Rash/fur Missing Between Shoulder Blades On Kitten

[bigbacon]

Wife is freaking out thinking its ringworm and is nearly ready to burn all items in the house. Vet is closed so can't try to take kitten there and local emergency vet has a 5 hour wait.

right between her shoulder blades there is a circular patch of skin where there isn't much fur. It looks semi irritated but she isn't trying to scratch or mess with it at all. It is not red or bleeding or anything. just looks flaky to me.

It doesn't seem to get bigger and she doesn't have spots any where else.

She is 5 months old, is chipped. We aren't 100% sure if this spot was there when we brought her home but we noticed it with in the last 2 or 3 days (cat has been with use for 8 days)

She had a distempter booster and a vet visit on 8/28. everything else she had was with 7/2 at least on the paper work we have. It looks like she should have had more things since then but I don't have paper work to prove it was done.

like 8/2 she was supposed to have a flea treatment, 7/16 a dewormer, 7/23 a HCP vaccine.

 

[Furballsmom]

local emergency vet has a 5 hour wait.

Gracious sakes - isn't that always the situation?!

Oh by the way there's a titer that you could have done to see if those treatments happened, I think, later after this current issue is taken care of.

Can you get a photo and upload that? I'm not familiar but there are members who are and will hopefully be online today...
How To Add A Picture To Your Forum Post

 

[Pjg8r]

Waiting until your vet is open tomorrow isn’t going to make much difference if it is ringworm. Between now and then you can isolate the kitten. There are some great threads on this site about what to do if it is ringworm. I went through this a few weeks ago and there was a test that takes a week or so to give a definitive answer. I thought all ringworm “glowed” under a black light but I guess not. My vet had me topically treat the bald spots while we waited but in our case it was not ringworm. Good luck!

 

[Furballsmom]

Maybe will have some info that will help;

Ringworm In Cats: How To Win The Fight

 

[bigbacon]

Will ry to get a better photo later

 

[bigbacon]

Maybe will have some info that will help;

Ringworm In Cats: How To Win The Fight

this seriously doesn't make it seem that bad. Wife is freaking out after reading so much about it.

 

[bigbacon]

So my vet said it was a mild case of ringworm and to use an over the counter cream like lotramin to treat it.

So I got that but although she can't lick the spot she can scratch it. After the cream is put on, she scratches it to the point she cut herself at the spot.

What can you do about that?

 

[bigbacon]

she also said once a day but other things seem to say 3 or 4 times a day.

 

[Furballsmom]

Is there any way to fit a medical collar around her so she can't scratch?

I didn't realize ringworm came in different levels of "strength". Mild, I suppose is why your vet said once a day...

 

[bigbacon]

He did the black light thing and said it was there but I guess by mild he means it wasn't very concentrated.

I don't think a cone of shame will help because its behind her neck so it won't stop her from scratching it plus it may just irritate it more.

I sadly almost want a second opinion but this poor cat can't deal with another vet visit. She is already deathly afraid of the carrier after the first go around.

My vet in general didn't seem very concerned. He just said once a day, vacuum and dust your house, wipe down surfaces where she spends the most time.

 

[bigbacon]

He did the black light thing and said it was there but I guess by mild he means it wasn't very concentrated.

I don't think a cone of shame will help because its behind her neck so it won't stop her from scratching it plus it may just irritate it more.

I sadly almost want a second opinion but this poor cat can't deal with another vet visit. She is already deathly afraid of the carrier after the first go around.

My vet in general didn't seem very concerned. He just said once a day, vacuum and dust your house, wipe down surfaces where she spends the most time.

GRRR why can't you edit here!!! so irritating.

I left out to make sure we wash our hands and what not and we could also wipe the cat down with some kind of wipe if we wanted as well. The area wasn't even flaky or anything and I know that probably doesn't mean anything but I suspect the vet means we caught it early so it shouldn't be so bad as long as we keep up with the medicine and cleaning.

and hope the other cat we have doesn't get it.

 

[Pjg8r]

Is she scratching before you put it on? I used Lotrimin for the week until I got the results back and it didn’t cause itching but perhaps that’s because it wasn’t ringworm. Can you wait until the kitten is falling asleep and massage it in?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi again, you'll be able to edit after 5 days a member and approx 25 posts.
Regarding the wipe, be sure the wipe doesn't have a lot of chemicals and definitely don't use baby wipes.
If it's just for general cleaning, try Earthbath wipes or Micellar makeup remover wipes.

 

[bigbacon]

Is she scratching before you put it on? I used Lotrimin for the week until I got the results back and it didn’t cause itching but perhaps that’s because it wasn’t ringworm. Can you wait until the kitten is falling asleep and massage it in?

she was NOT scratching it at all before I put the lotion on.

 

[bigbacon]

Hi again, you'll be able to edit after 5 days a member and approx 25 posts.
Regarding the wipe, be sure the wipe doesn't have a lot of chemicals and definitely don't use baby wipes.
If it's just for general cleaning, try Earthbath wipes or Micellar makeup remover wipes.

oh, that is still very annoying

she was NOT scratching it at all before I put the lotion on.

since I can't edit and I can't complete my thoughts

LOL trying anything when this kitten is sleeping would be futile. She would wake up and immediately go into hyper kitten mode. I had no problem applying it while she was awake. Fact that she is now stuck in a bedroom, if she was asleep should will wake up and come to the door as soon as you try to open it becaause she wants to escape.

 

[bigbacon]

Sorry to keep being annoying but we feel horrible for this poor kitten. She is so outgoing and loving that we fear her being locked up in a 10x12 bedroom all day will break her.

Is this something that would be safe to say let her back out after a few days and just make sure we keep up with our cleaning routine? Luckily our house is fairly small and easy to clean. I mean I can vacuum and dust the whole thing in 30-45 minutes. Wiping down surfaces is quick and easy.

She was getting used to the house and the other cat was tolerating her well we would absolutely have to see that progress get destroyed over this. We can't leave her locked up for weeks.

 

[lutece]

If I were you, I would not bother locking her up in the bedroom. It is hard to keep the ringworm spores from going everywhere anyway, since they float around in the air, cling to your clothes, etc. I would treat any ringworm spots you see, and keep cleaning your house, but try not to get too anxious and get everyone stressed out. Healthy, unstressed cats (and people) normally have an immune system response to ringworm. There is a chance that even if exposed, your other cat may not develop spots at all, or they may be mild and easy to treat. Also, decreasing your kitten's stress level will help her immune system work together with the treatment.

 

[bigbacon]

thank you. She will only be in the room alone when we go to sleep. She is just too freaking crazy to stay in the room with us even if she wasn't having problems. She is also on an antibiotic for the cold she still has which is probably how she got the ring worm in the first place.

Its fun (not really) watching her launch snot across the room with all the sneezing she does. its oddly cute but not.

 

[Furballsmom]

Poor baby LOL

 

[bigbacon]

well sadly...now the old cat is sick with an upper respiratory infection.

now new cat will be quarantined for a while. Can't risk old cat getting the ring worm now. Hopefully she doesn't already have it but being sick will make the chances even higher.

so we screwed up royally with this whole get a new kitten thing.