6 Things I Learned from Our Ringworm Plague (book length....)

[mamakitty1986]

I haven't had any problems with breathing the accel and neither did the kittens that brought this cursed plague ringworm on me. They stayed in my tiny bathroom and were fine

 

[mamakitty1986]

3 of my 5 work cats are now being tested for what may or may not be ringworm and they as well as my house cats are on terbinafine for another 3 weeks. So now I am 7 weeks into this. I have cleaned and cleaned and enlisted a friend to help me clean. Idk what to do.

 

[graywing]

I took the kitten we think has ringworm back to the vet's office today.  We ended up with a different doctor this time.  Last time, they did the Wood's lamp examination and right on the bridge of the nose it shown bright green.  They decided to culture it on DTM.  I had called a few days ago and it was starting to change to red which meant that the medium was becoming alkaline which would happen if it was ringworm. 

But today this other vet looked at her and wondered if it was a staph infection instead.  The DTM did change colors but instead of having the fluffy growth of ringworm, there was just some big round mold sitting on top.  However, he did say there was a chance that maybe if there was ringworm it got inhibited by contamination.  He decided to have another run just in case free of charge.  I brought up that the Wood's lamp examination definitely glowed green but he said they aren't necessarily that accurate. 

He did say though that I should keep up with the quarantine as I have just in case.  Instead of keeping her on terbinafine, he prescribed her amoxacillin that I'm supposed to give her twice a day.  Said to call and ask for him on Friday and let me know how her face was looking by then.

The assistant that was there was the one from the previous week.  She said she looked under a microscope earlier at the culture but didn't see anything that looked ringworm.  She did remark that her face did look better than last week and looked like fur was starting to grow back.

Not sure what to think.  Last time we had ringworm, the vet we had then thought it was a bacterial infection first.   This time we go in preparing for ringworm and it might not be despite the medium changing colors and the green fluorescing?

 

[mamakitty1986]

Graywing, when I still have the kittens that started all this ringworm I had something similar to that. I thought they were growing new lesions but when the vet looked at it she said it was an infection of some kind give them a shot for it and said it was just a new hair growing in on their body after the ringworm and I shouldn't worry about it. They seemed to do fine after that. Although I will say I did not keep them very long after that I sent them to a farm home where they can run in the Sun and outgrow it while they were still healthy

 

[mamakitty1986]

Has anyone experienced their cat getting cyst like bumps from ringworm? My one cat has a lump growing quickly above his eye but I'm hoping it's something other than ringworm.

 

[mamakitty1986]

How about flakes of skin on the cats ears, kind of like a peeling sunburn looks? Wondering if this is a sign of ringworm or a reaction to miconazole or other medication or cleaning chemical

 

[maffy118]

Mamakitty...fungal infections can cause secondary bacterial infections around the same area. This actually happened to me when I volunteered at an animal shelter two years ago. If you think your cats getting ringworm is bad, try getting it in your own scalp. Half the hair on my head fell out, and I developed staph sores on my body. (i take an immunosuppressant drug which didn't help.)

Two years later I adopted Olive who also had ringworm, but on her ears. Her fur fell out, and like me, she developed secondary bacterial sores, but on the top of her head, which were little bumps. All she needed was a bacterial cream from the vet. The ringworm cleared up after three weeks on terbanafine.

Note: while it's important to clean frequently, be careful of how harsh your cleaners are, as some cats can't handle their intensity.

 

[mamakitty1986]

Maffy118, I so sorry you had to go through that!! I couldn't do it. You're very brave.
I ask a lot of questions on here cuz I don't feel like I'm getting very many answers from my vet. Has anyone ever seen a vertical line of hair loss down a cats neck? That's something that popped up on two of my cats now could that be a bacterial infection? It's very thin

 

[maffy118]

Mamakitty...is there any redness in these vertical lines? That's usually a sign of bacteria. I would Google it, then click on the images tab to see if you see anything similar.

 

[fosterajumma]

Hi Graywing! Accel claimes to be quite safe for use around animals and people, and my experience confirms this. I've had two litters of foster kittens with ringworm and used Accel extensively both times. I bought a jug of the concentrate and mixed it at the highest concentration (I think 1:16?) recommended to kill fungi.

I have noticed personally at that concentration that when sprayed too finely/at a mist, it did irritate my throat and make me cough/gag probably because I was accidentally inhaling the mist. Nothing long term, though. So, I usually keep the windows wide open when I'm using it, and try not to keep the nozzle of my spray bottle set too tightly. Oddly, it never seemed to bother the kittens!

 

[jaypeaches]

I'm so thankful for this thread. I've read through a lot of it but still have several questions (which may have already been answered, but it's hard to read through soooooo many responses!):

For background, I have five cats. We took on a foster and 6 weeks later found out she had ringworm. We crazy-cleaned the house, isolated the foster, and lime dipped ALL the cats. Isolated foster continued to get weekly shampoos + lime dips. Four weeks later, foster seems to be on the mend but now one of our cats, Peaches, has several lesions on her face, neck, ears and one leg. She was on steroids and had bulla surgery last week, so I'm not surprised given all the immune suppression. I have so many questions and concerns, I hardly know where to start:

1. Peaches is currently isolated from the other cats, but because she required monitoring after surgery, we isolated her to our bedroom. And she sleeps with/is very dependent on us. I assume this is a terrible idea even with weekly lime dips. Are we just playing with fire? Or do we absolutely have to isolate her, even from us? How do you give enough love/attention/physical touch to an isolated cat? Given that she was already immune-suppressed (but no longer on steroids), I worry about the effect the stress of isolation would have on her ability to fight the ringworm.

2. When doing the lime dip, do you just hold the cat down in the lime for 10 minutes? Or do you just keep pouring it over them and rubbing it in for 10 minutes? This is easier with some of ours than others. Peaches in particular completely freaks out and spazzes when we dip her, so I'm not sure how much coverage we're even getting.

3. The foster still has a scab on her neck from a lesion that form two weeks ago (mostly because she's been scratching it a lot). Does that mean she still has active ringworm? Or is it most likely just a wound a this point? It is healing and getting better, just very slowly.

4. Has anyone had success managing ringworm in a multi-cat household WITHOUT oral meds? My vet is very, very opposed to doing oral meds.

 

[bunnelina]

Hi JayPeaches,

So sorry you are going through this. No good deed goes unpunished, as we have often had to say to all the amazing foster folks who come on this thread to report ringworm in a new cat they've rescued. This will all pass eventually, so hold that thought.

To answer your questions:

1. Weekly and ideally twice-weekly dips (exhausting, I know!) are considered a good treatment as well as a preventive against spreading ringworm, but oral medications are also a KEY part of the treatment. No strong, effective medication is going to be without some risks and/or side effects, but for most of us in a ringworm situation, the benefits of a quick, lasting cure far outweigh the small risk of side effects or toxicity. I'd suggest you print out some of Karen Moriello's writings about oral meds, how to do a dip, how to clean, etc.

Here is a good link to Moriello's treatment protocol.   

You can also read the two articles on this site, including this one on housecleaning. 

If your vet is not keeping up with the latest research, he or she may not be aware of the slightly newer drugs that are known to be effective and are considered safer than the old drugs. The old drug, griseofulvin, is indeed dangerous and should not be used. The newer drug Sporanox (better not to use the generic form, itraconazole, or compounded forms) is pretty safe and terbinafine can also be safe is the dose is carefully calculated and it's done as pulse therapy, with breaks (two weeks on, one or two weeks off...) . It's also pretty affordable. You can find info in the link above.

If Peaches were getting oral meds as well as dips, I'd say you'd be better off not isolating her, since a couple of weeks on oral meds and a few good dips should render a cat much less contagious. And you don't want a fragile cat to be further stressed by isolation; your worry about her should be taken seriously. A happy cat heals faster. But without oral meds, it's more of a risk, I'd say. BUT, since your foster had the run of the house for six weeks, and only one of your cats developed ringworm, I would say that your other cats stand a pretty good chance of not being affected by a cat who has been dipped a few times. Dipping the other cats (oh, how easy that is to type, yet to put it into action....) will also help protect them.  We let our four cats have the run of our small apartment while they were being treated. Our two fragile, teenaged Persians, who were sick with other things, never got ringworm. They got weekly dips and pulse therapy with terbinafine.

2. Dipping. It's most important to soak the cat to the skin all over (dabbing it on the head) and then DO NOT RINSE. If you can do that faster than in 10 minutes, you're done. Just saturate the cat to the skin, and then air dry without getting chilled. There are instructions in the link above. 

3. You can't tell if a cat is cured by looking at it. A normal-looking cat can be positive for ringworm, and a cat that still has gross-looking lesions may have been cured and just needs to heal for longer. The only way to know is with cultures. Read this thread back several pages to learn about the new cultures that can give results in DAYS not weeks. I have a feeling your vet may not be aware of this little miracle weapon in the ringworm battle.

4. I hope others will chime in, but what I can tell you about treatment without oral meds is anecdotal, from chatting with several others here on the site seven years ago, when I was going through it with my four cats. I corresponded with various people trying to treat ringworm who couldn't afford the oral meds (or the multiple cultures for multiple cats... like 26 cats in one case). Their stories were often disheartening and sad. They'd think the ringworm was gone because their cats were looking better... and then they'd come down with it themselves, or their kids did, and so on. Basically the ringworm traveled around in the house among animals and humans for quite a while, sometimes even years. Now, housecleaning is another key part of the treatment and I don't know how well they may have been doing with that. (You need a vacuum with a HEPA or similar filter, so that all the spores you vacuum up don't blow right back out in the exhaust, for example.) I also don't know how religiously or effectively they were dipping everyone. People often would try to use a shampoo, which is less effective. Lots of things people try are not effective. The oral meds and lime-sulfur work.

Without oral meds, this can really drag on, I'm afraid.  Perhaps you might talk to some other vets about their experiences using terbinafine and Sporanox.

Best of luck to you and keep us posted on how you are doing! 

 

[jaypeaches]

2. Dipping. It's most important to soak the cat to the skin all over (dabbing it on the head) and then DO NOT RINSE. If you can do that faster than in 10 minutes, you're done. Just saturate the cat to the skin, and then air dry without getting chilled. There are instructions in the link above. 

About how long should it take to dry, in that case? All of my cats are short hair, though some have thicker coats. When I put them dripping with lime into a carrier, they drip all over the bottom of the carrier and, as such, are essentially sitting in the lime and can't get dry. Do you squeeze some of the excess off with your hands before isolating them?

3. You can't tell if a cat is cured by looking at it. A normal-looking cat can be positive for ringworm, and a cat that still has gross-looking lesions may have been cured and just needs to heal for longer. The only way to know is with cultures. Read this thread back several pages to learn about the new cultures that can give results in DAYS not weeks. I have a feeling your vet may not be aware of this little miracle weapon in the ringworm battle.

I will look for that info here - thank you! How do you culture a cat with no lesions? Just pull a few random hairs? 

4. I hope others will chime in, but what I can tell you about treatment without oral meds is anecdotal, from chatting with several others here on the site seven years ago, when I was going through it with my four cats. I corresponded with various people trying to treat ringworm who couldn't afford the oral meds (or the multiple cultures for multiple cats... like 26 cats in one case). Their stories were often disheartening and sad. They'd think the ringworm was gone because their cats were looking better... and then they'd come down with it themselves, or their kids did, and so on. Basically the ringworm traveled around in the house among animals and humans for quite a while, sometimes even years. Now, housecleaning is another key part of the treatment and I don't know how well they may have been doing with that. (You need a vacuum with a HEPA or similar filter, so that all the spores you vacuum up don't blow right back out in the exhaust, for example.) I also don't know how religiously or effectively they were dipping everyone. People often would try to use a shampoo, which is less effective. Lots of things people try are not effective. The oral meds and lime-sulfur work.

I feel that my vet has been pretty cavalier about the ringworm and thinks once-weekly lime dip is all I need to do. I have asked multiple times about oral meds and he just says, "Not worth the risk." However, I did meet a woman at an adoption event last weekend whose vet prescribed Sporanox, so I've left a message with that vet. I think I've just been questioning whether I should trust my vet or push to do things the way they are suggested here. I've been with this vet a long time (he treated a cat of mine who had IBD), so he already knows I can be pretty neurotic about my cats and spend a lot of time researching things on my own. Unfortunately, I think these leads to frustration on his part and feeling like, 'Why are you even asking me?" if I already know what I want to do. So, we will see if this other vet can help. The shelter vet did agree to write me a script for Sporanox, but said it was $8-$9 a pill. !!! How long does a course of Sporanox typically last, assuming it works the first time? A month (30 days worth of pills)? 

The foster agency's vet got downright angry at me (and complained to the Director) because I was so adamant that I didn't want to give the foster griseofulvin. He never even did a blood test, just prescribed 6mL a day. Fortunately for her, I couldn't get her to keep it down because her gag reflex caused her to vomit immediately, which prompted me to research other oral meds. So on top of feeling frustrating by the ringworm itself, I feel frustrated because the vets I'm dealing with don't seem to be aware of the things I've read here.

 

[bunnelina]

Hi again,

Wow, you are courageous in standing up to out-of-date and cantankerous vets. Keep up the good fight!  It must be really frustrating to deal with vets who are keen on prescribing dangerous drugs or are cavalier about ringworm. Keep being an informed consumer and wise advocate for your cats, and I hope the new vet will be more helpful.

Sporanox has gotten very expensive! Drug prices must fluctuate from year to year. Sometimes you can get a better price from a regular pharmacy, such as Costco, Walgreen's etc. Sometimes you can get a discount with a AAA card. I think generic terbinafine is a lot cheaper, but it's important to give the correct amount given the weight and condition of the cat. I used a liquid version since I was dosing kittens. I did two weeks on and two weeks off, and I think I only did it twice; it was a long time ago. I think each smallish bottle cost me about $40-$50 and I needed one per kitten by the end. (I had to get it at the out-patient pharmacy at Children's Hospital here in Boston, and visiting there really put my little problems in perspective.)

With the dip, you can blot them; just don't rinse with water. They shouldn't be sitting in cold dip and feeling miserable. As long as they were saturated, you can help them by sopping up what's dripping. The dip won't all come off. If you still end up with a yellowish, aromatic, dusty-feeling cat, when she or he is dry, you did it right.

Vets do a toothbrush culture for ringworm. They collect fur and dander by brushing the cat all over with a sterile toothbrush, paying special attention around the head and other areas where ringworm is common. The material that's collected goes into a container of growing medium and is sent to the lab. The culture is another reason we're supposed to clean like mad, since cats can be "dust mops" for ringworm spores, picking them up from a dirty environment even when they aren't getting infected by them. So their cultures will grow and be positive. 

Hang in there!

 

[Sa'ida Maryam]

Hi, to everyone on TCS,
I REALLY NEED to know, Can I apply a small dab of Castor oil heating pad in between weekly Lime-sulfur Dips on my new cat. He was given ALBON.@ the shelter.
NOW. I am waiting for cultures from my vet. But the spot of suspected ringworm on my kitti is large & thickly crusted with hair matted to his skin. The first dip lessened it some, but... I just wonder would a warm castor pack hurt. I have another cat that had a small oval crust starting at the hair shaft close to the skin. I gave her a 5min 100% castor oil warm pack. Waited 15 min. And the crust /hair combed out easily with a lice comb. I know too much can cause vomiting. Also , can somebody tell me what is ACCEL.

 

[bunnelina]

Hi there,

Sorry you are going through this. Are you still waiting for a ringworm diagnosis? If you are, you might want to read up on the best way to treat it and how to clean your house. . . in case that's what it is.

Here are links to three good articles, two on this site and one by the ringworm vet who is the expert in the field and has researched the best ways to treat it, Karen Moriello.

The Cat Site's Intro to Ringworm is here.

The Cat Site's article on Housecleaning is here.

And here's a good site to read about Dr. Karen Moriello's treatment protocol.  Make sure your vet is aware of her work. If you are given lime-sulfur dips, your vet is probably up-to-date!

Once you've been through those three, you will know just about everything you need to know about beating ringworm. I suggest that you don't do any further googling because there is a lot of misinformation and a lot of home remedies (bleach, colloidal silver, etc.) that DO NOT WORK. Lime sulfur dips work. And your cat will need to get on meds (Sporanox, terbinafine, NOT griseofulvin)

Albon is an antibiotic and does not treat ringworm. You cat may have another infection that needs treating, perhaps. A castor oil pack sounds unnecessary since ringworm isn't painful, doesn't usually get infected and looks much worse than it probably feels for the cat. If the cat seems to be in pain from the spot you are talking about, please discuss treatment with a vet. Otherwise, I'd suggest not using a topical treatment that could make things worse. You can make up a tiny batch of lime-sulfur (a cup or so) and apply some with a cotton ball or Q-tip in between dips. Lime-sulfur in the proper strength is actually said to be soothing for the cat. That will also help kill ringworm spores on the spot. 

Accel is one of the few cleaners that actually has an effect in ringworm spores. Many cleaners don't. But vacuuming and basic housecleaning can be even more important than trying to kill the spores.... you really need to scoop 'em up in a good, filtering vacuum cleaner and on microfiber cloths, etc., and get em out of your house rather than trying to bleach the place to kingdom come, which is toxic and ruins furniture....

Read the articles and let us know if you have more questions! Hang in there!

 

[jaypeaches]

Once the first lesion is found, is it typical for new lesions to appear over the course of the next week, even with treatment? Since it takes 2+ weeks for lesions to form, I assume that new lesions in the first week are likely from the initial exposure, right?

 

[bunnelina]

Hi JayPeaches,

I'm not sure about this, but I think you are right. I remember that my vet didn't consider my cats to be non-contagious (not the same as "cured") until they'd finished two weeks of oral meds plus dips, and it does take a while for lesions to show up. (Even with the new, quick cultures, I believe there's still no point in culturing them to look for a negative result until they've been treated a while, so cures must never happen quickly.)

With my two kittens, who did not have severe cases, the ringworm became obvious about two to three after Wendy, the infected feral kitten arrived. She had it on one claw and her ear. We could have missed the red spot on her claw entirely so she may have arrived with it. Wendy's ear developed benign-looking, perfectly oval, pale-gray spots on her white fur, which looked like dried droplets of dirty water or gray watercolor paint. I didn't know anything about ringworm in cats; we took her to the vet because she wasn't eating well (parasites), and our vet took one look at her and, horrors, it all began.

It showed up a week or two later as a big soggy red patch across Possum's nose. (Ruining his baby photos for months...) By then we had a culture back and we knew, so I was expecting the worst. And that was after we started treatment, so it does seem to incubate.

I did not isolate anyone. We had two fragile, teenaged Persians, who had accepted the kittens beautifully (the feral kittens were so polite and respectful to our cats!) and we live in 800 square feet and everyone had been together for weeks, so my vet didn't see the point. We just started everyone on oral meds and kept our fingers crossed as I cleaned like a maniac. 

 

[jaypeaches]

My post-surgical kitty seems to be handling the isolation well. Granted, she is in our bedroom so she gets to sleep with us every night, but I've been switching out towels over our pillows and have two sets of sheets to switch out at least every other (the coverlet, which she makes the most contact with, gets washed every day). And vacuuming twice a day - once with HEPA-filtered iRobot and once with HEPA-filtered Dyson Animal (that I purchased when this started after reading your OP!). The Accel TB (spray and wipes) arrived today so I'm hitting all the surfaces with it. I had been using a Chlorhexidine spray, mistakenly thinking that would help.

Lime-dipping her is nerve-wrecking because of her recent ear surgery, plus she lets out piercing screams and bucks like a bronco. Hard to keep her in for 10 minutes but we do what we can. I keep a jar of diluted lime handy to spot treat her every other day day - she seems tolerate that better. I was very distraught for the first few days of her lesions, but I've accepted that we are doing what we can. Worst case scenario, we isolate her to a room with no carpet and no upholstery, but that's not happening until her ear is fully healed.

Still no luck with meds and I'm nervous to start them until she's fully healed from Surgery. But I did find a vet who will prescribe.

I feel terrible saying this, but our fostering days are over. if we manage to clear this, I could not handle reintroducing ringworm and having to start all over again. I'm very neurotic and sensitive, so I know I'm probably going overboard but that's just how i am. I'm soooooo stressed and this is quite literally taking over my life!

 

[jaypeaches]

*sigh* Additional concern. Close inspection showed the ringworm on her chin has spread to include her lips (inside her mouth). And it appears some of the ringworm is getting into her ear canal. How serious is this (nevermind the recent ear surgery - just in general how serious is this? And by serous I mean life-threatening or impossible to control.