# Help..my kitten has ringworm!



## helengibbs (Sep 22, 2010)

I bought 2 kittens (George and Pooky) from ad in paper. The house they came from was very 'dirty' and I did not see the mother as she was out. Pooky and George were very young as the mother had rejected them and lady said she had hand reared them. Within 2 days they both got conjunctivitis, and now after 1 week Pooky has been confirmed as having ringworm...aaagghh and both myself and my daughter have also caught ringworm from the kitten and have seen the doctor who has given us some cream. The vet has given me some shampoo to put on neat in the morning and also Canesten cream on the evening on the affected areas (ear tip, over eye, toe on each paw and front of left paw). 

Despite my kittens being treated by my wonderful vet, being confined to the conservatory and having no contact with my older cat, Poppy, reading several articles on the web I am terrified and have several concerns:- 

Should I be bleaching the conservatory/bedding etc daily to get rid of fungal pores? 
Should I throw away their bedding and toys? 
How long before its eradicated completely so I can introduce Poppy?
What are the chances of my other Kitten, George, getting it?
How can I prevent it spreading further on Pooky and my family?

Please, please help me put my mind at rest.

Many thanks


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

Oh dear, ringworm CAN be such a pain. I have had it so often with my fosters and it can be a chore to stop cross-contamination.

Firstly…. I can't say I am in 100% agreement with your vets course of treatment. BUT…. Maybe initially this is the way to go, there are better ringworm treatments out there (for the cats themselves) but ringworm is in principle a self-eliminating fungal infection, so it should clear up on its own eventually. They keyword here though is EVENTUALLY. If you notice the patches on your cat are either
a) not getting better, or
b) getting bigger or new patches appearing

then get your cat back to the vet as soon as possible because they will probably need a stronger treatment.

There are better treatments out there, but they are oral treatments and they do have side effects. So I think your vet is initially taking a softly softly approach.

I kinda need to ask some questions… hope you don't think this is the third degree, lol.

How old are Pooky and George (the kittens)???

What shampoo are you using on the kittens?? Is it Malaseb??

Did the vet recommend preventative shampooing of the non-infected kitten and your other cat Poppy??

Are you actually bathing the RW positive kitten or just using the shampoo on the spots/patches??

Did you vet actually take skin/hair cultures of all three cats?? (I mean 2 kittens and 1 cat) or did he just test Pooky?

When the vet took a culture on Pooky how many days did it take for the culture to come back as positive for ringworm (this can often dictate how bad the ringworm is… a positive after 3 days says the ringworm is a lot more active than a positive that took a fortnight to show)

Enough questions for now… I will try and answer some of your questions:

as for how long you have to keep the new kitten(s) separated from your other cat (poppy)… well the only safe answer to this is …. Until your kittens (pooky) tests negative for ringworm… and the quickest I have ever went from a RW pos to a RW neg is about 5 or 6 weeks. And I am very sorry to say, but it can take longer than that too. Personally I would keep them separated for at least another 4 weeks, if they look cured … then get another culture taken. It will take a minimum of 14 days to get a negative culture, though positives can be had within days.

You don't need to throw away their bedding and toys… but you do need to wash them in a good hot wash. I do a splash of bleach in there and wash at at least 60 degrees, but preferably 90 degrees if the material will allow that. If you have a steam cleaner (or can borrow one) then these are a god send with ringworm.

if George doesn't have it… and just Pooky has it… chances are George won't get it. Not all cats exposed to ringworm do get it… the more vulnerable a cat (kitten) is, the lower their immune system is, the higher their chance of getting it. We recently had a RW outbreak in the shelter… but by quarantining the cats with RW we managed to keep it down to 20 odd cats who got it, and 80 odd who didn't get it.

To prevent it spreading… well just general things like… 
-keep the infected cat/kitten quarantined in a spare bedroom
-daily vacuuming and washing of blankets etc, clean all hard surfaces with a bleach solution. 
-watch your clothes and shoes … you go in and out of that "quarantine" room, you are walking the fungal spores through your house, if you then sit on the couch, theoretically you can leave spores on your couch and a cat can pick those spores up and be infected by them.
- wash your hands thoroughly after handling the RW kitten.

I wish I could be more light hearted about this and tell you not to worry so much…. But…. I have too much negative experience with ringworm.

Very best of luck!!

edited to add: don't worry about you and your daughter's ringworm... it really is very easy to treat and cure in humans, if only it was so easy in pets. If you do notice your (or your daughters) ringworm patch doesn't heal up... or seems to be healing and then the appearance changes or blister or itching occurs ... then get back your GP with haste, as bacteria like impetigo CAN enter the skin through the RW breaks in our skins... but I hasten to add this is very very rare. Really, in humans, ringworm is a doddle to treat.  Hope that puts your mind at rest a tiny wee bit... and doesn't scare you further, lol.


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## Cazzer (Feb 1, 2010)

poor you. I do really feel for you. Excellent advice from TJE. A persian kitten I bought years ago had it and we didn't know until our other 6 persians got it. My OH and myself never got it. Our poor cats were shaved and kept in one room until they were clear. I think it was months rather than weeks it took us to get clear and our vets said we did really well. I think it was griesulfulvin [or something like that our cats were given]. We were pretty ruthless with carpets and stuff throwing a lot out and bleaching Good luck


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

I hate to say it&#8230; but like Cazza I too would be looking at months rather than weeks - if you have 3 cats testing negative by Christmas&#8230; share your tips with me, cause you&#8217;d be doing something very right.

and yes Cazza, griesofulvin is a very good oral ringworm treatment, although I think in recent years itraconazole (spelling???) is more widely used. The minimum course of treatment with itraconazole is I think 6 weeks. And you can only stop using the meds when the cat gets at least one negative culture. 

Such a pain ringworm&#8230; I reallllllllly do hate it with a passion.


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## Lulu's owner (May 1, 2009)

I remember when I took in a cat with ringworm (Kitty, now sadly deceased), about twenty years ago and the vet gave me some sheep dip stuff to bath her in (if my memory serves me right it had a picture of a sheep on the pack) and that is the one and only time I have ever bathed a cat. My husband, my other cats and I were fine and I seem to remember Kitty recovered pretty quickly. We didn't throw any possessions out. Maybe we were lucky so I hope things go equally smoothly for your puss.


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## Cazzer (Feb 1, 2010)

yes TJE it was a long time ago we had it [Shelley the kitten in question was PTS last year at age 16]. Its my nightmare.


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

Lulu's owner said:


> I remember when I took in a cat with ringworm (Kitty, now sadly deceased), about twenty years ago and the vet gave me some sheep dip stuff to bath her in (if my memory serves me right it had a picture of a sheep on the pack) and that is the one and only time I have ever bathed a cat. My husband, my other cats and I were fine and I seem to remember Kitty recovered pretty quickly. We didn't throw any possessions out. Maybe we were lucky so I hope things go equally smoothly for your puss.


yesssss....I remember that dip stuff.... sulphur of lime or something like that it was called. Its smells like bad farts and a gas leak and rotten eggs all combined, lol. I don't think they use that anymore. It's actually the same with shaving... when I started out in cat rescue shaving was recommended for ringowrm cats... now they recommend against it. ARRRGGGG I am sure they change all these things to addel my pickled brain further.

And cazzer... I am with you... it *is* a total nightmare. I know on the big scale of things that it probably isn't that bad... I mean it can't kill them, but my god it is soooo much work and sooooo difficult to eradicate completely.... I shiver when I type the very word ringworm.


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## Lulu's owner (May 1, 2009)

Tje said:


> yesssss....I remember that dip stuff.... sulphur of lime or something like that it was called. Its smells like bad farts and a gas leak and rotten eggs all combined, lol. I don't think they use that anymore. It's actually the same with shaving... when I started out in cat rescue shaving was recommended for ringowrm cats... now they recommend against it. ARRRGGGG I am sure they change all these things to addel my pickled brain further.


I'm glad you know what I'm talking about! Some people don't believe me when I say I once bathed a cat in sheep dip. I've never forgotten the fumes either. I think they banned the stuff because it was killing farmers or something. Did you have to shave the cat from head to toe? That doesn't bear thinking about.


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

Lulu's owner said:


> I'm glad you know what I'm talking about! Some people don't believe me when I say I once bathed a cat in sheep dip. I've never forgotten the fumes either. I think they banned the stuff because it was killing farmers or something. Did you have to shave the cat from head to toe? That doesn't bear thinking about.


see, we're probably all showing our age now with all these medieval treatments we've used in the past, lol. But no... the sulfar of lime dip thing was used widely up until maybe a decade or so ago. I am glad they banned it... as well as stinking to high heavens it stained everything it came into contact with... I had whole cats that turned yellow because of it, lol. And you shoulda seen my hands. And yes when they did still shave with ringworm it was a total shave. On one hand its a pity they stopped shaving because I do think it cut down cross contamination. But I think the vet community began to think that shaving (when they get a nick in the skin) actually worked adversely and they ended up with extra ringworm spots. But maybe I am wrong and some vets/shelters/breeders still recommend shaving. I don't think I personally would rule it out in a multi cat household.


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## Cazzer (Feb 1, 2010)

mine missed the sheep dip but got shaved. The shaving was the worst I think for mine as they terrified themselves as they would hit themselves with their tails and totally freak as skin hit skin instead of soft fluffy persian fur.


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## helengibbs (Sep 22, 2010)

Hi Thanks so much for the info. My kittens are just 8 weeks old, the vet has not recommended any treatment for the non-affected kitten, I am not bathing Pooky just putting lotion and cream directly onto affected areas. He took no swabs just used what looked like an ultra voilet lamp..?! I am limiting just myself to treating and feeding the kittens and will bleach the room and bedding daily in the hope they will be clear in 4 weeks time as I am away on holiday and can't seem my OH doing it..! wish me luck and thanks for the advice. x


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

Helen. That lamp the vet used it can only be used safely to get a positive for ringworm, and even then it doesnt catch all positives. It can never ever give a reliable negative as only about 50% of the ringworm spores show up as neon green under the woods lamp. Soooooo... what that means for you is.... 

If Pooky was positive under the lamp then yes she definitely has ringworm. 

But if the other two cats (George and Poppy) were negative under the lamp, that is not reliable (in other words they could still be ringworm positive). A reliable negative ringworm test can only be had by doing a hair/skin culture (or in certain circumstances looking under the microscope). These two cats really need to get tested. And I am not trying to alarm you, but ringworm is the biggest bugger out there. It makes a plague of fleas in your home look like a walk in the park. If George and Poppy werent tested at all, then start with a woods lamp test and only move to culture testing of the woods lamp shows a possible negative. 

As for the treatment your vet is giving, well its as softly softly an approach as is possible and the chance Pooky will be clear in 4 weeks time, is I am afraid practically non-existant. (wish I could flower that up, but I can't)

In your shoes I would 

1. get all the cats culture tested (the vet runs a tooth brush through their hair onto their skin, then rubs the toothbrush on to a petri dish, leaves it to grow for up to two weeks and sees what fungal spores are present)

2. Every cat (kitten) that is ringworm positive I would put on itraconazole medicine straight away. This is a syringe medicine you spout into their mouths once a day. They are on it for 6 weeks minimal. Weeks 1, 3 and 5 they get the medication, weeks 2, 4 and 6 they have rest weeks. After 6 weeks they are tested and mostly they are cured. If not you carry on with the meds until they do test negative (never took longer than 12 weeks for any cats I have had, and I have had some fosters with terrible ringowrm).

3. I would bathe all the cats every second day with a good anti-fungal shampoo like Malaseb. Even if Poppy or George are negative. The bathing every other day will be the main thing that will stop them getting it. The spores that collect on their fur will be washed away before they can develop into ringworm, plus the shampoo kills any fungal spores. You do however need to leave the shampoo on their coats for a good 10 minutes before you rinse it out. So this does mean that for three cats it would cost you about an hour to bathe and rinse them, and youd need to do it every second day, and you need to do the bathing too (every 2nd day) for at least 6 weeks long. Pay particular attention the cats extremities, feet, toes, in between the toes and around the chin, eyes and ears and the tail and base of the tail.

I know this all sounds like one massive costly palaver and I will not deny that is very time consuming and costs a lot of money but ringworm is the pits of the earth and if you dont do it right and treat it with the aggression it needs youll still have it months or even a year from now as it will pass from one cat to another, from one of the cats to your kids, back to one of the cats, back to you, back to the kids and all the time your house becomes more and more of a breeding ground for the fungal spores. 

Oh and another thing I forgot to say regards cross contamination the vacuum cleaner when you hoover the room Pookey is quarantined in. remove the hoover bag and keep it wrapped in a poly bag and use another vacuum cleaner bag for the rest of the house. The switch bags again when you come back to that room. It would pointless bleaching and changing the bedding daily then you come in with the hoover and bow out all the spores throughout the house.


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## billyboysmammy (Sep 12, 2009)

oh no! Ringworm is a [email protected]!! 

It can hide, ive seen cats who i know are riddled with it, but who have absoloutly no signs or symptoms... the only way to be sure is to do the cultures.

Can i just add to TJE's excellent advice.



* make things easier on yourself. Confine poppy and her brother in one small room
* remove all soft furnishings from said room.... no curtains, cushions etc other than their bedding
*use a plastic dog bed and fleece blankets for bedding. Easy to bleach and boil wash.
*steam clean the carpet every other day if you have one
*bleach soloution to all other hard surfaces daily - including full litter change.
*wear gloves when handling cats, and change out of clothes while still in the room.
* keep a similar routine throughout the rest of your home until you are 100% sure you are cured, and your older cat isnt affected.
* it may be beneficial to consider buying a cheapy hoover/handvac to do the quarentine room, and wash out the trap/change bag daily, then use your normal hoover in the rest of the house with the same routine. Certainly easier than consistently re-infecting.
* remember any visits to the vets, to ask for the last evening appointment so your not infecting every other animal who walks through the doors.
* agree with TJE - there are much better treatments out there and i would be going for these rather than fart around with a soft approach for months. It takes months anyway, and the softly softly apprach is going to make it even longer.
* Some other treatments to discuss with your vet. Itraconazole does have some side effects, but it is the treatment of choice for most vets. Alternatives include, lamasil (less side effects but a higher dose needed), and fluconazole (even less side effects, and is supposedly as effective as itraconazole). Malaseb shampoo is a MUST, remember to follow the instructions fully.

I wish you the VERY VERY best of luck! Its not fun but you will get there!


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## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

helengibbs said:


> Hi Thanks so much for the info. My kittens are just 8 weeks old, the vet has not recommended any treatment for the non-affected kitten, I am not bathing Pooky just putting lotion and cream directly onto affected areas. He took no swabs just used what looked like an ultra voilet lamp..?! *I am limiting just myself to treating and feeding the kittens and will bleach the room and bedding daily in the hope they will be clear in 4 weeks time as I am away on holiday and can't seem my OH doing it*..! wish me luck and thanks for the advice. x


I'm afraid unless you can find someone who is prepared to follow the strict cleaning, medication and bathing routine in your absence, you may have to cancel your holiday 

Good luck! You have a long road ahead of you.


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## billyboysmammy (Sep 12, 2009)

i very very much doubt you will have eradicated the ringworm in 4 weeks, if you have then please tell me your secret!


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

billyboysmammy said:


> oh no! Ringworm is a [email protected]!!
> 
> It can hide, ive seen cats who i know are riddled with it, but who have absoloutly no signs or symptoms... the only way to be sure is to do the cultures.


agreed on two counts, lol

it *is* a [email protected]@rd and my god can it hide!!!!

The cats I had with the most raging ringworm (skin culture was glowling within 2days and growing the surgery out after a week) well they had no signs at all. It was only when me and a friend who had helped treat them both got ringworm ourselves that I knew it must be coming from them.... went through them with a fine tooth conb under the strongest of lights with my glasses on and they didn't have a single patch on them, but they did have it in its most agressive form as was apparent from the cultures.

edited to add: agreed on 3 counts actually ... if the OP can get rid of ringworm by Christmas she is doing VERY well... the chance of her getting rid of it in 4 weeks time (even if she used the most agreesive forms of oral meds) are still nil. Even on those meds the minimal time I think is 6 weeks oral meds and 6 weeks bathing every 2nd day. And even then its not guaranteed to be gone in 6 weeks.


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## Lulu's owner (May 1, 2009)

Tje said:


> see, we're probably all showing our age now with all these medieval treatments we've used in the past, lol.


After reading the rest of this thread I'm wondering whether the old-style sheep dip treatment was more effective than modern methods, as it got rid of Kitty's ringworm in no time, or was I just very lucky? I remember the vet telling me that only rundown cats got it (she was starving and living rough with her small kittens) and that she would soon recover with a combination of adequate diet and the sheep dip. I remember washing bedding on a very hot wash but that was all I needed to do.


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## Horse and Hound (May 12, 2010)

DOn't know if this helps but when my guineas had it I got a small bottle of iodine to treat the infected area with, along with anti-fungal creme and tablets from the vet.

I ended up catching it myself and took a caniston oral tablet and used the creme until it cleared up.

Not seen it on my skin now since (talking well over 9 years) and the guineas never got it again for the rest of their lives.


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

Lulu's owner said:


> After reading the rest of this thread I'm wondering whether the old-style sheep dip treatment was more effective than modern methods, as it got rid of Kitty's ringworm in no time, or was I just very lucky? I remember the vet telling me that only rundown cats got it (she was starving and living rough with her small kittens) and that she would soon recover with a combination of adequate diet and the sheep dip. I remember washing bedding on a very hot wash but that was all I needed to do.


The way I understand ringworm treatment is. (and I hope someone like BBM can correct me here I am way off base here, and everyone ever reading this needs to know I have ZERO medical training so maybe I am talking utter rubbish, lol)

the oral medications like itraconzole/griseofulvin stop the production of the fungus inside the body

the topical treatments like the sulfur lime dip or malaseb shampoo or lamisil ointment kill the fungus that are present on the cat (in their hair skin).

They can be used separately or together depending on the severity of the ringworm.

But other factors come into play too

long haired cats = more aggressive treatment than short haired cats 
and multi cat/pet households = more aggressive treatment needed than when you only have one pet

I do know ringworm doesnt come in just one strength/severity I have no medical jargon, sorry, so in my laymens terms I talk about a not too bad bout of ringworm or a reaaaaallllly bad bout of ringworm. With the latter you use both oral and topical treatments (I think thats what most vets I have known would do) and with the not so bad cases you may get off with just using the one or the other. But this would also depend on if you had one cat or 6 or 12 the more pets you have the more aggressive you treat it, also bearing in mind the very young kittens and very old cats with lower immune systems will be more likely to get it than a healthy adult cat in the prime of health and life.

You can only know what type of ringworm (what breed of fungus) your cat has by doing the skin/hair culture. The same is true of the severity of the RW, you can see this in the length of time the culture takes to show as RW+.

Not 100% sure on this but how it has always worked with me when I have had mild cases of ringworm I have to wait 12-14 days to hear, yes they have ringworm but its not that bad

With the very bad cases I get a call from the vet after 2 or 3 days saying pick up oral med and shampoo today and start treatment immediately.

I have had one cat at one time who had a mild case of RW (culture was clear on day 12 and showed finally positive on day 14) I did not treat her at all apart from using Lamisil ointment daily for 3 months on the one patch she had. But I had NO other cats (or any pets) in my home in that whole period. After 2 months she was still positive, after 3 months she was finally negative. If I had wanted to have fosters in my home during that period of time I would have to taken a far more aggressive approach. Or taken the risk they all got it. If I had had one other cat, then I would have had to quarantine the RW cat and used preventative topical treatments (like the sheep dip or the shampoos) on the one that didnt have RW to ensure he didnt get it. And ensuring other pets never get it crieky its hard.

Now just to confuse matters further ringworm is actually a self-eliminating fungus it kills itself out after around 4 months (providing cross contamination does not occur) so theoretically, say you had one cat with RW and locked it a room and kept that room sterile then the RW would go away in 4 months. So the problem is not so much the RW itself as the fact the cats infect us when we go in to feed them and so on, and we infect other family members and family pets, and the RW cats keeps reinfecting its self as its never possible to have a totally sterile environment to keep them in. Left to their own devices in the wild they would (technically) cure themselves, but they would infect the rest of their colony in the process, well, not ALL of the colony just the old, the young or those who have a flu/cold or other illness meaning their immune defenses are low.

Hope I explained this ok its not the simplest thing in the world to explain or to treat, lol, and I am not the best at explaining.


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## billyboysmammy (Sep 12, 2009)

spot on TJE

The antifungal medication treats the skin from the inside out

the shampoos/creams/dips treat the hair and skin from the outside. Most shampoos require a 10min sitting period too to allow them to work.

Other things which can encourage ringworm to take hold are breeds prone to malassezia yeast. The breeds carry the fungus in their skin, but most commonly around the claws and ears! Rex coated breeds, sphynx and any breed which has excess skin folds (like around the eyes on a persian). Malassezia can cause a full fungal skin dermatitis however its usually just carried by the cat, full dermatitis is rare and is usually a result of a weakened immune system. However, once one fungus is growing, its easy for another to set up home too and ringworm spreads like wildfire!


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

billyboysmammy said:


> is rare and is usually a result of a weakened immune system. However, once one fungus is growing, its easy for another to set up home too and ringworm spreads like wildfire!


question for you BBM.... a while back I got ringworm from some fosters... wasnt worried... had it loads of times.... but then I noticed one of my rw patches getting slightly blistery/ulcerated. I had contratced impetigo (bacterial disease which my GP explained uses any skin lesions like RW or shaving cuts to invade their way into your body). Hideous skin infection btw, but I got off lucky without looking like the elephant man.... anyway....

I have always wondered.... if my human ringowrm patches can invite a hideous bacaterial infection into my body... can cats ringowrm patches work in the same way? Would ringworm (fungal skin infection) in cats, make them too more vulnerable to bacterial skin infections?


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## billyboysmammy (Sep 12, 2009)

absoloutly!

ANY opening in the skin leaves it prone to other types of infection, whether that be a scratch, ringworm, injection site, operation site, or a flea bite.


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## Lulu's owner (May 1, 2009)

I'm glad I didn't know any of this when Kitty had her ringworm in those innocent, far off days before the Internet.


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

BBM, ta for that my dear!! I kinda suspected that would be the case. Nice to have ti confirmed.

Lulu. I know, lol, ignorance is bliss sometimes. Which is often why I stick my fingers in my ears and sing la la la really hard when my vet tries to explain some things to me. I dont always want to know!


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## billyboysmammy (Sep 12, 2009)

meant to say ouch ouch to the impetigo.

My daughter contracted the ecthyma impetigo on her lady bits, after her skin had blistered due to an allergy to the chemicals in disposable nappies. Horrible, and has left a scar


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## aussiefemale (Dec 8, 2010)

hey i took my kitten to the vet and he has put him on tabs it has been a few days.i have looked everywere but cant find a answer.at the moment he is locked up on his own i feel bad as he dosent know whats going on and is crying.my question is once i have started treatment how long do i have to keep him locked up for?some say a week some say a few days.some say look were park was affected and if it looks like it is doing better then it should be ok.how long did everyone keep there kitten or animal locked away?some said they never did


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

aussiefemale said:


> hey i took my kitten to the vet and he has put him on tabs it has been a few days.i have looked everywere but cant find a answer.at the moment he is locked up on his own i feel bad as he dosent know whats going on and is crying.my question is once i have started treatment how long do i have to keep him locked up for?some say a week some say a few days.some say look were park was affected and if it looks like it is doing better then it should be ok.how long did everyone keep there kitten or animal locked away?some said they never did


sorry, I never saw this post yesterday....

-what tablets are you talking about here? (never had tablets for ringowrm, just topical treatments or liquid med)
- how long has your kitten been on these meds/tablets?
- did the vet give you a special shampoo to bathe the kitten?
- did the vet take a skin/hair culture from your kitten? 
- do you have any other cats (or animals in your home)

basically... any cat or kitten can look better and not be better. The only way to know ringworm is cured is... when your kitten looks cured you take him to your vet, if your vet agrees he looks cured, he takes a skin scraping and hair sample and he puts that on a petri dish and you have to wait 14 days to hear your cat or kitten is cured

if there was a skin scraping and/or hair sample taken to identify ringowrm, it is not 14 days from that initial scraping... it is 14 days from the "he is better we think" scraping

it is possible that the vet phones you 5 days in and says "sorry he is not cured afterall". A positive for ringworm can be had anywhere within those 14 days... but the negative can only be had by waiting out the whole 14 days. The reason for this is based on the severity of the ringworm, the worse it is the quicker/sooner it shows up on the petri dish... but if your kittens till had ringowrm in a mild form, it would only ship around day 10 or 12 or 14, but that would mean the kitten would have to remain quarantined and continue getting the meds and/or topical treatments and bathing.

Hope that helps, if you need more help just ask... but please remember to answer the 4 or 5 questions above as I won't be able to help otherwise. All the best xxxx

also be aware you (and family members) can get it too ... I have ringowrm (again!) right now myself. Thankgoodnes though it's so much easier to treat in us humans, all the best !!


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## aussiefemale (Dec 8, 2010)

ummm all the vat gave me for him was tabs cant think of the name.they didnt want to give him soap ect as it is right above his eyes.Yes i have other animals 2 dogs but they are fine as they wernt near the kitten.I hve him confined to a room and its hard as all he does is cry and i want to pick him up.He has been on the tabe for only 4 days.And they said keep him locked up for about 2 weeks but the tabe i have for him are for longer then that.I havent got it or my son touch wood.it is so hard as he is just a baby and wants to be with me.


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

If the tablets are called griesofulvin (sp?) then I would imagine he will have to stay on them for 4 to 5 weeks, I think 28 days is the minimum length of that particular treatment. You can absolutely pick him up and cuddle him and spend loads of time with him, just take simple precautions like keeping a set of clothes to wear when you spend time with the kitten and change out of those before you back with your dogs and wash your hands after handling the kitten. Shoes too (keep a set of flip-flops just for the ringworm room).

All the best.... !!


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## aussiefemale (Dec 8, 2010)

the tabs i have him on seam to be taking forever.it was red now it has gone a brown does that mean its getting better?i havent got it neither has my son or dogs.i have looked up home remedies and there are alot of things like bleach but use more water and vingure to tooth past to clear nailpolish to cocunut oil and so on.i wont use bleach ect as it is on the top of his head near his eyes.i have been using bedidine at the moment as the vet said it is ok.but i will try some of those others to.has anyone else tried any of these?if it was all over i might try some other things but got to be carfull with the eyes.its funny its only on 2 little parts on his head he has had it for a bit and locked up for a week but noone else has caught it or even pep who visit.will let u kow how i go with the stuff im trying
Ringworm Home Remedies
home remedy for kittens with ringworm - Herbalism Forum - GardenWeb


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## helzxbelz (Dec 19, 2010)

Oh, its still being used to treat ringworm in cats. It smells like rotten eggs, it bleaches clothes and carpet and made my little 8week old loose all his fur(which clogged the bath tub and had to be snaked). My kitten Myles, began treatment on 12/02/10 which consists of a lime sulpher dip 2x a week, has been quarantined to my bedroom and house routinely vacuumed and cleaned w/1:10 bleach solution
The fur is growing back on Myles, the 1 infected area on his leg has scabbed over and fell off about 4 days ago and Savannah(8mos old kitten) and I have moved into the living room 3 weeks ago. Since neither Savannah and I have shown any signs of Ringworm and were 100% exposed, she gave him tongue baths and he crawled around under my sheets while I slept, what do you guys think about letting him out of quarantine?


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

aussiefemale said:


> the tabs i have him on seam to be taking forever.it was red now it has gone a brown does that mean its getting better?i havent got it neither has my son or dogs.i have looked up home remedies and there are alot of things like bleach but use more water and vingure to tooth past to clear nailpolish to cocunut oil and so on.i wont use bleach ect as it is on the top of his head near his eyes.i have been using bedidine at the moment as the vet said it is ok.but i will try some of those others to.has anyone else tried any of these?if it was all over i might try some other things but got to be carfull with the eyes.its funny its only on 2 little parts on his head he has had it for a bit and locked up for a week but noone else has caught it or even pep who visit.will let u kow how i go with the stuff im trying
> Ringworm Home Remedies
> home remedy for kittens with ringworm - Herbalism Forum - GardenWeb


what's wrong with just taking your cat to a vet!!!!! Some of the "tips" on these links aren't even safe for cats, humans possibly, but not cats. If you want to search the net for dodgy tips to avoid vet costs, I can't stop you. But for the sake of other people reading this, and their cats welfare, I have to state I think it is as insane idea and possibly extremely detrimental to the cat's health to try and treat ringworm with money saving tips off internet forums. Vets are there for a reason. Cats with ringworm is a very valid reason to see a vet.



helzxbelz said:


> Oh, its still being used to treat ringworm in cats. It smells like rotten eggs, it bleaches clothes and carpet and made my little 8week old loose all his fur(which clogged the bath tub and had to be snaked). My kitten Myles, began treatment on 12/02/10 which consists of a lime sulpher dip 2x a week, has been quarantined to my bedroom and house routinely vacuumed and cleaned w/1:10 bleach solution
> The fur is growing back on Myles, the 1 infected area on his leg has scabbed over and fell off about 4 days ago and Savannah(8mos old kitten) and I have moved into the living room 3 weeks ago. Since neither Savannah and I have shown any signs of Ringworm and were 100% exposed, she gave him tongue baths and he crawled around under my sheets while I slept, *what do you guys think about letting him out of quarantine*?


My opinion.... no way.

Ringworm can be totally invisible to the naked eye but still very much alive and kicking, they don't have to have one single bald or scabbed patch to still be riddled with RW. What I would do is take Myles to the vet for a skin and hair culture and if he is clear you will know that within 2 weeks. Then and only then would I let him out of his quarantine room.

Can I ask where you live Helzxbelz that they're using the sulphur dip. lol, and I don't mean street and town name, I just mean country.

Don't ever be fooled thinking "well I didn't get it and my other cat didn't get it, so that must mean his ringworm is over". That is just not true. Say for instance in a shelter with 20 volunteer staff and 100 cats. All are exposed to ringworm, not all contract it. Maybe 4 staff memebers get it and "only" 50 cats get it. In my experience a higher percentage of exposed cats contract it than exposed humans, but it is an absolute fact that not every cat exposed to ringworm will contract it. The stronger and healthier a cat is the less chance it will contract it.

hellzxbelz, I can recommend a good ringworm shampoo if you want me too.... but you would have to run it past your vet first to see it was suitable and wasn't contraindicated with anything he is prescribing to your cat. Actually, depending on which country you're in, you may need to get it at your vets as it's precription only in many countries (i.e: not available yo buy over the counter).


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## helzxbelz (Dec 19, 2010)

I'm from California, near the Los Angeles area. Since my initial post I noticed a lesion on my older kitty Savannah's head. Ive had the past few days off and realized they hold hands under the bedroom door all day long while im usually at work. Since both infected and i live in a single bedroom apartment the vet green lighted me in letting them cohabitat, so that I may at least have my living room w/o ringworm infected cats crawling around. So along with the sulphur dip, the vet has also prescribed Sporanox(aka Itraconazole) for both in liquid form dosed separately by weight. I have an oral syringe for each which is becoming harder and harder to admister the medication, I usually end up shooting 1/2(if lucky) in the mouth and the rest on their face, neck legs. Ive read conflicting directions online about giving the medication on an empty stomach, after a meal but does anybody know if I can put it on their wet food?

I'm a bit concerned of the treatments do to a scare FIP scare Savannah had a few weeks before the ringworm issue. She had many symptoms(jaundiced eyes, unusual amounts of purring and lethargy, mangy fur), all blood work came back normal and Prednisone eye drops cleared things up- thank god. The vet said it seemed to think it was an odd reaction to Myles, whom had a feline herpesvirus infection at the time. She seems to think Savannah's immune system maybe a little wacky. Are there specific reactions or issues I should look for while treating them on this medication? Also have you heard of "Health GuardTM Laundry Additive - Disinfectant" ? I bought some online in an attempt to somehow disinfect the carpet. 

Needless to say the kitten debacle of 2010 has drained me dry and canceled Christmas, future fungal checks are at the end of the line, behind rent, phone bill, auto registration.


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