Ringworm: How clean is clean?

Hello!  We are in a real pickle.  

We recently rescued 3 kittens from Aruba from a kill shelter. We brought them directly to our vet and quart teemed them for 15 days. Sadly, our vet did not test for ringworm and we didn't know any better. 

After releasing them into our home and exposing our three adult cats and dog to them, one of the cats showed symptoms of ring worm. 

To make a long story short, we are now in full lockdown. All but one cat are symptomatic. Dog is asymptotic but was tested last week (no results yet). We have isolated them and built an enclosure off a bathroom so they can get fresh air. 

We are treating with Sporonox (although I broke the bottle and we are awaiting more tomorrow... A three day interruption which we hope won't set us back or allow resistance). 

We are dipping twice a week in Lyme sulphur.

For the cleaning, we are scrubbing and vacuuming like mad. Here is a video of our biggest cleaning issue... a utility room where the cats used to have their litter boxes and beds.  Oy!


We would appreciate any advice you have!

Thanks! 

Hi there. Ringworm is a horrid, though fortunately not life-threatening condition. as you know, it can be hard to get rid of. I went through it several years ago with my 5 cats, and we were were prescribed shampoos, creams and powders. I had a rigid cleaning regime, too. But it did not go away entirely until a new vet gave us all oral meds, though I cannot now remember what it was. But it cleared up like magic within a week. The most relieved was my large white cat Wellington. Just to inject a note of humour into a tough situation, here he is just after having had a shampoo treatment, which he did not appreciate at all.

Oh poor Wellington. The oral medication we are using is called Sporanox. Although a week sounds wonderful, this is a 28 day course of medication followed by 15 more days of quarantine and testing.

Sporanox, by the way, is very expensive. We must really love cats.

I guess the purpose of my post was to posit the question of how clean do you need to get. In our utility room that you see in that video, cat hair can be found everywhere. My wife collects wrapping paper. I threw it all away considering that I would rather buy new wrapping paper then have a spore remain. Am I being too paranoid?

I can't remember what our med was but we took the whole course. The ringworm did disappear very quickly, though. I used a light solution of bleach for surfaces, furniture and floors, washed all upholstery, mattress protectors and pillows, and all my own clothes, whether I had recently worn them or not. I think if I were you, I would get rid of anything that might harbour cat hair. Better to be safe than sorry.