Possible ringworm?

Hi, I am new to this site and am so glad it exists! I foster kittens from the local shelter. Silvester is my 7th, who I picked up 9 days ago because he had been there for a few weeks and developed a really bad URI. He is also feline leukemia positive.

I took him back to the shelter on day 2 because I noticed a bald spot behind his ear and a large patch of hair under his neck that look like he had been shaved recently. He also had a flake with some hair attached.The Foster Cordinator brought him back to me reporting he was ringworm free. She said they had done some sort of blood test and that his bald spot must have been from a procedure he got before arriving at the shelter. All very weird.

At home, he recuperated nicely from the URI and every day is more active and playful. He is very relaxed now! However, on Monday morning he went repeatedly to the litter box to pee, so I brought him to the private vet that afternoon. Turns out, he is one of the lucky few kittens with bladder worm...! So now he is on Panacur and Clavamox.

While there, the private vet used a black light on him that showed some suspicious spots on his front legs. We are now waiting for ringworm test results, but I am hoping that he could've gotten a false positive because of all the gunk that is embedded in his legs from the URI. However, I haven't found anything on the Internet that suggests you can get a false positive from the black light test. However, I doubt ringworm because his hair is growing back and it's not itchy or crusty. It's quite soft in fact. The fluorescent parts also weren't on his bald spots. He does have a fair amount of dandruff, poor coat condition, and grooms relatively frequently, but nothing too bad. Might be from the FeLV and recent stresses? So, please let me know if you think I should be extra careful when going into public - I worked from home this week in case! I didn't treat him yet because I don't want to stress him out because of the feline leukemia.

Here you can see under his neck where the hair is growing back and the bald spot under his ear...and how cute he is he looks much better these days! And with even more hair.


THANK YOU!!!

Hello there! Well he certainly is a cute little guy

So I'm not an expert but I am currently fighting the ringworm plague so I hope I can help you out a little bit.

For starters, I've never heard of a blood test for ringworm. I would be highly suspicious of that, I suppose it's possible but my vets have never brought it up. Additionally, just because he glows doesn't necessarily mean he has ringworm. I've learned that there are many stands of ringworm some glow and some don't. My vet told me she doesn't even use the wood light anymore because lots of things that aren't ringworm can glow and many things that aren't don't. So you are on the right track waiting for the culture. The wait is painful but then you'll know one way or the other how to proceed.

Regardless, you personally don't need to be extra cautious. Ringworm is naturally everywhere in the environment, it is only in high concentrations that infections form. Feel free to go about your business, even if you do contract it just keep your lesions covered and everyone will be fine.

However, until you knew your kitty us clear keep him away from people with lowered immune systems. Ringworm isn't life threatening for anyone, but it can be a huge pain to those with a weakened immunity.

If he does have it, it's not the end of the world. Your life will get a while lot busier with kitty bathes and a ton of laundry but there's hope. Fingers crossed he doesn't have it though!

Thank you, Kristenann!! I'm so glad to know many things could've made him glow! Some sources on the internet make it sound like I need to quarantine myself for a month, but I guess that's overly cautious or for really bad cases. Something is definitely up since his nails are brittle too and he has thinning hair, but hopefully nothing too serious beyond the feline leuk