Oh no..... ringworm!!!!

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

:eek: Oh no.... we are in serious trouble here!!! Last week I saw a pink round spot on both my arms, and also on Bernards cheek. So I went to the doc. He said that we had a fungus from one of our cats.
Yesterday I saw a raw spot on Inka's lip. The vet looked at it and found another bald spot.... :eek: . Sooooooooooooo, somebody here brought ringworm in the house..... :( . We guess it is Zazou. She doesn't have spots, but she must be the carrier.
I must medicate all 3 cats now, and I must give them a bath every 4 days too! OMG :eek: that will be a show!! I must be VERY careful not to get scatched, because I take bloodthinners.... :eek: :rolleyes: :( .
Please wish us good luck....

[Sonia59]

Oh no Lut! The whole family, humans and cats! It will be terrible bad time to bath the girls:(! You must get help from Indra or Bernard...
Does it mean Zazou probably had it since her adoption? How long is the treatment?
Good Luck everyone!

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

The vet says 4 times for each cat. The meds are to be given till the bottle is empty! I got 3 bottles............ :eek: :eek:
I hate to do this to my cats, especially Maya, as she is such a gentle cat; but better be sure than be to late!!!

Wanna come and help, Sonia ;) :eek: ;) :p

[jenluckenbach]

OH no Lut! I feel for you. I wish I lived there to help you with the bathing. :(

Ringworm is so scary. I wish you luck.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

I wish I lived there to help you with the bathing. :(

.

Thanks Jen!! But, there are planes to Belgium,you know :D :p (hint hint)
Lol, just kidding :) .
Washing my cuties won't be fun. Inka doesn't mind the water, so she might be the easiest. But Zazou and Maya......?? Maya is VERY strong, and if she WANTS to get away, she will :eek: . I don't know how Zazou will react though; she is very handy in escaping too.....! However, I may not start washing her yet, as her scar from spaying isn't healed yet.

[Sonia59]

Lut, I wish I could help if I'd live closer and had more time to drop in! I am not sure Inka would let me help for the bathing, but Maya and Zazou for sure...! But when a cat wants to go away, it goes away! :(
I am supporting you morally, is it OK :confused: :rolleyes:

[TopCat3]

:eek: Oh no.... we are in serious trouble here!!! Last week I saw a pink round spot on both my arms, and also on Bernards cheek. So I went to the doc. He said that we had a fungus from one of our cats.
Yesterday I saw a raw spot on Inka's lip. The vet looked at it and found another bald spot.... :eek: . Sooooooooooooo, somebody here brought ringworm in the house..... :( . We guess it is Zazou. She doesn't have spots, but she must be the carrier.
I must medicate all 3 cats now, and I must give them a bath every 4 days too! OMG :eek: that will be a show!! I must be VERY careful not to get scatched, because I take bloodthinners.... :eek: :rolleyes: :( .
Please wish us good luck....

This is bad news. I wish you all the best of luck and safe and speedy healing. Good luck with the bathing. Wear thick clothes!

[sasvermont]

Lut, although it is going to be a pain to treat everyone, there are a couple of things I have learned in the past.

1. Tinactin (used for jock itch) will kill the fungus on the human population.
2. Revolution (a flea treatment) when given to the cats will kill their infestations too. I don't know if you can find that drug/treatment where you live.

When I first got Chloe, I do believe, or maybe JuniRose, the breeder I got them from was having an outbreak of ringworm, brought in from a carrier cat, and I had a couple of months worth of Revolution to give to the kitten. I don't recall much beyond that.

Also, my first Aby, Mandy, must have been a carrier, as I got ringworm from her. I had a spot on my leg. Mandy never had any visable signs. It took my doctor a couple of visits to figure it out, but eventually, I went to the drug store and bought Tinactin, a fugus killer. All gone.

Some other folks may have better advice. You will get through it. It is all part of having pets. It reminds me of the same stigma when kids come home from school with head lice. Everyone panics and gets the creeps from just the thought of little bugs..... Ringworm is not really a worm....but a fungus. I guess you know that.

Keep us posted. Get the pocketbook out!

:eek:

[TopCat3]

Brilliant post, Sasvermont :)

[lvpets2002]

:) OH NO Lut == boy have you got your work cut out for you.. The bathing would not go to well with my girls.. Hey I am getting out the Scuba Gear & be right there; but hey feel free to start without me.. Good Luck :p

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

Just back from the store: bought me one pair of those garden-gloves that cover your arm all up to your elbow!! All little bits help!

Thanks for the tips Sasvermont! Those products do not exist here, but my vet says that the products she prescribed are similar. I have an ointment called DAKTACORT for us humans. The itch is gone already!

This is poor Inka's lip:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/berlut/ringworm.jpg

[Craftlady]

Ouch that soar looks icky.
Do you have a pet groomer near by that could bath for a reasonable fee? Pay for the first bathing and watch how they handle them so you can copy.
I dont envey you having to bath. Good idea to get the garden gloves. I need them outside for my yard to keep poision ivy off me. :(

[Sonia59]

Just back from the store: bought me one pair of those garden-gloves that cover your arm all up to your elbow!! All little bits help!

:D :D :D ...ahem, sorry, actually this is not funny!

Poor Inka, I did not think it was so big and ugly! :(

[sirrahbed]

awww Lut!! From what I read here - ringworm among the kitties is hard to treat - but many do it and it does go away. I have not had my turn yet, at least not with the cats. They sometimes get sores that look sort like that under their chins but I think it is feline acne. But, poor Inka looks like she would be so uncomfortable with that one right on her lip. :(

When my oldest son was in wrestling at school - we had it for about 4 months out of each year for six years :rolleyes: The wrestlers traded it back and forth the whole season. It is same as having athlete's foot only on the body and like Sallyanne said - it is just a fungus and really common. We also used Tinactin for hoomans and it worked really well. The generic is called tolnaftate and maybe this is what you used already.

I know you already have good advice from others here about the cats. I don't envy you one bit about having to bathe the cats FOUR times :eek: And YES, with your bloodthinners - you sure don't want a scratch. Wow - gardening gloves that go high up sounds like good things to have!

Good luck! Sorry you are having to put up with this - now you can give the rest of us good suggestions for when our cats get it.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

We just finished washing Maya and Inka! OMG, what a job.... :eek:
First I prepared the bath: add product to water, put towels ready, at last but not least: get myself properly dressed for the job!
Oh my, I looked like an armored knight, lol!!

Then came Inka. She is NOT shy of the water, so I could wash her all on my own. Of course, I got wet all over, but no scratches, thanks to the gloves :D .
Then I put my hubby in charge of the "rubbing dry"! Piece of cake, that is what he thought :p . He he, I heard him swearing from the livingroom all the way to the kitchen . Now Inka is walking around, shaking her legs and body like a doggie :D .

Okay, second victim: Maya . WOW: :eek:
That was a real hassle. She absolutely HATES water, so she was fighting really hard to get away. Bernard had to hold her firmly in the water, while I washed her with a cloth. She was OH SO SCARED!! She wrecked my favorite apron, left the kitchen soaking wet (yes, the kitchen was wet), and she is now gone into hiding under the coach, licking her "wounds" :rolleyes: . She is a very strong cat, and wow she is like a devil in a box.... :eek:

I took pics of both cats, they look like drowned chickens now.... ;) :D

Phew, next time is tuesday! OH NO, I will have to do it all alone...... :eek:

ps. I forget to tell that I gave them their medicine yesterday , and my son Jo helped with holding them! Phew, was NOT easy eather!!

[jenluckenbach]

I am sorry that they were so difficult. :( They just do not understand that it is for their own good.

[TopCat3]

One day, Lut, they will thank you for this... ;) :rolleyes:

Good luck next Tuesday.

Have you thought of asking an off-duty vet nurse to come over and help you? For a small fee I am sure she would. A lot of vet nurses here do holiday cat feeding/cat medicating/dog walking etc as a second job while owners are away.
Worth a thought perhaps. The other person (above) who suggested the pet groomers/bathers had a good idea too.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

Have you thought of asking an off-duty vet nurse to come over and help you?

I have NO idea where I can find a person like that! Never heard of it before... . All vets here work alone; there is a vet clinic in Ghent, but it is part of the university school for vets. Everybody who "works" there are either students or professors. I have NO idea if they would be willing to do this job :confused: :confused:

About groomers: I have no experience with that too :( . It is a good idea though!! I could have a look on the internet if there are any in the neighbourhood!

Little Inka is very upsetnow. I took her up twice to rub her a bit dry; the first time she peed on my trousers (yuckie smell :eek: ), and the second time on the floor! The poor thing is really miserable.....

[TopCat3]

I have NO idea where I can find a person like that! Never heard of it before... . All vets here work alone; there is a vet clinic in Ghent, but it is part of the university school for vets. Everybody who "works" there are either students or professors. I have NO idea if they would be willing to do this job :confused: :confused:

About groomers: I have no experience with that too :( . It is a good idea though!! I could have a look on the internet if there are any in the neighbourhood!

Little Inka is very upsetnow. I took her up twice to rub her a bit dry; the first time she peed on my trousers (yuckie smell :eek: ), and the second time on the floor! The poor thing is really miserable.....

Why not try calling the university and explaining about your blood condition and that you would really appreciate some help and ask if one of the more senior students would like to help for a small fee (students are always needing money for books, general living expenses etc) They might let you put a notice on the student food-hall noticeboard?

P.S. Most vets in Australia have vet nurses and it is a recognised training course. I often see them advertising in coffee-shop windows and vet waiting rooms that they will feed/walk pets while owners are away. Must be an Australia thing, I don't seem to recall it in England,when I lived there, come to think of it.

[Randi]

Oh, what a horror!! :eek: One done, three to go. :(

I think it's a good idea to get someone to come and help, one of the vet students sounds like a good option. I hope you'll get throgh this with no injuries!

I know I would never be able to bathe Fister alone.

Best of luck!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Lut, I'm so sorry to hear that you have to go through this dreaded ringworm outbreak. :( Hopefully you'll be able to get some help and that your cats will recover quickly and no one else will break out. Lots of prayers and positive thoughts are on the way. Star says it takes a while to recover but soon all of your furkids will be just fine.

When I had to bathe my cats, I put the shampoo in a spay bottle with water so all I had to do was spray it on the cats and this made it easier to bathe them. Good luck and please keep us updated. I've also heard that once a cat has ringworm and recovered from it that they will then be resistant to it in the future.

[jenluckenbach]

I've also heard that once a cat has ringworm and recovered from it that they will then be resistant to it in the future
WOW, I wonder if this is true. It would sure be nice to think that the cats that had the ringworm won't get it again.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

THIS IS WASHING DAY NR2 !!!!And I found NOBODY willing to help me :( :eek: . So, I will put on my old wintercoat too, and start with Maya, the most difficult one. I have no idea if I am allowed to wash Zazou already? He spaying was 2 weeks ago (thursday), and the wound is completely closed and healed. Even her hair is growing back!
Any advise??

[jenluckenbach]

I am sorry that you can't find any help. :( GOOD LUCK!!

You should be able to wash Zazou.

[TopCat3]

I found this quote in a beautiful boook of cat photographs I bought the other day:

"To bathe a cat takes brute force, perseverance, courage of conviction and a cat.
The last ingredient is usually hardest to come by"
(Stephen Baker)

I thought of you immediately.

The book is called 101 Cataclysms - For the Love of Cats , by a New Zealand animal photographer called Rachael Hale, published by Hodder

It's my early Christmas present to me ;) :)

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

Today was bathing day again :eek: . Same behavior as previous times. Inka absolutely hates this, she doesn't seem to be able to hold up her pee as long as her butt and legs are still wet.
One more time to go now :D

Yesterday I went to the vet with all 3 cats.
INKA: -the scars on her lip are healing, as new hair is growing
-new BIG hairless spot on top of her head.... . Poor girl :(

MAYA:she also has a bald spot on her lip now. Let's hope we can stop this asap!!

ZAZOU: healthy as a fish; she is just the carrier of the ringworm... :rolleyes: :(

Jen, how long did it take you to get the virus out of the house??

[caseysmom]

I went through this with my puppy, the vet caught it very early at an appointment so I was able to isolate him for a week. Casey never got it, I did bathe her in the stuff every other day.

It only took a couple of weeks to clear up totally. I also did a lot of laundry and vacuuming because supposedly those spores can stay alive up to a year :eek:

[sirrahbed]

I did a search and found this thread from Lut - I see that I posted to it....now it is MY turn :eek:

Several weeks ago, I took Emily to the vet because of some hairloss patches on her belly. The vet said he was pretty sure they were from excessive grooming, but did the usual diagnostics "just to be safe". So I thought we were ok and I have been trying to keep her happier and watching the other cats who may be stressing her.....last night my vet called to tell me that Emily's fur culture came back POSITIVE for RINGWORM :(

So, I am off to the pharmacy to get her medicine and to the vet for the special shampoo. I don't think he wants me to shampoo all the cats but just to watch them. I have read that all cats should be treated. Anyway - Emily's spots do not look like anything I read about and even the vet was pretty sure they were not ringworm. So it is rather hard to really monitor the progress. Her spots are simply areas where the hair is very short - no redness, scabbing or anything.

I think she will be pretty easy to bathe because she is docile but I know it will stress her.
The medicine will need to be given after a fatty meal. The fungus medicine needs fat in order to be absorbed properly. (Griseofulvin I think it is) I read that canned food is what is recommended but with the food recalls _ I worry about even buying anything wet. I am thinking that I will offer her some cream or put some fish oil over her dry food. I am not sure if she would lick butter.

OK, I will welcome any suggestions and maybe get some pictures of my Emily as we go through this ringworm thing....Oh I hope nobody else gets it and that we can get it cured!!! :(

edit: just back from the pharmacy and vet and am pretty frustrated. First off...sticker shock at the Kroger pharmacy as the bottle with 300cc of Griseofulvin cost $109 :eek: :eek:

I am frustrated with the vets also because I am still unclear about what I am supposed to be doing. They sold me a bottle of the shampoo ($12 - not bad) but the instructions on the bottle say "bathe every 3 days". Fine - for how long? I ask and the tech goes blank and leaves to ask someone else and returns to tell me use the shampoo as long as she is on the medication and to return for a recheck in a month......so off I go to get the medication at the pharmacy and in addition to the sticker shock, the directions say "1 teaspoon twice daily". OK, for how long????

another call to the vet where they tell me use the whole bottle. 300cc will last a month, so I medicate and bathe for a month? TEN baths? yes

OK, now I start reading on the internet and see several articles that say some shampoos need to be left on the coat for a few minutes, so check the bottle: ok, there is a label over the directions and nobody said to leave it on so I call AGAIN...oh yes, the tech tells me it is a good idea to leave it on for ten minutes - oh and what shampoo do you have?? ARGH - I have what you sold me and I can't even read the label so I scrape and scrape until I read part of the directions which DO say leave it on for 5 minutes. I never would have known this if I had not seen it on the internet.

I have yet another phone call into the vet's office - asking that the DOCTOR call me. I am not real good about complaining, but this seems like pretty fragmented care to me. I like my vet and he always seems very careful and thorough. I sure hope he cares to know that I don't feel his staff is being very careful in my opinion. :rolleyes:

I am supposed to be watching the other cats of course. What Emily had looked like broken fur and was barely noticeable. I have never seen ringworm before and what she has looks nothing like any picture I can find. The other cats are ALL starting to look like they have thin places - I look closer and no, nothing there...oh I hope nobody else gets it. I read that WE can get it too - also the grandbabies - not really sure what to watch for on us either.

Well I am off to warm the bathroom for Emily's first bath. Guess I will give her the first dose of medicine, too. I hope I can get most of the medication down her - a whole teaspoon is alot of liquid. Poor baby. I hope the bath itself goes well. I sure don't look forward to leaving shampoo on her for so long....no way I can get her to sit still.

:( :eek: :rolleyes: :confused:

[Medusa]

Gosh, sorry about this. I haven't experienced ring worm w/any of my cats. They like to save up for other things like kidney failure, vestibular hypoplasia, and behavioral peeing. Keeps mom on her toes. LOL Good luck w/the bathing.

[Catty1]

OMG!!!! :D

I WONDERED where Snoopy was - then realized this was back in 2005!!!!

WHEW! Aren't you glad that it's OVER, Lut! :)

I was thinking 'oh, no, she just had surgery and had to wash the CATS!'

[jenluckenbach]

Debbie, some random suggestions.

Put Emily inside a carrier while you allow the shampoo to remain on her.

A teaspoon is 5 ml (because using a syringe is going to be better than dosing her from an actual spoon.)

YES, 4 weeks AT LEAST, for treatment of ringworm.

I would personally not bathe her quite that often. I found that itwas not necessary. Once per week should be fine.

You can (and I would recomment) putting an over-the-counter anti-fungal cream on her spots.

You can also give you cats Program pills (the flea control medicine) and it should help the others to NOT become infected. Buy the LARGE dog size. This is not a typo, I forget the weight range, but the medication needs to be several times the dosage used for fleas to affect ringworm, but it SHOULD work. And it is safe.


WASH, WASH, WASH. Never touch anything or anyone after you touch Emily until you wash. Your best bet is to wash in Betadine surgical scrub. Soap and water will not kill spores. TAKE OFF ANY JEWELRY! My white gold wedding ring turned yellow because I had not thought of that. :eek:

And remember, this too shall pass. I survived ringworm, Lut and others have survived it, and so shall you.

[sirrahbed]

Great suggestions, Jen. I did send away for the dog dose of Program - I bought six of the largest size and plan to dose everyone (the kitties I mean :p )

Any good ideas to help me get the liquid medicine down her? She is getting wise to it and hates it - so she spits out as much as she can. This morning - I was so scared that I had choked her!! She was distressed and gurgling pretty loudly for about 5 minutes after I gave the medicine. It goes much better when hubby is home but that is not always possible. I had read to blow on them to get them to swallow and this is what I did right before she seemed to gulp and choke :(

[AbbyMom]

Can you get the medicine compounded with a flavor that they like? I had the ringworm medication made tuna flavored and then chicken flavored. Then put it in his food as there was no way I could get it down his throat.

Very few pharmacies do this, I had to drive quite a distance for it myself. Perhaps you could ask your vet?

Good luck.

[sirrahbed]

Can you get the medicine compounded with a flavor that they like? I had the ringworm medication made tuna flavored and then chicken flavored. Then put it in his food as there was no way I could get it down his throat.

Very few pharmacies do this, I had to drive quite a distance for it myself. Perhaps you could ask your vet?

Good luck.

We do have a compounding pharmacy nearby - I had not even thought of them. The medicine itself was over $100 as it is - but if I had to start over - I think I would see if the tuna flavored was available as each dose is getting harder to get into Emily. I am hating this process.
Good suggestion, thank you.