Ringworm - Can’t Seem To Get Negative Culture!

[LisaBLee]

hi all,

I’ve been fostering a set of three kittens that had ringworm on second day with me, but I couldn’t get an appt with the shelter vet until 1.5 weeks after I noticed the hair loss. I received 10 day dose of itrafungol and Lyme dip. I brought them 2 weeks after starting treatment and they tested positive. I had them in isolation for 8 weeks and would Lyme dip twice a week and clean and disinfect their room while they were in the bathroom and then disinfect the bathroom. Their fur grew back within 1 month. After 2 months in isolation, I got a false negative and took them out of isolation because they were growing anxious and I felt it was having negative socialization effects on them and then got the news that their second test was actually positive on the 19th day. Fast forward during the 3rd month Vets realized they should have given me a longer dose of itrafungol so I got a 21 day course. Third test came back positive. And now fourth? I’ve cleaned, vaccummed, disinfected, dipped medicated. They’ve looked great for 3 months now, no hair loss since late September or glowing under black light, I never got it, neither did my cats. What am I doing wrong/missing here that these cultures are coming back positive? I’ve lost adopters during the wait. They won’t spay/neuter until 2 negative cultures which now seems 2 months away. I even dipped my cats to make sure they weren’t carriers?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I have no clue! This is beyond odd. I know that there can be false positives with a fluorescence test, but not sure about cultures. It just seems impossible that they could have healthy coats and still have the dratted fungus!

 

[LisaBLee]

Thank you, Mamanyt1953. I’ve read so much about this and the only thing I’ve come across is that some may test positive but are not actively infected and are considered “dust mops” of spores. I can’t get them spayed or neutered until they have two negative tests which is also what concerned me because of mixed genders and they are approaching the age of possible mating. The shelter told me that perhaps a private vet would diagnose them differently or have some new method besides Lyme dip and itrafungol. I guess my concern is just now 4 months later (3 months of cleaning, dipping and oral meds) could they possibly still be contagious?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I certainly wouldn't think so, not unless the fungus has undergone some weird mutation and is resistant! Not with everything YOU have done! And I also think that if that fungus had mutated, there would be 253,634 people on TCS SCREAMING about it!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

You could bathe the little rascals in chamomile tea...not only is it soothing to the skin, but it is both bactericidal and fungicidal.

 

[LisaBLee]

Thank you again! I’ll definitely try that too on top of the Lyme dip. I’m hoping for at least one negative result. If anyone knows of any safe antifungal foggers that work in a home, I may need to take that step too. I found saniguard on line and wonder if anyone has had success. I can only think there’s some lingering spores in a vent or some spot in my house that I haven’t been able to get!

 

[10009891]

I had treated my cat years ago that had ringworm with diluted bleach water.

 

[loyjoy]

Hi everyone! I have a question. Has anyone given Itrafungol to their cat via food? Currently our older cat caught ringworm from our new kitten. The kitten doesn’t have any problems with the syringe but our older cat is getting so stressed and a drama queen even with the sight of the syringe. We don’t want to cause him more stress so we were thinking of mixing his dosage with wet food. Has anyone done this and still managed to get rid of ringworm?

 

[LisaBLee]

I read the following on giveshelter.org

• Itraconazole: can be mixed into butter or canned food (To make sure they eat it, give a medicine meatball before feeding so they are hungry).

I hope that helps!

 

[loyjoy]

L LisaBLee Thank you so much for the information! We tried it now and he ate his entire plate with itrafungol in it, all stress free

 

[Mamanyt1953]

 

[natalieqianwei]

hi all,

I’ve been fostering a set of three kittens that had ringworm on second day with me, but I couldn’t get an appt with the shelter vet until 1.5 weeks after I noticed the hair loss. I received 10 day dose of itrafungol and Lyme dip. I brought them 2 weeks after starting treatment and they tested positive. I had them in isolation for 8 weeks and would Lyme dip twice a week and clean and disinfect their room while they were in the bathroom and then disinfect the bathroom. Their fur grew back within 1 month. After 2 months in isolation, I got a false negative and took them out of isolation because they were growing anxious and I felt it was having negative socialization effects on them and then got the news that their second test was actually positive on the 19th day. Fast forward during the 3rd month Vets realized they should have given me a longer dose of itrafungol so I got a 21 day course. Third test came back positive. And now fourth? I’ve cleaned, vaccummed, disinfected, dipped medicated. They’ve looked great for 3 months now, no hair loss since late September or glowing under black light, I never got it, neither did my cats. What am I doing wrong/missing here that these cultures are coming back positive? I’ve lost adopters during the wait. They won’t spay/neuter until 2 negative cultures which now seems 2 months away. I even dipped my cats to make sure they weren’t carriers?

Hello!
I have a question, why can't we neuter our cat when it has ringworm?
Thank you in advance ^_^

 

[LisaBLee]

Hello!
I have a question, why can't we neuter our cat when it has ringworm?
Thank you in advance ^_^

I think both hospitals and vets are worried about contagion so they will reject a cat entering surgery area that looks infected to prevent contamination or outbreak. My shelter already knew about the ringworm so they were waiting for two negative
fungal cultures before letting my kitty trend get neutered.

 

[intertwangled]

I'm having the OPPOSITE issue! With my foster kitten, they submitted a sample in for culture (without having done the Woods Lamp). Sample came back as a (false) negative. We didn't know any better to check with any other means, and so that's how the fungus came into our home and infected the rest of us. Someone lent me a blacklight after I started developing lesions on myself, and then I saw all the apple green on the kitten's ears.

Now I am just hearing back from culture results for my dog that has a few lesion-y spots on her face/legs. Vet says the culture is negative as well for her.

My dog has never had skin issues before, never any bald spots that appeared out of nowhere. There've been no changes in diet. The timing is so suspect after kitten exposure. How is it possible that these cultures are negative? The only thing I could think of (for my dog) is that I treated her nose spot ONCE with miconazole prior to bringing her to the vet. Would that have ruined the sample they took?

Since the culture is negative the vet wants to hold off on the itrafungol. But I feel like time is being wasted. Am I paranoid or should I trust my hunches? Maybe try a different vet? Meanwhile I'm driving myself crazy with environmental cleanup routine, baths, etc. I've lost my appetite the past two weeks and lost over 5 pounds and counting. I am afraid to cuddle with even my asymptomatic pets. They know something is different with me and it's stressing them out. I don't know how to feel or act any differently. :-(