Ringworm question...

Can I ask someone to take a look at the picture of ringworm in this page and tell me if this is what I would expect it to look like on my cat?

http://www.fabcats.org/ringwormforbreeders.html

I found a lump on Isabelle's back tonight while petting her. I trimmed all the fur around it so I could get a good look at it and try to take a picture of it to share, but my camera just can't zoom like that and focus on something this tiny.

But after seeing the picture on this webpage of the red ring... That's not what's on Isabelle. What she has is a ring around a brown dot. The ring looks un-evenly puffy and taller than what's on this page. It is not red at all. It kinda looks a little infected to be honest.

I have had two major cat squabbles in my house in the last 2 days. Two nights ago there was a strange cat on my porch and that caused quite a ruckus. I have no idea what happened last night. I just heard a huge squalk from downstairs, threw my slippers on and by the time I got 1/2 way down the stairs Amelia was running upstairs. When I rounded the corner I saw Audrey leave the window, Casey looked frantic, and Isabelle didn't look happy either. I think Audrey got in a good swipe and Isabelle was the victim.

I'm just curious as to what ringworm looks for on a cat so I can figure out whether I should Isolate Isabelle from the rest of the cats until tommorrow.

I will be calling the Vet in the morning no matter what. No matter what the deal is she'll need something for it!

Hi Monica,

We fostered a kitten with ringworm. Basically it's a round scaly spot. It's caused from a fungus. We had to bathe the kitten daily (fortunately she got used to it) for 2 weeks with special shampoo, then apply Lamisil after she was dry. Once every 2 days we had to check her with a blacklight to see if she 'glowed'. Glowing indicates that the fungus is still present. Once it went away,she was fine and was put up for adoption. I managed to get a spot of it on my arm, and it itched for a while. Lamisil took care of it.

Ringworm does not always appear in a round rash form. It can even be as simple as a patch of missing hair. I would make an appt to see the vet. Even if it is a puncture wound, you don't want to take a chance on infection. If they seem to think it may be ringworm or a skin infection, they can test it to be sure.

A good way to see if your kitty has ringworm is to hold her under a blacklight, if it's ringworm the spot will glow. It is usually scaly and crusty, sometimes with a bit of exudate. The best treatment for ringworm that I know if is the flea-pill, Program. The chemical interferes with the ringworm somehow and kills it. Trust me we had all 7 cats SHAVED because the ringworm was so bad. Our stray passed it around to everybody and the topicals and the bathing just did not work. Nor did the anti-fungal pills, which are dangerous if given more than one dose, and you can't give em to kittens.

Ringworm comes in all different looking forms. The only way to be sure if it's ringworm or not is to have a culture run (which takes a while to work so you have to wait).

Usually ringworm involves some hairloss. I'm not even sure if that's a universal symptom.

If it flouresces under blacklight that's ringworm yes...but not all ringworm types respond to flourescent light so it's not a complete test.

What did the vet say?

~Heather