RINGWORM! AAAACCCKKK!

[Tina B and crew]

*running away as fast as I can*


shudders...ringworm...I remember when the fosters I had last year had that...egads!! Then the entire vet clinic had an epidemic...they had to isolate all the ringworm kitties and clean all the surfaces with a bleach solution...uck!! We were fortunate that none of our cats got it, but my daughter who works at the vet did. She was actually able to clear her's up with one of the anti-fungal cream...and I started washing my hands and body with a soap containing tea tree oil (making sure I rinsed them very good afterwards) to hopefully prevent it...I somehow did...whew!!

Hope things get better soon!

[Erica]

Gabriel had that. His poor back end had to be shaved. Did the vet shave the area around the ringworm? The fungus actually lives in the hair follicles so I would probably shave that area, helps reduce transmission by hair falling out and another kitty rolling on it or something. I got ringworm too. I had the typical bullseye spot on my leg. Itched horribly. MY Dr. prescribed Diflucan & some other cream stuff that helps get rid of fungul infections. Worked like a charm. It stopped itching within 2 days and you almost can't even see it anymore. Hope you don't get it.

[Traci]

I know you know this Tina, but for the benefit of others, do NOT use tea tree oil around cats, it is highly toxic.

Erica, shaving is usually not recommended because shaving actually can worsen and spread the spores, making it more difficult to treat and taking much longer. Treatment itself can take up to 4-6 weeks in severe cases anyway, you don't want to exacerbate it. This is why retesting around every 1-2 weeks is important during treatment, only when a negative test result is achieved, can you assume the crisis is over.

[Erica]

I didn't know it could make it worse...huh. Might be why poor Gabriels spot was huge...Thanks for the information Traci. Good luck Susan...i hope the other little ones don't get it. Also, I agree with Traci, stay away from Tea Tree Oil...there are reports that cats have died after being exposed to the oil on their skin. Some people get lucky, but why chance it?

[Tina B and crew]

Traci...I almost put that in my post...thank you for reminding others. That is why I said I always rinsed my hands very thoroughly after using the soap...I didn't want even a residue of it on my hands when I picked up the kittens or petted the cats. Other than that, I have NO tea tree oil in my house and stay away from it.

[Traci]

I knew you did, Tina, but you know how I am

[Kaazan]

Hi Susan:

I am now treating 5 Persians for ringworm. I adopted from a no kill adoption agency a bicolor (black and white) neutered Persian, 4 years old. This cat should never have been put up for adoption, but that is water over the dam now. Many health problems. He weighed only 5.5 lbs at his new adopted kitty checkup at the vet's office. Vet said this cat should weigh at least 10 lbs. The good news is that the last known weigh-in at the vet's was 9.5 lbs. Probably weighs more than that now. The vet also noticed the places on his body that were bare and scalely and took a RW culture. I was informed that it was negative after 14 days. I had him in quarantine until I got the news that he was negative. Three months went by and in March of this year I noticed that I had what looked like RW on my right inner thigh. Off to the vet we went. She took another RW culture (without cost to me) and after 4 days it cultured positive. So the first RW culture was false negative.

I am now treating the other 4 Persians for RW. Vet prescribed Griseofulvin for all 5 cats and the new cat is in quarantine again. Each cat gets a 125 mg dose of Griseofulvin (crushed) mixed in with a fatty food each day, such as butter mixed in with moist cat food or melted butter with the crushed medication mixed in and drawn up into an eye dropper and forced into each cat's mouth. The vet told me that she did not trust Program or Sporonax. She said that Griseofulvin was the only proven medication for cats to take care of the RW. She is fully aware of the side effects of Griseofulvin. Another RW culture will be taken on new cat on 5/17/2003. Vet said that RW is hard to get rid of in Persians.

I vacuum every day with my Rainbow Vacuum on carpeted floors. On noncarpeted floors I sweep then I use hot water and bleach to wash these floors with. I do my laundry with hot water and for the items that can be bleached, I use the bleach on them.

As far as myself, I have had many breakouts of RW. Right now (knock on wood) all of them are healed. I wash my hands constantly and shower every evening. I used an athlete's foot cream on the RW spots when they broke out and did not take long to heal each one. I lost count on how many I did get.

The vet refused to shave any of the cats because she said that it spreads the ringworm. I am hoping for good news on the RW culture to be taken on 5/17/2003.

[Traci]

Kaazan, I'm sure your vet is totally aware of the adverse reactions to grisofulvicin, but are YOU?? If not, you need to talk to your vet about that.

As we speak, many vets are trying to get the drug off the market, and I support them wholeheartedly. We never use grisofulvicin and will never recommend it. It is an immunosuppressive drug, and given the history of your 4-yr-old persian, this is the last drug I would ever use on him. You must also be aware that this drug is extremely slow to metabolize and it will remain in the body long after treatment has stopped.

I would only ask that you seek another opinion regarding treatment. You might be surprised at the opinion of another vet. Safety and long-term use needs to be your primary concern, especially with so many cats.

[Tina B and crew]

but you know how I am

yep...and it'd a good thing...always better to be thorough than to have someone not "get it"

[davet]

i found that it also makes certain types of material allmost completly dissapear, i forget whether it was nylon or rayon--course i never did ask but once in while when i lifted the light there was a client without his or her blouse on...my secretery pointed it out to me so i was somewhat carfull after the first 1'000 incidents....