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

[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...

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

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 ), 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

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 ), 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!! 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 . 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 . 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

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...

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

[sirrahbed]

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

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

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.

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.

[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!!!!

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!'