My cats have ringworm .Got circular patches of hair loss,dry/flaky skin on her some part of her body. Is there any best home remedy that really work? Or what kind of medicine that i should get from the vets?
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
Ringworm
- Thread starter han73
- Start Date
I'd call the vet and ask. Several years ago we had that and he had me buy an over-the-counter anti-fungal cream to apply to Gray's ears. It worked, and the other two cats managed to escape the dreaded fungus.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2005
- Messages
- 22,206
- Purraise
- 35
I would definitely talk to your vet. IMO, only an oral medication (like Fluconazole) will get rid of it. I know some people have had success with topical ointments, but I never did & ended up paying more to treat them in the long run.
Have you diagnosed the ringworm yourself? There are many other skin conditions that can be confused with ringworm. Even a good vet will not diagnose it on the basis of visual appearance only. The only way to know for sure is to have your vet do a culture on the cat, or cats. It could be some other parasite or issue, which would need a different kind of treatment.
If you DO get a positive diagnosis, and have more than one cat with the skin issue, I'm afraid you've got kind of a big problem. Keep in mind that that ringworm is caused by a fungus, so you will need to decontaminate all the rooms where your cats have been, so it doesn't continue to spread — not just to the cats, but to humans as well. Ringworm responds best to a combination of oral drugs and dips. Putting cream on just the affected spots does not work — those ringworm patches release millions of tiny microscopic spores that spread all through the cat's fur and also blow around everywhere else in their environment.
Treatment, including daily housecleaning if you let your cats roam free in your house, usually takes about 2 or 3 months. The only way you can know that your cats are cured is to do more cultures. Every culture takes three weeks to develop.
I think your first step should be to take the cat (or cats) to your vet and make sure it's the "dreaded fungus." There is no cheap home remedy that works. DO NOT use any kind of bleach on your cat, PLEASE! All the things you'll find on the Internet that claim to be miracle cures are trash.
I've written a long post here about my experience with successfully treating ringworm in a 4-cat apartment. Good luck!
Yes, I got it from the pharmacy, it was an anti-fungal that people also use, but the vet told me what to get. It did work for us, but it was early in the game, and only on his ears...
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2010
- Messages
- 659
- Purraise
- 42
The product I've had best results with and it fairly easy to use is Lyme Sulfur Dip. It's a liquid you mix with water and dip your cat in a couple of times a week. It's one of the most common treatments for ringworm and most vets will prescribe it. It's an OTC product though so you can buy it on the internet. Just Google Lyme Sulfur Dip.
I prefer the dip to shampoos and creams as it's easier to use for both me and the cat and less time consuming. It's also inexpensive. Unless the ringworm is severe the dip should be enough to treat your cat with and you won't need to add oral meds to the treatment.
Before you start treatment though you should get a definite diagnosis from your vet to make sure that it really is ringworm and not some other condition. There are other things that can cause rashes and bald spots.
I prefer the dip to shampoos and creams as it's easier to use for both me and the cat and less time consuming. It's also inexpensive. Unless the ringworm is severe the dip should be enough to treat your cat with and you won't need to add oral meds to the treatment.
Before you start treatment though you should get a definite diagnosis from your vet to make sure that it really is ringworm and not some other condition. There are other things that can cause rashes and bald spots.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #8
She use to have ear mites but have been threated using Oti-clens everyday and Surolan ear drops. Now i don't see any debris or dirt inside her ears.It takes almost 3 month for her to recovered. The problem she have now are this black circular patches of hair loss, dry/flaky skin on her some part of her body.Now i don't really have time to bring her to the vets. That's why i ask opinion and advise before it's getting worst. Things that i can get easily from the pet shop or home remedy. I just bath her with malaseb last week.
I would strongly suggest that you make the time to take her to a vet before diagnosing and treating her yourself, unless of course you are a vet. There could be several things that would cause the symptoms you are describing and to treat her with OTC remedies for something that may not be the problem is dangerous. You could be poisoning your cat and not realize it.
Please make the time to have her diagnosed by a vet.
Please make the time to have her diagnosed by a vet.
Lime sulfur dips won't harm a cat (if you keep it out of their eyes/ears/nose), and are the best topical treatment for ringworm and other skin diseases.
BUT it's also horribly smelly, vile stuff — and you have to totally soak the cat's fur, and then let it dry without rinsing, so the cat is smelly and yellowish afterward (and sometimes you are, too). AND you need to do it regularly for weeks.
You'd be better off consulting a vet before starting with that, because it may not be ringworm and you may not have to do it. Also, there are prescription medications that increase your chances of success.
BUT it's also horribly smelly, vile stuff — and you have to totally soak the cat's fur, and then let it dry without rinsing, so the cat is smelly and yellowish afterward (and sometimes you are, too). AND you need to do it regularly for weeks.
You'd be better off consulting a vet before starting with that, because it may not be ringworm and you may not have to do it. Also, there are prescription medications that increase your chances of success.
I had this when I ran my cattery...it was a nightmare. But I found what worked. Lyme/sulphur dip every few days till a few weeks after it cleared up. Very unpleasant and the cats WILL fight you but it's the only thing that worked for me.
Also - you have to completely disinfect your home, everywhere the cats have been. The fungal spores would be everywhere they have gone by now and you need wash ALL bedding, cloth etc. and wash down all hard surfaces with a bleach/water solution. that'd be the only thing kills the spores.
Beware--the environment can continue to harbour live spores for up to 2 years after you think it's gone.
Also - you have to completely disinfect your home, everywhere the cats have been. The fungal spores would be everywhere they have gone by now and you need wash ALL bedding, cloth etc. and wash down all hard surfaces with a bleach/water solution. that'd be the only thing kills the spores.
Beware--the environment can continue to harbour live spores for up to 2 years after you think it's gone.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #12
I remember that the vet prescribed an oral medication and a topical medication when my kitten had ringworm, and turned me onto bathing my kitten monthly while using Chlorohexiderm (an antiseptic animal shampoo), but Merrytreecats is spot on for the last two points:
- IF it is ringworm (after a vet's diagnosed it), wash and disinfect all of your linens using hot water and bleach,
- Disinfect all surfaces using Clorox spray,
- Get yourself at least a vacuum cleaner with HEPA filtration for the rugs and the carpets - this'll hopefully trap the fungal spores.
Ringworm isn't fun - especially if it transmits to you (which it did to me).
Best of luck.
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2001
- Messages
- 34,872
- Purraise
- 77
PLEASE do not use Chlorox spray- it is extremely toxic to cats and kittens and they are highly attracted to it due to a nasty chemical in the spray. Use bleach and water and be sure that you rinse completely. The fungus goes airborne- the spores do and you may fight this fight for a long time. I fought it for months here. I used the sulphur/lyme dip that I got from my vet and it smells like rotten eggs but it works.
I also wrote an article about my experience with Ringworm as the battle was long and exhausting when a litter of motherless kittens brought it into the house. If you PM me, I will be happy to share it with you.
Clorox spray probably doesn't work on ringworm fungus anyway. The only bleach solution proven to work on microsporum canis is a VERY strong 10% solution. This is strong enough to cause breathing problems in people and it will certainly wreck most household surfaces.
There's really no point to using bleach, since you'd need to cover EVERY surface with it and it's impossible to do that if you don't live in a kennel.
We used Health Guard from Revival Animal (diluted as a spray), which contains a powetful fungicide called Vibax (possibly a carcinogen but at that point I didn't care). And since bleach was out of the question, I just vacuumed the heck out of the whole house, including walls and undersides of furniture, every day for a few months, using a vac with a sealed dustbag and a HEPA filter.
There's really no point to using bleach, since you'd need to cover EVERY surface with it and it's impossible to do that if you don't live in a kennel.
We used Health Guard from Revival Animal (diluted as a spray), which contains a powetful fungicide called Vibax (possibly a carcinogen but at that point I didn't care). And since bleach was out of the question, I just vacuumed the heck out of the whole house, including walls and undersides of furniture, every day for a few months, using a vac with a sealed dustbag and a HEPA filter.
My DH and I got ringworm from our Lilac Point when I was pregnant with my son. (He's now 33) My family doctor gave us antifungal cream to get rid of it and the vet gave us something to put on Mr. Sim. It worked wonders. It just heard on the radio that a SPCA in Toronto is ethanizing over 300 animals today because of an outbreak of ringworm and are closed for the rest of the week to clean and sterilize. I was shocked to say the least. It must be really bad to go to such lengths.
Shelters do that all the time around here. It's too expensive and time-consuming to treat ringworm. And because all the cats have to be isolated, it is very stressful for them, to the point where they get sick and sometimes die of other illnesses. It's very sad.
While ringworm isn't fatal, it's an awful scourge in catteries.
While ringworm isn't fatal, it's an awful scourge in catteries.
I'm new to the forum and I would be very interested in reading your article. I'm fighting ringworm brought in by some foster kittens. Unfortunately, bleaching is not really an option since I don't have bleachable floors and furniture and at least three of my cats (who aren't symptomatic) cannot really be handled without serious bodily injury to them and myself so dipping and medication would be next to impossible.
Since I'm new, I'm not sure how to send a PM
Yeah, I forgot to say that after you wash down the surfaces with the bleach you rinse off the bleach.
I hate to bear more bad news, but your cats even after being cured need to be watched for fresh outbreaks for the rest of their lives. Any cat who has had ringworm in the past is highly likely to carry the fungus at very low levels for life. A future outbreak can also be indicative of a compromised immune system too, since once it is under control the cat's immune system will suppress further outbreaks as long as your kitty stays in good health.
I hate to bear more bad news, but your cats even after being cured need to be watched for fresh outbreaks for the rest of their lives. Any cat who has had ringworm in the past is highly likely to carry the fungus at very low levels for life. A future outbreak can also be indicative of a compromised immune system too, since once it is under control the cat's immune system will suppress further outbreaks as long as your kitty stays in good health.
Hi, I'm sorry you're dealing with ringworm. I know exactly what you're going through. You might want to read this post, which I wrote to describe what I learned from my ringworm experience. Forget bleach! And if you can't kill the spores, the next best thing is to suck 'em up from the environment and contain them. The solution is a swiffer for walls, ceilings, and floors, microfiber cloths rinsed in antifungal solution, and most important, a high-quality, self-sealing vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter for floors and upholstery, every single day. I used a Miele.
Most of the instructions you find online were written for kennels and not homes. You can go crazy trying to follow them. But you probably will need to figure out how to give meds and get the cats dipped at least once or twice. I was lucky to find a groomer who dipped all four of mine for many weeks (at considerable expense).
I'm surprised to hear that ringworm lurks on the cat forever. In my research I read that it actually tends to resolve itself on its own in a matter of months, although cats will keep reinfecting each other in the meantime. So you've got to treat it. Ringworm spores are everywhere, all the time; it takes a high concentration to cause an outbreak. So once you're over it, I really don't think you need to worry.
And in the meantime, let me know if you need more help. You can also count on the folks here for plenty of advice and encouragement! They were a great help to me when I dealt with it last fall.
