Hello, first post. Hughey (11 y.o. in June) is my first "official" cat, so I'm still learning. We adopted him about 5 weeks ago from what I believe is a reputable shelter, saw him at a local PetSmart a few weeks after our visiting neighbor kitty of 3 years who we'd grown very attached to was hit by a car. He is a long haired charcoal gray maine coon (maybe a mix?) or possibly "Nebelung" as suggested by a friend. He's a velcro cat and initially when I met him would let me handle him nose to tail no problems, but now that he's here and settled in about 5 weeks it's a different story - loves the pets and lap sitting, but the second he think he's getting examined or I want to put any medication on him, he runs and gets out the claws and teeth. I could tell before adopting him that he had some arthritis, dandruff, and probably would always need a monkey shave for hygiene, but found a crusty spot on his tail the second or third day he came home that turned out to be ringworm. By the time we found it, got him to the vet, had it cultured and got the results, he'd been here several weeks with it, and being a velcro cat, he goes everywhere I go. Treating it topically with chlorhexadine foam from the vet and Banixx in between (which has great reviews and I had high hopes for), thought we had caught it early enough, but I assume because he's been licking it, he's now got it on his upper lip and a few new spots around the original tail lesion. They are smaller and very raised and hard, red and crusty,, unlike the first one which is flatter but crusted. Doing the best we can with house cleaning, but the level of disinfecting I've read about is completely unrealistic with my very bad back. Has anyone ever treated ringworm successfully without oral drugs? I'm really worried about antifungal meds in a cat his age. He's scheduled to get some blood work tomorrow from the original shelter vet on their tab for liver and kidney function just in case and because there's no recent record of that, and we'll see what they suggest with the spreading infection, but I'm still really reluctant to risk anything toxic to him. We lean very holistic with our own health stuff, and I did pretty well with a dog for years on raw feeding and natural remedies, but cats are completely new to me, and I told myself I'd do the best I could with this one without making myself crazy or spending a fortune. I tried gradually switching him to raw but he wasn't having it (also seemed to be giving him runny poo and occasional vomiting despite slow introduction and probiotics, so I went back to just limited ingredient Petcurean kibble and canned, which he likes and makes him happy). Needless to say the bills are adding up. Between the ringworm, other lumps I just found over his back hip that feel more like cysts under the skin, his hygiene issues and having to monitor his litter box activity so I can wipe his butt because he can't reach it, the still loose stools, difficulty in handling him for any grooming or medication application, and his demanding personality which is adorable until it's not, I'm a bit at the end of my rope. Any suggestions welcomed! Thank you!
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New Adoption 11 year old cat with unexpected ringworm and other health issues
- Thread starter anjabb
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- Mar 20, 2017
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Hi AnjaBB,
I'm really sorry you're having these issues with Hughey. It must be very stressful to have so much happening with your new cat. I thought ringworm was very treatable. Is the vet surprised that it hasn't cleared up? Could you confine him to a smaller area while he undergoes treatment? Have you considered getting a new vet?
As for his dirty bum, is the reason he can't reach it due to his arthritis? Perhaps he needs medicine for this. Or is he overweight? My cat had a hard time keeping herself clean when she was younger because she was so fat she couldn't reach her butt! When she lost weight she was able to groom herself better. I am sure that the loose stool isn't helping matters. Did you introduce the raw food gradually? As I'm sure you know from your dog, switching food abruptly can cause animals to have loose stool or even diarrhea. Also, what kind of raw food is it? I gave my cat a raw food called Nature's Variety and didn't have any problems with it. She did well on that food, and it seemed to help her digestion problems.
As for his personality, I think that what's happening is he's getting fed up with all the medicines, cleaning of his butt, etc. This happens with cats. It doesn't mean he isn't the adorable cat you fell in love with. It's just that now he's associating you with the unpleasant poking and prodding. I'm not really sure how to rectify this. Perhaps you could give him treats or play with him right after the treatment?
Also, I'm not sure how cats and dogs are so different in this situation. Perhaps cats tolerate taking medicine less than dogs?
I'm really sorry you're having these issues with Hughey. It must be very stressful to have so much happening with your new cat. I thought ringworm was very treatable. Is the vet surprised that it hasn't cleared up? Could you confine him to a smaller area while he undergoes treatment? Have you considered getting a new vet?
As for his dirty bum, is the reason he can't reach it due to his arthritis? Perhaps he needs medicine for this. Or is he overweight? My cat had a hard time keeping herself clean when she was younger because she was so fat she couldn't reach her butt! When she lost weight she was able to groom herself better. I am sure that the loose stool isn't helping matters. Did you introduce the raw food gradually? As I'm sure you know from your dog, switching food abruptly can cause animals to have loose stool or even diarrhea. Also, what kind of raw food is it? I gave my cat a raw food called Nature's Variety and didn't have any problems with it. She did well on that food, and it seemed to help her digestion problems.
As for his personality, I think that what's happening is he's getting fed up with all the medicines, cleaning of his butt, etc. This happens with cats. It doesn't mean he isn't the adorable cat you fell in love with. It's just that now he's associating you with the unpleasant poking and prodding. I'm not really sure how to rectify this. Perhaps you could give him treats or play with him right after the treatment?
Also, I'm not sure how cats and dogs are so different in this situation. Perhaps cats tolerate taking medicine less than dogs?
So for the diarrhea/soft stool start using some s boulardii, which will help firm up that stool as long as it's not caused by something like hyperthyrodism. Here's more info about it. What raw food did you try with him? I'd really encourage you to try again because at 11 you really don't want to be feeding kibble, and raw is of course, the best and most natural diet for cats. I'd also encourage you to only feed boneless since 11 year old cats are prone to kidney issues so lower phos, the better. EZcomplete, or Rad Cat, are good options.
http://www.foodfurlife.com/my-cat-has-diarrhea---what-do-i-do.html
For the ring worm - My understanding is that you really need to control the environment so lots of cleaning and disinfecting. You may need to hire someone to help if you can't clean yourself, because if you can't control the environment it wont get better. You should isolate him in one room until you can get it under control. I wouldn't go about trying to treat this naturally, at this point it seems like it's progressed too far for that.
http://www.foodfurlife.com/my-cat-has-diarrhea---what-do-i-do.html
For the ring worm - My understanding is that you really need to control the environment so lots of cleaning and disinfecting. You may need to hire someone to help if you can't clean yourself, because if you can't control the environment it wont get better. You should isolate him in one room until you can get it under control. I wouldn't go about trying to treat this naturally, at this point it seems like it's progressed too far for that.
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- #4
Great advice, thank you! He is going to the shelter's vet tomorrow for blood work which I think will be for liver and kidney function in case an oral antifungal is recommended, and we'll see what she says about the ringworm progressing. I am beginning to think I should have been applying that topical to a much broader area, or soaking his whole back end in the Bannix, or something more aggressive than just dabbing the medication over the scabs I could see. I've read mixed things about those sulfur/lime dips being effective, no doubt awful for the cat, and I am totally overwhelmed with the cleaning even with help. Our usual cleaning person who uses nontoxic natural products used to come once a month, but now just twice a year since I lost most of my work, and she won't set foot in here knowing about the ringworm, so I'd have to ask around on alternative help. It sounds like it's nearly every day serious cleaning, though, and we can't afford that level of help. I don't know if I have the right vacuum, it's supposed to have a HEPA filter, but it's old, and of course I finally after 14 years in thrown together home decorated my living room with some new furniture and new shag rug, which is his favorite place to roll around.
When we first discovered the ringworm we were still in our "foster to adopt" period, and the shelter owner/foster offered to take him back home or board him at the vet during treatment so we wouldn't have to deal with it, but I didn't want to uproot him again when he was just starting to get settled and trust us, and I think I underestimated how difficult this infection is to deal with. At that particular juncture we were struggling with his hygiene issues (which still aren't resolved, though some weight loss has helped a little), and I was a little freaked out about getting "attacked" when I tried to clean him up - new territory for me getting clawed and bitten by a cat when I was trying to be so gentle, so I knew if I let him go back to foster for treatment there was a good chance we wouldn't make the adoption permanent, and I might never try again with another cat, so I decided to stick it out. Right now I'm kind of wishing I'd taken her up on the offer and let someone else deal with the hard decisions and hard work of treatment, but then he might not be sitting on my chest head-butting my chin, which of course is the part that makes the rest of it worthwhile.
As for the food, I've read too that even "high quality" kibble is pretty much junk food for cats and about as far from a natural diet as possible, but he does drink a good bit of water, and I am scooping his box about 5 or 6 times a day - probably 5 pee clumps and up to 3 or 4 poops a day - this cat poops a LOT. He is definitely arthritic by the way he moves, can't jump very high, and I hear something clicking when he gets up. He's on a Cosequin supplement for his joins that the new vet suggested, and I don't think he likes the taste of it on his food, plus I think it makes his poop smell worse, but time will tell if it helps his joints. I added an omega 3 oil supplement, too. I will try again with raw at some point, but it seemed like it was too much stress for both me and Hughey with the ringworm treatment to be trying to get him to eat something he doesn't want to eat. I was feeding Northwest Naturals dehydrated, and Stella and Chewey's frozen, started slow and worked up after a few weeks to about 1/3 of his food being raw, but half the time he would just walk away from it or take a few bites and I'd have to dump the rest. Even with canned he usually won't eat more than half of the small amount I put down. Unless it's a flaked fish - that he seems to like the best. I had this idea that putting him on raw would solve all his problems and make the ringworm easier to clear up, but I don't think it's going to be that simple. He had his first dental at my request right before we took him home, and miraculously no teeth pulled because by his breath I thought half his teeth must be rotten, but within a day or two it was back to garbage breath, so that could be his gut or liver, yet another mystery to unravel.
So - this cat, we love him, but I panic a little sometimes at what I've signed up for between my own health issues and the dollar signs I can see over his head sooner than expected. He came from a home with a lot of other animals, the owner worked in rescue and passed away from a late discovered cancer rather suddenly, so he's come to a very quiet house with no other pets, and I think he is a bit bored, too. I'm spending a lot of hours playing with him, he only likes one or two wand toys and virtually nothing else right now, has a window seat where he scratches up one old stool but leaves everything else alone including the fancy cat scratchers I got him, and is constantly under foot. Come to think of it, I am probably going to have to toss the scratchers, the $70 felted wool cat cave, and most of his toys since I can't disinfect them, but the furniture and rugs have to stay.
Anyway, thanks for the encouragement and advice! I hope I will have a better report in a few months.
When we first discovered the ringworm we were still in our "foster to adopt" period, and the shelter owner/foster offered to take him back home or board him at the vet during treatment so we wouldn't have to deal with it, but I didn't want to uproot him again when he was just starting to get settled and trust us, and I think I underestimated how difficult this infection is to deal with. At that particular juncture we were struggling with his hygiene issues (which still aren't resolved, though some weight loss has helped a little), and I was a little freaked out about getting "attacked" when I tried to clean him up - new territory for me getting clawed and bitten by a cat when I was trying to be so gentle, so I knew if I let him go back to foster for treatment there was a good chance we wouldn't make the adoption permanent, and I might never try again with another cat, so I decided to stick it out. Right now I'm kind of wishing I'd taken her up on the offer and let someone else deal with the hard decisions and hard work of treatment, but then he might not be sitting on my chest head-butting my chin, which of course is the part that makes the rest of it worthwhile.
As for the food, I've read too that even "high quality" kibble is pretty much junk food for cats and about as far from a natural diet as possible, but he does drink a good bit of water, and I am scooping his box about 5 or 6 times a day - probably 5 pee clumps and up to 3 or 4 poops a day - this cat poops a LOT. He is definitely arthritic by the way he moves, can't jump very high, and I hear something clicking when he gets up. He's on a Cosequin supplement for his joins that the new vet suggested, and I don't think he likes the taste of it on his food, plus I think it makes his poop smell worse, but time will tell if it helps his joints. I added an omega 3 oil supplement, too. I will try again with raw at some point, but it seemed like it was too much stress for both me and Hughey with the ringworm treatment to be trying to get him to eat something he doesn't want to eat. I was feeding Northwest Naturals dehydrated, and Stella and Chewey's frozen, started slow and worked up after a few weeks to about 1/3 of his food being raw, but half the time he would just walk away from it or take a few bites and I'd have to dump the rest. Even with canned he usually won't eat more than half of the small amount I put down. Unless it's a flaked fish - that he seems to like the best. I had this idea that putting him on raw would solve all his problems and make the ringworm easier to clear up, but I don't think it's going to be that simple. He had his first dental at my request right before we took him home, and miraculously no teeth pulled because by his breath I thought half his teeth must be rotten, but within a day or two it was back to garbage breath, so that could be his gut or liver, yet another mystery to unravel.
So - this cat, we love him, but I panic a little sometimes at what I've signed up for between my own health issues and the dollar signs I can see over his head sooner than expected. He came from a home with a lot of other animals, the owner worked in rescue and passed away from a late discovered cancer rather suddenly, so he's come to a very quiet house with no other pets, and I think he is a bit bored, too. I'm spending a lot of hours playing with him, he only likes one or two wand toys and virtually nothing else right now, has a window seat where he scratches up one old stool but leaves everything else alone including the fancy cat scratchers I got him, and is constantly under foot. Come to think of it, I am probably going to have to toss the scratchers, the $70 felted wool cat cave, and most of his toys since I can't disinfect them, but the furniture and rugs have to stay.
Anyway, thanks for the encouragement and advice! I hope I will have a better report in a few months.
