Help! Ringworm!

[mamakay4]

I adopted a 2.5 mo old kitten, the next day the shelter called me to tell me she has ringworm. It’s a little tiny bit on the tip of her tail. My vet said he’s not sure why she wasn’t in isolation if she was pending results or why she was in a room with 12 other kittens, but that’s another story! Before we adopted her, the shelter told us the little bit of hair missing was what they suspected was a self induced nibble on her tail.

Either way, I took her to the vet right away and he started her on intrafungol. My issue is that we are a big family and I don’t have an extra bedroom to quarantine her in. My vet said to quarantine her to the bathroom, but there’s no way it’ll work in there. She’s an energetic, super affectionate kitten that just wants to be free and around people. She will try to escape every chance she gets, not to mention it’s not big enough.
I’m really at a loss. She’s been in my bedroom but my other cat is starting to act out because she’s not been allowed in - that’s normally her hideout and she usually sleeps with us. She’s been hissing and being rough when we try to play with her, she’s never done that before. My husband is at his wits end already because new kitten just cries to get out at night. I’ve been trying to clean and keep up but I’m burning out and it’s only been a week. We’re a family of 6 with another cat so a busy household. I didn’t think we’d immediately be dealing with these issues, before we even had a chance to bond. I made it a point to ask about all health concerns before we made the decision to adopt to avoid this. I would’ve preferred she stayed at the shelter and been treated there. But here we are. Can anyone offer advice on how we can manage this? I can’t keep her in my room for 5 weeks. I suggested our laundry room but my husband thinks keeping her in a large crate or pet playpen is wrong. I don’t know what else to do. How much should I worry about a little bit on her tail?

Also adding- Her 2 woodslamp were negative, but the 2 week culture showed growth on day 7.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[sidneykitty]

Sorry to hear about your trouble with ringworm and your new kitten and causing your other cat to be stressed!

When you say you don't have a room to quarantine her in, do you mean there is no room you can close the door on aside from your bedroom or the bathroom? (as those two options are out) I'm trying to brainstorm an idea for you but since I don't know your space, I wanted to ask

I had a kitten with ringworm when I had another cat and I kept them separate by having the kitten in the bedroom with me and my partner slept on the futon in the living room with our other cat. It was definitely not ideal but it worked, and I don't know if that is something your space will allow. would someone else in your home volunteer to share their space with the ringworm kitten?

In my experience, it takes about 14 days for ringworm to go away with treatment and environmental cleaning so I'm not sure why you said you have to keep her in a room for 5 weeks.

I understand your sentiment about it being better for her to be treated at the shelter until healthy, but honestly, I do think even a laundry room or bathroom or some room or even a larger kennel in your home (maybe with a little time to let out each day to run and play and visiting and bonding with her) may actually be better than the shelter. You are doing a great thing adopting her!

 

[mamakay4]

Thanks for your reply. My understanding is that humans should also have limited contact, the kitten shouldn’t be on furniture, and I’ve read that you should change your clothes after handling them and everything should be disinfected/laundered in high heat. It seems like a lot of work and that’s really hard to do unless you have an empty room the kitten could stay in.

Right now the kitten is in my room, we let her out during the day and put an extra comforter over my bed to avoid having to wash bedding everyday. Then at night she goes into a pretty big fully enclosed kitty playpen with her bed, toys, litter box, food and water. We still keep the door closed to avoid our other cat from coming in and being exposed, also so she’s not all over us and on our bed when we’re sleeping and exposing us.

She’s on Itrafungol which is an oral medication and the length of treatment is 5 weeks. My understanding is that they should remain quarantined for the duration of the treatment. 14 days sounds A LOT more feasible! How did you treat your cat? Did your vet suggest anything other than keeping the cats apart? I’ve read and heard various things and I’m honestly not sure what to do. But keeping her in my room for 5 weeks just isn’t going to work- I think it’s just stressing out both cats and now the humans too!

 

[sidneykitty]

Yes. I think ideally, they would be quarantined in a room without furniture, etc. but in reality, not many people have a living situation that can accommodate that. It's also important to consider your own comfort level about being exposed and your ability to keep on top of cleaning. Every person, home, and cat is a slightly different situation.

I had my kitten in my room with me, she slept freely in there at night and cuddled up around my head, neck, shoulders, etc. and to be honest, I honestly wasn't terribly good about washing the linens and things frequently. I think I did it every couple of weeks or so. I definitely did sanitize hard surfaces with a special kind of wipe (Rescue wipes- here is their website Rescue Disinfectants | Ready-To-Use Wipes & Liquids | Concentrate. I'm not sure they're available OTC I worked at the vet/shelter at the time and was able to bring them home with me) frequently. They contain accelerated hydrogen peroxide which is great for killing ringworm spores. You might be able to find another similar brand at stores, I'm not totally sure, sorry.

Like you, I also let my kitten out to the rest of the house a few times a day and I definitely didn't clean everything thoroughly during the outbreak but I did a deep clean after she was clear. It would probably be better to clean more than I did, but we were all fine, and no one else got ringworm in the house except me (and like I said I was sleeping in bed and having close contact with her). If you're worried and want to be extra careful, it's not a bad idea to change clothes in between being in her room and going elsewhere, or maybe have like a smock or something you put overtop your clothes when you go in her room. I never bothered with that.

Try to do the best that you can with what space and capabilities you have! It sounds like that's what you're doing and I think having her in your room in a kennel sounds fine to me.

I'm not sure about the 5 weeks of Itrafungol. I don't remember it being that long in my case, but it was back in 2016 so I may not remember well and her case was different because she contracted it a second time when she was with me due to another illness that weakened her immune system. Sorry I can't be more help there, I wish I could say it'd only be 2 weeks but it's best to follow your vet's directions. Other than Itrafungol, my kitten had baths (and for the life of me I can't remember what kind) the first time she had ringworm but the second time she had it, we ditched the baths and just did oral treatment and it eventually went away.

I'd say its good that her woodslamp was negative. In my experience, they tend to be positive with worse cases. Is there a plan to bring her in for additional cultures? My clinic adopted a policy of 2-false cultures in a certain time frame (argh I can't remember the specific time frame sorry!) after starting treatment with no physical signs equaled a resolved case.

Sorry I can't be more help! Besides medication and cleaning and separating the cats, no, there was no other real advice from the vet. If you haven't seen, there is some more info on ringworm here How to Deal with Ringworm in Cats [Inc. the Housecleaning Regime] – TheCatSite Articles as well as here How to Help Kittens with Ringworm — Kitten Lady. Ringworm can be very common for kittens, especially those lovingly rescued from less than ideal situations, which sounds like your case.

Keep up the good work, you can do this!! Let us know how it is going.