Small rash on new kitten?

Hello everyone! About a month ago, I adopted two kittens from a shelter. A few days ago I noticed a small red bump on the shoulder of the girl (Nita) and have been keeping an eye on it. At first I thought that maybe her brother Kit had bitten her a little too hard while they were playing (I suspect he bites a little too hard sometimes, which I'm trying to work on), but over the past couple of days it's gotten a little bigger and now looks more like a rash, and it looks like some of her hair around it has fallen out. I'm posting a picture of it in case it helps.

Potentially related: They both got sick with something they caught at the shelter, Kit a couple days after I brought them home and then Nita the next week (fever, lethargic, not eating, vet thought typical upper respiratory infection). With some fluids and a shot of antibiotics from my vet, they both recovered well -- Nita perhaps a bit slower than Kit, but it was two and a half weeks ago that she first got sick and she's been back at 100% for over a week now.

Here's my question: I'm due to take Nita back to the vet at the shelter I adopted them from to get spayed this Friday. So I can ask the vet about it then, but is there any reason to be worried enough that I should take her to my vet before Friday? It doesn't seem to be bothering her at all -- I haven't seen her licking it or scratching it or anything, her behavior has been completely normal, and it only seems to be in this one spot. But these are my first cats so naturally I am obsessing over every little thing that could possibly be wrong.

Thanks for any advice you can give me!

It could be ringworm, which is a type of fungal infection.  Or contact dermatitis from coming into contact with who-knows-what that she is allergic to.  It could also be an allergic reaction to flea bites, or a scratch from her brother.  Alopecia.  And a number of other things.  Whatever it is, I don't think it is life-threatening, and could probably wait until her scheduled veterinary visit.  Do you think that if you emailed this photo to your vet, and explained that you're worried but already have her spay appointment booked, that they might advise you on whether to bring her in early or not?  

Ringworm is highly infectious and so her brother would be at risk of catching it, if that's what it is.  Wash your hands after stroking her so as to not pass on the spores to either yourself or Kit.  And generally keep things they both touch clean.  Wash her bedding etc.  You can get anti-fungal creams over-the-counter such as you might buy for athletes' foot or a yeast infection.  Dabbing apple cider vinegar on the site will aid healing also.

Ugh, I hope it's not ringworm, I know that can be hard to get rid of since it's so infectious! I'm hopeful it's not because the records the shelter gave me indicate they've been on steady doses of dewormer since the end of December, continued by my vet after I adopted them. (Though I don't know what kind of dewormer, so it's possible it doesn't prevent ringworm.) They did both get their first application of Revolution last week so at least that will help if it is ringworm (I think?), and I'll clean everything today and be careful about washing my hands just in case, and maybe pick something up to put on her, too.

Ohh, I had not thought to email the picture to my vet -- that's a good idea! I thought about calling them but realized it'd probably be impossible for them to give me much advice based on a verbal description, but maybe having the picture will help. Regardless, it's good to know that whatever it is is probably not life-threatening, so can likely wait until her appointment Friday. With them both getting sick and having to have two normal vet appointments since they're so young, my vet bills in the first month are already pretty high! Was really hoping not to have to do another unexpected vet trip. 

Thanks for your help!

tecetyeintyale said:

Thanks for your help!

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I have dealt with countless cases of ringworm in shelters, and three cases at home.  Topical creams aren't that helpful as they don't treat the spores that are all in her fur.  Oral meds like Terbinaifine are probably the number 1 treatment along with lime dips.  Kittens with a growing bald spot that recently came from a shelter.....yes it could be something else but unlikely and your vet will likely want to start treatment before the culture comes back.

In my opinion, people over react to RW in the home.  Yes its contagious, up to a point, but just because the one kitten has it doesn't mean the other will, nor does it mean you will catch it. Once its over, its over, your cat won't become reinfected.  I've had 3 separate cases in my home, each time i treated the cat in question, never once did another cat catch it and i got a single rash in one instance.

If there are young children in the home then i would take extra precautions.  Other than that remember that you're basically dealing with athlete's foot.

Your shelter may pay for treatment, ask them what their policy is.

Wormer won't prevent ring worm because RW is a fungus. My cat has this and she gets intrafingol once daily. It's working.

Update: Over the past few days the rash has gotten a bit bigger and raised. Other than that, things were still the same -- didn't seem to be bothering her at all -- up until last night. Last night I saw her scratching it for the first time, but was unfortunately too late to stop her from scratching it open, and it was bleeding! So I went ahead and took her in to my vet this morning. They do suspect ringworm and took a sample to do a culture, so now just waiting to hear back about that. She's still been sneezing since getting over her URI a couple weeks ago, so the vet gave her a new oral antibiotic. She said that at least the antibiotic could finish clearing up whatever is left of the URI and help heal the now-scabbed rash while we're waiting for the test results. They didn't want to do anything topical because it's in a spot that she could easily lick it off (and her brother is more likely to be the one to lick it off her anyway, Kit often grooms her). But I did some research and found out about Vetericyn, which would be ok if ingested, so I ordered some of that to hopefully help relieve the itch for her for now. And I'll do a really, really thorough clean of the apartment this weekend, too, and keep that up until the results come in, just in case.

Thanks for the help everyone! Other than maybe being a little itchy in that one spot, at least she seems ok otherwise -- still very happy and playful and eating well. So that helps ease my worries a bit.   

Thanks for the update.  It's always a relief to get a diagnosis, and if it is ringworm, which we all suspect, it's easy enough to treat.  Bear in mind, you can catch it too.  

tecetyeintyale said:

 
Update: Over the past few days the rash has gotten a bit bigger and raised. Other than that, things were still the same -- didn't seem to be bothering her at all -- up until last night. Last night I saw her scratching it for the first time, but was unfortunately too late to stop her from scratching it open, and it was bleeding! So I went ahead and took her in to my vet this morning. They do suspect ringworm and took a sample to do a culture, so now just waiting to hear back about that. She's still been sneezing since getting over her URI a couple weeks ago, so the vet gave her a new oral antibiotic. She said that at least the antibiotic could finish clearing up whatever is left of the URI and help heal the now-scabbed rash while we're waiting for the test results. They didn't want to do anything topical because it's in a spot that she could easily lick it off (and her brother is more likely to be the one to lick it off her anyway, Kit often grooms her). But I did some research and found out about Vetericyn, which would be ok if ingested, so I ordered some of that to hopefully help relieve the itch for her for now. And I'll do a really, really thorough clean of the apartment this weekend, too, and keep that up until the results come in, just in case.

Thanks for the help everyone! Other than maybe being a little itchy in that one spot, at least she seems ok otherwise -- still very happy and playful and eating well. So that helps ease my worries a bit. 

 

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It can take 1- days to get a culture result so most vets i know will treat right away before the results come in.  Oral Terbinafine is an excellent medication that teats the entire body, usually given as a liquid.

My culture took a full 2 weeks to grow and confirm. This is standard. Most vets will begin oral treatment right away. My cat was nearly cured after two weeks and the culture was confirmed. I'd hate to think how things would have spread. Perhaps you should start treatment now. It's best to nip RW early. The oral med is what is recommended now. It treats the lesions you can't yet see. Best of luck to you.

Well, it's been a bit over two weeks since the sample for the culture was taken, and we STILL have no final results. I talked to the vet today, and surprisingly, all the partial results we have in so far are negative for ringworm! The vet said that though it's possible the final result could still come back positive, it seems unlikely at this point.

In the meantime, I've been treating it with a topical antibacterial/antifungal ointment -- I talked to the vet a couple days after my last post because I wanted to start SOMETHING, but we didn't want to do another antibiotic since she was already on her second one to help knock out the end of the URI. To keep her from scratching it (and licking off the ointment whenever I put it on), I ended up modifying some onesies for her. She's been wearing those for the past couple of weeks, but has slowly gotten better at working around them. First she started just scratching through the onesie, so I put some duct tape over the sleeve to help protect it/deter her from scratching. Today, she has suddenly become Houdini and has managed to wiggle out of the onesie TWICE somehow! Both when I wasn't looking, of course, so I have no idea how. The second time, it was even still snapped when I got home from work and found it off her! I haven't tried to put it back on this evening, and so far, it doesn't look like she's been messing with the rash; maybe now that it's a lot more healed, she'll be ok without the onesie. Otherwise, I guess I'll have to make some more modifications to the onesies to make them a tighter fit that she can't squirm out of!

The most annoying part about all of this is that when I took her back to the shelter I got her from on the 3rd for her scheduled spay, they wanted to delay it until the results of the test came in. (They said that if it was ringworm, her immune system would be fighting that off and they didn't want to add the stress of the surgery to that.) Makes sense, and I should have thought to call them about it before I took her in, but my vet knew about the upcoming spay and didn't bring it up as a potential problem, so it just didn't even occur to me that it might be an issue. So hopefully, whatever the final test results are, I get them soon so that I can get her spay figured out! I really want to get that over with soon.

If it's not ringworm, then...back to square one on figuring out what it could be, I guess. At least it's not getting bigger anymore and not showing up in any other places on her (I've been checking both her and Kit carefully over the past couple of weeks). And she's acting 100% normal otherwise.

Only upside to this crazy situation: Nita DOES look pretty cute in those onesies! Here she is with Kit -- after breakfast in the morning they always go to the top of their cat tree and wait for me to open the curtains so they can watch the birds.

That it's not got any worse, any bigger, or spread is GREAT news!  I think you've got it on the run.   

That photo is ace!     It's really put a smile on my face.     

Thank you ever so much for sharing it.     

Had you been treating area biopsied with anti fungal cream ? If so it will not grow, giving a false neg.

No, I wasn't treating it with anything before I took her to the vet and they took the sample. So if the final results come back negative it should mean that it's really not ringworm, and must be something else.