Ringworm in multiple cat household - update 9/27

[Reachoutrescue]

Tracy - you may well not get it. My vet told me he'd handled hudreds of cases in both cats and dogs, some very severe, and all bare handed but he'd never got it himself. I think I am prone since I got it on my arm from my first cat about 30 years ago, and now this one.

I know I may not...I hope not! But I worry for my boys. I am takinmg every precaution!

[kimlovescats]

I truly feel for both of you ladies having to deal with this! Maybe I was just very fortunate in the past to not have too bad of a case of it. I did however get one small spot on myself, and the OTC cream zapped that for me with no problem! GOOD LUCK!!

(((HUGS))) ... with gloves
Kim

[Reachoutrescue]

(((HUGS))) ... with gloves
Kim

I have gone through so many gloves! It is crazy!! Thanks for the protected hug though!!

[doolittleky]

I am glad that you ahven't found anyone else that has it yet. Hopefully no one else will get it and you will get yourself and your babies all cleared up.
Melissa

[jenluckenbach]

When we had ringworm here, VERY few actually got it. But it was not gone after the first "round" of medication.

I never got it, but Charlie got a small spot. It went away really fast on him.

[kuhio98]

Lizzie ~ How goes the battle?

[Lizzie]

Thank you for asking, Lisa. I'm sitting in the isolation room now and have just finished a battle with Cattulus who desperately wants to wrap himself like a boa around my neck and head as he used to - the reason I got ringworm under my chin. He wasn't happy with simple lap fussing so got up in the window - aaargh! now he's back and climbing me again. His ringworm spread a little to another spot on the left side of his head but both places are starting to respond to topical treatment. The one on the right side of his head is the most difficult to treat because it runs right down to his eyelid and it's hard to treat right to the edge without getting stuff in his eye. I keep checking the other kittens who are clear so far. So are all the other cats.

Keeping up with cleaning is a nightmare (Cattulus just stuck his head in my tea, so that's out) and my hands have reacted badly to the combination of lots of washing and latex gloves by becoming lumpy and inflamed all over the backs. I try to change the comforter and throws on the kittens' sofa every day which means two hot washes each night. I've finally got through all the initial laundry of every pillow, cushion, cover, tablecloth, etc. from upstairs and I'm using the minimum, locking away the extras dowstairs and, hopefully, away from the spores. I suppose in a way it's fortunate that Ashley, Cattulus' sister, keeps using the carpet as her litter box since I'm having to throw it out piece by piece which means the spores are going out with it. Unfortunately, only plywood lies beneath (Yuk! I just took a swallow of tea before I remembered Catullus had his head in it. Can you get ringworm inside? )

All I can do is keep cleaning, keep using isolation techniques, and hope that we are lucky.

[Reachoutrescue]

Oh, LIzzie....I hear you!! I am so frustrated! Sampson, the orange and white Olney kitten who started out the ringworm....well his ringworm has spread onto his paws. Lola, another ringworm victim, it has spread under her neck and to her back paws. And Luna, yet another victim, it has spread badly all over her head, back of neck and front inner leg. The sores are drying up from the meds, but they keep spreading!! I am so aggrivated! What do I do next?!?!?

[Catty1]

Lizzie - I have seen latex-free medical gloves...are there any around your area?

Poor you!

I hope all is well SOON!

HUGS

[Lizzie]

I would suggest that you ask your vet to prescribe the oral meds but they are expensive and you are already strapped. If they can stop the spread faster though, it might be less expensive than it spreading. Do you have the three infected ones in isolation? You must be concerned that the three that are to be spayed/neutered in a few weeks don't get it. I lay in bed this morning thinking about all the money pouring out of me into this cat and that and wondering what I was doing, and the conclusion I reached was that I wasn't sorry for any of it, I've done what I felt I needed to do and I'll cope with the consequences.

Edited to respond to Catty1's post. I'm going to Bartells pharmacy soon to look at different gloves. I know I need to buy some cotton ones that I can wear in this room so that I don't have to wash my hands every time I come in and leave. I don't usually have a reaction to latex, only when my hands are getting chapped from washing and I have to have gloves on long enough for my hands to get damp inside. The Kiss My Face hand cream I've been using doesn't seem to help at all so I've switched to pure aloe vera. At night, I wake up every few hours with my hands burning and itching like crazy and find that I'm scratching them in my sleep - so I'll wear gloves at night.