Can humans give cats ringworm

Hi all-new here, I searched a bit for my question and didn't see anything. My step-daughter came up for a visit and along with her she brought a nasty case of ringworm. She didn't show it to me until after she had been here for 5 days !!!! My fear is that my 3 cats (and 1 dog) might be able to get it from her! I have searched the web to see if humans can give animals ringworm and found nothing definitive.
Basically- my question is, can humans give cats ringworm ? I have checked the cats and don't find any missing hair patches-they seem to be okay, I scoured my entire house and am hoping that none of us will get it! How long should I continue to check the cats before I know I am in the clear?

Any help here is greatly appreciated

Yes. It can be passed from cat to cat, dog to cat, cat to dog, cat to human, human to cat etc.

http://www.cat-world.com.au/Ringworm.htm
Here is a link regarding ringworm. Good luck.

First off, welcome to TCS! We're glad to have you here. Secondly, Yes....take it from someone who works with cats on a regular basis-( and has had ringworm 2x as a result) if you have ringworm, you can give it to animals....and if the animal has ringworm, it can give it to you! It works both ways! The best thing to do is take your step-daughter to a dermatologist...and have a skin cell test to confirm the diagnosis (they will use a little plastic thing to scrape off dead skin cells on the suspected area (it's painless! I've had it done) and put the cells under a microscope.- if that's her diagnosis, there are a lot of new prescriptions out there that work very well to clear it up within a short time span. The best thing to do is keep the animals away from her until she's completely healed and to not let her handle their bedding or groom them. It is very easily spread, but usually not too major. Make sure she doesn't touch her scalp- that is the worse area to get ringworm in- it can cause her hair to fall out if it goes untreated! Make sure you keep her clothes and bed sheets, and towels washed on a regular basis. Also, try not to give the step-daughter a hard time, ringworm is very common and easily cured. She may have been afraid to tell you, after all- it is embaressing. I hope that helps. (your cats should be just fine as long as you keep them away from her. )- Also, if you put band-aids on her ring-worm spots, it will help reduce contact of the lesions touching other things and potentially spreading it. Good luck!

Thank you soooo much for your quick response! At least now I know that they can get it from my step daughter- unfortunately!
Thanks again for the info and the link!

Thanks to you too Starry! I must have been posting my reply as you were leaving your reply!
I totally agree with you about my step daughter being embarrassed! She has been the victim of so many "diseases" it's not even funny! This is about the 3rd time she has had ringworm, along with lice about 200x's and even a case of pinworms!!!
She has gone back with her mother-and her aunt is a pediatrician, so she called her in some cream to cure her of the ringworm...thank GOD!
I am keeping my fingers crossed in the meantime, hoping we are all in the clear!

Originally Posted by traciejohn

Thanks to you too Starry! I must have been posting my reply as you were leaving your reply!
I totally agree with you about my step daughter being embarrassed! She has been the victim of so many "diseases" it's not even funny! This is about the 3rd time she has had ringworm, along with lice about 200x's and even a case of pinworms!!!
She has gone back with her mother-and her aunt is a pediatrician, so she called her in some cream to cure her of the ringworm...thank GOD!
I am keeping my fingers crossed in the meantime, hoping we are all in the clear!

Click to expand...

You're very welcome! I'm glad i could help. I'm sorry to hear that your step daughter has had soo many medical issues. Hopefully, her ringworm will clear up soon. As a word to the wise though, i would lysol your house and change any sheets or furniture covers she sat on....including cleaning the head rests on your cars or easy chairs. Since she does have ringworm, if you can possibly pinpoint the date she got it as well as record the day she started treatment for it- that would be a wonderful idea...ringworm can run it's course for a few weeks....so if you have an idea of when it began and when she starts treatment, that can give you an estiment as to when she should no longer be contagious. It's a good idea to do a good once over cleaning on your house after your aware of a possible ringworm exposure. I think you and your animals should be fine.....but if you do notice it, take them into the vet and get some antifungal meds asap because it spreads rapidly if not controled. Once again, welcome to TCS, and please let me know if there's anything i can help you with.

Also, keep in mind that many cats and dogs have a strong enough immune system to fight off ringworm on their own.... I'd still keep an eye open for it, but you may not have any problems

I caught ringworm at work, fought it off for a long time, and never ended up passing it to my cats. I cuddle them all the time So yes, it CAN be passed on, but I think it would take an already weakened immune system to succumb to it.

Originally Posted by traciejohn

Thanks to you too Starry! I must have been posting my reply as you were leaving your reply!
I totally agree with you about my step daughter being embarrassed! She has been the victim of so many "diseases" it's not even funny! This is about the 3rd time she has had ringworm, along with lice about 200x's and even a case of pinworms!!!
She has gone back with her mother-and her aunt is a pediatrician, so she called her in some cream to cure her of the ringworm...thank GOD!
I am keeping my fingers crossed in the meantime, hoping we are all in the clear!

Click to expand...

Hopefully the aunt will double check on the ringworm diagnosis...I was SURE I had it, and it turned out to be exczema. (Guess that's why the tinactin wasn't working, LOL.)

And she shouldn't be too embarrassed - it's a fungus, and you can get it from all sorts of things.

Eek! This round red, scaly spot on my arm is probably ringworm! I never thought that it could be something more than a bite until I read this (I've only had it for a couple of days).

Could I get it from a kitty? I volunteer at an animal shelter regularly. How likely is it that I could pass it on? What do I do?????? ARRGGHHH!!!

You can use the OTC stuff you would use on athelete's foot, but if it's really itchy, it might be exczema, like me.

If you notice a scaley spot or balding spot on the cat's fur then hold a black light up to it and if it glows then it could be ringworm. Problem is that dust and dirt will glow too, so make sure it is glowing stronger on the spot you suspest it to be.

I have a note written down that you can use Miconazole to treat ringworm and you can get it from Walgreens. I have never had it though so I can tell you how effective it is.

Sporactin works much, much faster than the OTC stuff. You can buy it online at http://www.dermatechrx.com/