Ringworm in new shelter kitty

Hi all,

I just adopted a shelter kitty who is around 9 months old. After having her home for five days, I saw a scaly patch on her ear that looked like ringworm. I took her back to the shelter who agreed she had ringworm and started treating her. They have had her for two weeks and are treating her with oral terbinafine (no topical treatment/baths that I am aware of). I thought she would be able to come home yesterday, but was told that she was better, but still needed treatment (I didn't get to speak to the actual vet unfortunately).

I have three small children and a small apartment, so initially I was thrilled that they would treat her at the shelter. I believe she is in an isolated kennel/crate in a room of other ringworm kitties. However, now that two weeks have passed, I'm wondering if it would be better to bring her home, confine her to my bedroom and a crate, continue terbinafine (if they'd send me home with it) and start lime sulphur dips. I don't want to start some sort of ringworm "war" where I am having to treat the cat and decontaminate an environment constantly, but I wonder if the stress of the shelter is making it harder for her to improve. If I brought her home, I'd start her on a high quality food and a hopefully more peaceful environment (as peaceful as it could be with three small kids). Also, at this age, it seems pretty sad for her to be confined to a kennel at a shelter...formative months, you know?

Thoughts? Any experience treating ringworm where the experience wasn't horrible?

Thanks!

Did the shelter give you an idea of how much longer she would need to stay there? 

That's a very long time.  Terbinafine is also really tough on the liver.  I honestly thought that lime/sulfur dips were the standard of care for ringworm, no?

No. I only spoke to the receptionist. I did call back and was told the vet would call me back (hopefully tomorrow) and that cats do usually get better faster when taken care of at home. Unless she's developed a lot more lesions, we think we will pick her up and deal with it on our own (with the vet meds, of course).

LavishSqualor said:

 
That's a very long time.  Terbinafine is also really tough on the liver.  I honestly thought that lime/sulfur dips were the standard of care for ringworm, no?

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I've never treated ringworm before so don't know how long terbinafine  treatment usually lasts.  I have heard that lime/sulfur dips are considered one of the more effective ways of treating it, though.  I also think since @thekitty understands what's involved in preventing spread, that bringing him home makes sense. 

Sorry, just saw LavishSqualor's post. I think terbinifine is supposed to be one of the safer meds (?). The vet at the shelter said that they used to do the lime sulphur dips, but it stressed the cats out too much. Another local vet office I called said lime sulphur dips were "old school" (!!!). Most everything I've read advocates the lime sulphur dips.

From what I've read, I feel comfortable continuing the terbinifine for another week combined with twice weekly lime sulphur dips and moderate environmental decontamination. She was with us for five days (and infective) and I don't believe any of my five family members (including myself) have any "spots".

But, treatment seems pretty subjective which is frustrating. And I'm only assuming the shelter vet will send me home with terbinifine. The local vet office (regular vet not shelter vet) said they didn't even stock terbinifine.

It sounds to me like you've really done your homework and thought about this carefully.  Your plan certainly sounds like it would cover all the bases but I would run it past the vet just to be sure, when you pick your kitten up.  Below are two articles and a thread on ringworm that might help. 
[article="32416"]Ringworm In Cats How To Win The Fight  [/article][article="32417"]Ringworm Infestation In Cats The Housecleaning Regime  [/article][thread="312962"]Ringworm In New Shelter Kitty  [/thread]
EDIT:  Oops!  I hit the wrong button!  I just sent you to your own thread!    Here is the thread I meant to send you.
[thread="210789"]6 Things I Learned From Our Ringworm Plague Book Length  [/thread]

I meant to ask you to let us know how it goes!  And to wish you good luck. 

Thank you Margd. I'll read the articles you referenced, and update this post with our progress.

Terbifine is the ingredient in Lamisil and I practically had to beg my doctor for it when I got a totally disgusting case of toenail fungus.  He went on and on about how horrible it was for your liver and how I was letting vanity get the better of my judgment.  I just assumed that if it was bad for me it would be bad for cats.  Perhaps felines have a better way of dealing with the drug than humans. 

You are so sweet to want to get your kitten out of the stress of the shelter. However, I will just warn you to read through the threads about ringworm on this board. It is INSANELY stressful to have ringworm in your home. Our rescue kitty has been there three weeks and I figured out two weeks ago that we have ringworm.  Especially with small children, it is HARD to de-contaminate your house, plus you feel miserable for the cat because you aren't playing with it like you normally would.  I feel like I'm in a weird limbo where I can't use my full house, have to be conscious of everything I'm touching and wearing. PLUS I have spent A LOT of money not only on decontamination things for the house (not to mention the water and electricity on running the washer/dryer almost 24 hours a day with towels and bedding in addition to our clothes) but on medications both over the counter and prescription for the cat and my family. I have personally been to the doctor TWICE now for medication - first a cream and now oral - which has cost around $500.  The vet was only $60 (not including the lime sulfur dip that I bought on amazon). I love this little cat, but given the option, I would not have brought him into our home so soon if I knew he had ringworm.

Good luck to your and your new kitty!

Oh, and I meant to say that I read somewhere that a crate won't help containment because it's an airborne infection. Take that for what it's worth. Though unless of course if it's in a room no one really uses, that would help.

Thanks LonghornMom. This is so tricky, isn't it? Some cats get rw and it seems to be treated so easily and not spread and for others it is a nightmare!

I just heard from the shelter/vet that kitty is clear of ringworm. So I plan on picking her up tomorrow and immediately bathing/dipping her when I get home. I'm also going to bleach her carrier. We will keep her in our room (the only available semi confined space) and carefully watch for recurrence.

I've read many resources on rw and completely freaked myself out, but I can only do what I can do short of giving the cat up. Fingers crossed ours will be one of those cases where the ringworm is "easy" to treat.

I also am thinking of taking my two year old (human child) to the doctor to make sure none of his eczema spots are really rw. I know he is the most susceptible because of his pre existing eczema. Fortunately, we have really good health insurance coverage so it is more of a time issue than money issue.

So glad to hear your kitten is ringworm free now, I hope she stays that way! Sounds like you have a great plan of attack for bringing her home!

I'm cautiously optimistic. The shelter doesn't do dips nor cultures, so I'm not sure what their definition of ringworm free is. But since she is on oral meds (or was on oral meds) and I plan to dip her, I hope she WILL BE ringworm free soon. I read terbinifine stays in the system 5 weeks after treatment (fingers crossed!).

I hope everything goes well! I know you will feel better when she's at home where she belongs. And I agree with T thekitty , it sounds like you have a good battle plan in place.

Good luck! [emoji]127808[/emoji]

Well, we got kitty home and gave her the first lime sulphur dip. Pretty bad as expected. I did see a suspicious spot above her eye, so I am going to keep a close eye on that. Used a toothbrush dipped in the lime sulphur to really get it (I hope). Fingers still crossed. 

I have spent literally 1500$ so far on my foster kittens trying to fight their ringworm, do laundry, go to the vet, expensive food and supplements. Its soon stressful. I just cry some days.

I brought a foster cat home and unbeknownst to me he had ringworm because the shelter is infested. 3 months later I am still fighting it in my cats. I have them quarantined in the sunroom and it has turned our lives upside down.I am SO angry! The lesion on my male cat's face continues to spread and is almost covering his whole face at this point. We are on our second oral med (first itraconazole now terbinafine) and still no improvement whatsoever. Please if anybody has advice, I'm desperate! I am mentally and physically exhausted and feel so guilty for putting my babies thru this. One of the dogs had it too but it seems to have cleared up so I brought them back inside since they are both seniors and don't get on the furniture, still waiting on culture results. I am too scared to take her cone off or touch her without washing my hands. The laundry and vacuuming is a nightmare in itself.

What a nightmare!  I've never been through this experience but know how horrible it can be from reading about it.  Plus when I was a kid, I developed it myself and well remember my mother pulling out her hair over it.

You might want to check out this thread:  
[thread="210789"]6 Things I Learned From Our Ringworm Plague Book Length  [/thread]
It has a lot of different ideas in it and maybe there is something in there that will help you. Are you treating them with lime sulfur dips?  From what I understand that's an important part of the cure.  I've also read that colloidal silver helps, although there seems to be some controversy about that.  Some people swear by it so it's worth trying.

It's easier said than done, but try not to feel guilty about this.  It's not your fault at all.  This is a stressful enough situation without feeling like you're to blame somehow.  You did a wonderful thing in giving a shelter kitty a home.