a day and mopping every 2nd day. i've taken away all the cats bedding and I vacuum the cat tree daily. My other cat seems to fine so far, but it's only day 7 of having this new fungus ridden cat home. We bought a black light to check our scalps, skin, bedding, cats, everything; it should arrive today (does that really work?). I also wash my poor hands every single time I touch him and I shower 2-3 times a day and use fungus shampoo and rub it all over my body too. They also have me using the same antifungal cream on my leg and hand. The ringworm on his thigh is fading quickly, the large one on his tail is slowly fading, but the one bellow his ear has turned into a brown crunchy lump?

Am I going about this right? Am I missing anything? I really want this nasty crap out of my household asap. Or am I being overly anal and kind of crazy? Hong Kong makes you very anti-germ lol The vet gave him treatment for 7 days but I read online this can stay contagious for 3 months? Should I throw away their last two cat beds? I vacuum them daily. 


I'm not in a place where I can lock him up, so unfortunately he's got full access to our apartment.

Thanks for all your advices as usual 

We have lots and lots of threads here on TCS on treating ringworm.  As for the "FIP" your vets are treating him for is not treatable, so I believe you mean FIV (which cam be suppression of the immune system and thus make him more susceptible to ringworm than a cat with a fully active immune system.)  Ringworm can be a real pain i the butt  It is not fatal but it can be very contagious and it sounds like it has already passed to you, your friend and your friend's cat.  You and your friend will probably do fine with most OTC antifungals and the shampoo for the cats wouldn't hurt either.

The latest best thing to kill it externally (particularly for the cats) is a combination of ketoconazole and chlorhexadine.   It works better than lime sulfur dips and smells much better too.  You can find it online or have your vet get it for you.  It is currently the best thing going.  It comes in a spray form, a shampoo, wipes and a skin care kit that includes several things.  Internally, if they must medicate, most of the old medications are no longer being used because of bad side effects.  If your cat doesn't manage to rid himself of the fungus with shampoos etc. and they want to do oral treatment, iatraconozole (Sporonox) seems to be the way to go.  There are lots of places to get it, under different brand names etc.  Here are just a few.

http://www.revivalanimal.com/Vet-Basics-ChlorConazole.html

http://www.calvetsupply.com/product/Ketoseb_D_Shampoo_16oz/Dog_Cat_Anti_Bacterial_Shampoo

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Rx_Info_Sheets/rx_ketoconazole_shampoo.pdf

Now I will give you a link to our long, long thread about eradicating ringworm from your home and animals.  You will find many TCS members on there you can contact directly by Private Message for more into if you want.  There are some other new threads started here lately as well.  If you search "ringworm" at the top of the page, just under the brown bar, I'm sure you will find them.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/210789/6-things-i-learned-from-our-ringworm-plague-book-length

Thank you for all the info and the ringworm thread!

Just my two-cents on my experience with ringworm...

I found a cat about 20 years ago and took him in and he had ringworm (he didn't have any spots you could see). I eventually had to give him to my aunt as my other cat did not like another cat in her space so we kept them separated which was actually a good thing. However, I did get ringworm and I had to go to the doctor and get special cream (anti-fungal I guess - it was a long time ago) as it would not go away (I had it for several months). It was in several places but I have a compromised immune system. My brother had one spot that went away on its own in a week so that might give you an idea of what you need to do for yourself. You want to make sure you get yourself treated along with your precious kitty.