Ringworm advice needed for Siberian please

[jennytegan]

Hi all

I really need some help as I'm struggling to contain the ringworm on my 12 week old Siberian kitten.

So the back story as it's been a crazy experience (as anyone who has experienced ringworm would know). So when we brought Muffin home three weeks ago we noticed she had some balding scaly patches. When we took her to the vet and pointed them out the vet just said keep an eye on them and prescribed worming spot on treatment. 5 days later I could tell they were getting worse and suspected ringworm so made another vets appointment and suggesting I think my cat has ringworm and sure enough it is. The vet then prescribed eardrops that contain miconazole nitrate and prednisolone (steriod) to be put on the ringworm patches twice a day for three weeks and if it's not cleared up in the weeks time to go into antifungal drugs (vet said she was too young for them straight away). I obviously did some research myself and realised straight away that the drops wouldn't stop the spread and sure enough I was finding new patches daily.

Even though the vets never suggested it, I started doing lime sulfur dips as well as the topical treatment. However the issue I believe I'm now having is that because Muffin is siberian, her topcoat fur makes it really difficult to get to her undercoat and close to the skin. At the moment I'm using a sponge to try and get as close to the skin as possible but I'm worried it's not working. We tried fully dipping and spraying but these caused serious stress and still didn't get to the undercoat.

Has anyone had a similar issue and found it to be okay? And if I find spots that I've missed can I apply a spot treatment of the diluted lime sulfur?

Or I have an antifungal shampoo for humans containing ketoconazole 20mg/g, would it be possible to wash her with this? It's Nizoral anti dandruff shampoo (uk).

Any words of encouragement or advice would be greatly appreciated. I will also be changing vets as they have provided little help.

Thank you!

 

[tnl]

I had a Siberian and she had ringworm as a kitten too. We tried the dip with no success and two of my other cats got it from her....one was an older Maine Coon. We dipped him too which really stressed him out. I went to another vet and she prescribed Itraconazole (oral medication) and it worked!

 

[lutece]

Generally, ringworm treatment includes both oral medication and topical treatment. I'm not sure why the vet said Muffin was too young, as my understanding is that oral medication can be used in kittens over 8 weeks.

I agree with you that topical treatment just on the bare patches is not likely to be effective by itself, because typically there are going to be spores all over the cat, not just where the cat already has obvious ringworm patches.

If you are having trouble getting lime sulfur dip all the way down to the skin, wouldn't you have the same problem with shampoo? The sponge sounds like a good way to soak the coat. It's possible that there is nothing wrong with your technique and the lime sulfur dips you are doing would be adequate if you combined this with oral meds.

I don't know about the shampoo for humans... but I wouldn't use it myself, since cats and humans can be sensitive to different things.

 

[Maruna]

I currently have a short haired kitten with ringworm. She began scratching a lot behind and inside her ears 2-3 weeks after getting her and then on her face until she caused trauma around her eye. We took her to the vet and they prescribed a steroid ointment for the eye lesion, unknowing it was ringworm. Over a week it spread from her ears and eye to both her back paws, nose, and whisker pad with hair falling out very fast. We took her back and they said she has ringworm. She was given a 2% chlorhexidine shampoo. We went back a few days later for topical cream, which she ended up turning her skin very red, and then they finally prescribed her an oral anti-fungal. I have spent hours doing extensive research online reading published articles on feline ringworm and the best modes of treatment, hopefully this will help to get you rid of it quicker as I am currently 3 weeks into the process.

A combination of oral and topical products are required. The best oral medication right now is Itrafungol (Itraconazole - dosage depending on weight). This is given one week on, one week off for 5 weeks and will help kill the fungus internally. Itrafungol can be ordered much cheaper online but will require a prescription from the vet.

To treat the skin, an anti-fungal shampoo twice a week is recommended. A good shampoo is Malaseb but I have been prescribed Virbac Microbex, however chlorhexidine alone is not as effective as when combined with another anti-fungal (Miconazole) such as in Malaseb.

In addition if possible, a cream can also be used such as Canesten or Lamisil. I’m not sure if these are recommended as they have not been highly tested on cats but I would say try it out and just keep an eye on the area. I originally tried Canesten as prescribed by my vet and the areas became swollen and red. I then ordered Lamisil myself and use it once a day on affected areas.

In terms of cleaning the house, I have read this is very important however in my entirely carpeted home it is very difficult to clean with bleach etc, so I have just resorted to hoovering. I am only 3 weeks into treatment so I can’t say how important the cleaning was for me to eradicate the ringworm. The hair around the affected areas has already started to grow back which is a good sign and I’m hoping in 3 weeks time she will be ringworm free. I personally did not find the vets helpful besides for the initial diagnosis as they kept asking me to make separate appointments for each medicament instead of just prescribing me with the best form of treatment from the start, so I resorted to researching it for myself and asking for what I needed instead to save costs and several appointments. I plan to go back in a couple weeks just for them to check if the ringworm treatment was successful.

I have read that long haired cats can benefit from clipping the fur spring the areas so topical medicines can reach the skin better, but I do not recommend shaving as this can cause micro-cuts in the skin that the ringworm spores can enter.

Hopefully this helpful and your cat is cured soon. I understand the panic you must be feeling as I was extremely stressed at the start, especially as this is my first cat. I would love to hear an update from you!

 

[Maruna]

I should also mention that steroids actually worsen ringworm as they weaken the skin’s defences and allows the spores to travel deeper, causing it to spread to several body parts quickly. You were given ear drops containing a steroid which hopefully shouldn’t have affected the ringworm but I would discontinue the use of this just in case.