6 Things I Learned from Our Ringworm Plague (book length....)

[zuzuq]

We just went ahead and gave Zuzu freedom during the day. Her fur is growing in really rapidly now and her skin is normal and pink, no scaliness or flaking. I applied some of the mousse the other day and it makes her fur a little sticky, but we'll do it for a few weeks until she's officially clear and all her fur is back. She's still on terbinafine, and we'll do that until the next negative PCR...maybe in another week or so to be sure. She's waaaay more playful now that she's out...I think we're all happier.

 

[amyl]

We just went ahead and gave Zuzu freedom during the day. Her fur is growing in really rapidly now and her skin is normal and pink, no scaliness or flaking. I applied some of the mousse the other day and it makes her fur a little sticky, but we'll do it for a few weeks until she's officially clear and all her fur is back. She's still on terbinafine, and we'll do that until the next negative PCR...maybe in another week or so to be sure. She's waaaay more playful now that she's out...I think we're all happier.

I agree!  The isolation was making my kittens sad. They are even happy just in the attached bedroom, but we let them in the rest of the house when we are home. I still don't let them in the rest of the house when we are not home, because there is WAY too much for them to destroy. We need to keep watchful eyes on them!  They have the run of my bedroom, though, which is where their cat tree is and all of their toys. Their litter box and food is in my bathroom. They sleep most of the day anyway when we are gone, so as soon as we get home they are out in the rest of the house getting into everything!  I'm glad Zuzu is feeling better!!  I know you will be like me and constantly looking for anything suspicious for a long time.

We go in Monday for their final check on this and a very last PCR panel. The vet wanted to do one final one 3-4 weeks after stopping the oral medication and a couple of weeks after stopping the dips to make sure that we weren't getting false negatives (which I guess could be possible?)  We stopped the oral terbinafine on January 5th and the last dip for Leo was on January 7th for Katia and January 14th for Leo.  I don't see any suspicious areas and the flakiness on Katia is gone, which I truly believe was from the treatment more so than the ringworm since it was all over her whole body and didn't start until we were a week or so into the treatment. Even so, I would do the exact same treatment method that we followed, even though it did cause skin issues with both of the kittens. It certainly seems to have gotten rid of everything.  

I am SO glad we didn't follow the advice of the one vet in the practice that wanted to shave them completely. She wanted to do this after we had been doing oral treatment for 3 weeks/dips for 4 weeks, and Katia had all the flaky scaly spots on her. She would not buy into my thought that it was from the treatment. She told me that it was generalized ringworm (she gave this opinion based on looking at the dryness alone, when everything I have read says you cannot diagnose ringworm on sight alone).  Well, it wasn't, because by that point, the ringworm spots on Leo were already gone, and Katia never had any to begin with (that we could see).  Her skin was just reacting and drying from the treatment. As soon as we stopped the treatment, the dryness completely cleared up. We see the owner at the practice now, and he had suggested that shaving was an option, but was not as forceful as the one vet was about it. She told me that they would NEVER get cured if I didn't shave them. I hope our last PCR on Monday is negative so that I can have the message relayed to her that she really needs to not tell people that, because I have two long-haired Siberian cats that were cured from ringworm using oral medication and dips.  Shaving was not needed!  

 

[bunnelina]

I am SO glad we didn't follow the advice of the one vet in the practice that wanted to shave them completely. She wanted to do this after we had been doing oral treatment for 3 weeks/dips for 4 weeks, and Katia had all the flaky scaly spots on her. She would not buy into my thought that it was from the treatment. She told me that it was generalized ringworm (she gave this opinion based on looking at the dryness alone, when everything I have read says you cannot diagnose ringworm on sight alone).  Well, it wasn't, because by that point, the ringworm spots on Leo were already gone, and Katia never had any to begin with (that we could see).  Her skin was just reacting and drying from the treatment. As soon as we stopped the treatment, the dryness completely cleared up. We see the owner at the practice now, and he had suggested that shaving was an option, but was not as forceful as the one vet was about it. She told me that they would NEVER get cured if I didn't shave them. I hope our last PCR on Monday is negative so that I can have the message relayed to her that she really needs to not tell people that, because I have two long-haired Siberian cats that were cured from ringworm using oral medication and dips.  Shaving was not needed!  

ZuzuQ, I'm very glad to hear things are happier for you all, and I hope you're over all this soon. Keep us posted, and fingers remain crossed for you!

AmyL: Wise move not to shave your kittens, and thanks for giving good advice about it here. It's not recommended unless the cat is really a mess (lots of lesions all over), and/or has other issues, like severely matted fur that would be hard to treat, or has other skin conditions along with ringworm. The reason, according to Dr. Moirello, is that shaving or clipping to the skin can help ringworm spread in two ways: it can cause microscopic openings/cuts in the cat's skin, which can be a  host for more ringworm to spread. And all that flying hair could be carrying spores. The latter is probably not so serious, given what we know now about how cats and people get ringworm, but — ewww! You'd still want to dip the cat before you sent all that fur and spores into the atmosphere to float and get into crevices — to avoid your cat coming into contact with it later and getting a false positive test or culture result. So shaving is risky.

I'd also add that it's stressful for the cat, and who wants that on top of all the other stresses of treatment: meds, dipping, isolation, vet visits, freaked-out owners?  

At any rate, your advice is right: it's not necessary or helpful for treating most cases of ringworm, and we all (including vets) need to know that so we don't put ourselves and our cats through that ordeal on top of all the ordeals that actually work.

Here's a link to a PDF of an excellent recent paper by Dr. Karen Moriello entitiled: 

DERMATOPHYTOSIS: DIAGNOSIS AND EFFECTIVE TREATMENT “THIS MUCH I KNOW TO BE TRUE” 

It's in a collection of papers from the 8th World Congress of Veterinary Dermatology, published in 2016. So click that link and scroll to page 238. 

Here's a relevant quote

There were no studies directly addressing clipping of the hair coat but it was found that whole body clipping can spread the infection to other areas. Clipping or plucking of glowing hairs can be helpful when isolated hairs are found or to debulk the hair coat. However, in most studies this was not performed. From an animal welfare safety and to minimize contamination of the environment, scissor clipping is the recommended method to clip cats. Children’s round tipped metal scissors are ideal. They are inexpensive so they can be discarded and are blunted so there is minimal risk of injury. The hair coat was not clipped in shelter studies; clipping may not be needed in most cases if through application/drenching of topical solution can be applied. 

AmyL, I'm counting on your last PCR test to be negative. You have a super-cautious vet. Keep us posted!

 

[amyl]

 
ZuzuQ, I'm very glad to hear things are happier for you all, and I hope you're over all this soon. Keep us posted, and fingers remain crossed for you!

AmyL: Wise move not to shave your kittens, and thanks for giving good advice about it here. It's not recommended unless the cat is really a mess (lots of lesions all over), and/or has other issues, like severely matted fur that would be hard to treat, or has other skin conditions along with ringworm. The reason, according to Dr. Moirello, is that shaving or clipping to the skin can help ringworm spread in two ways: it can cause microscopic openings/cuts in the cat's skin, which can be a  host for more ringworm to spread. And all that flying hair could be carrying spores. The latter is probably not so serious, given what we know now about how cats and people get ringworm, but — ewww! You'd still want to dip the cat before you sent all that fur and spores into the atmosphere to float and get into crevices — to avoid your cat coming into contact with it later and getting a false positive test or culture result. So shaving is risky.

I'd also add that it's stressful for the cat, and who wants that on top of all the other stresses of treatment: meds, dipping, isolation, vet visits, freaked-out owners?  

At any rate, your advice is right: it's not necessary or helpful for treating most cases of ringworm, and we all (including vets) need to know that so we don't put ourselves and our cats through that ordeal on top of all the ordeals that actually work.

Here's a link to a PDF of an excellent recent paper by Dr. Karen Moriello entitiled: 

DERMATOPHYTOSIS: DIAGNOSIS AND EFFECTIVE TREATMENT “THIS MUCH I KNOW TO BE TRUE” 

It's in a collection of papers from the 8th World Congress of Veterinary Dermatology, published in 2016. So click that link and scroll to page 238. 

Here's a relevant quote

AmyL, I'm counting on your last PCR test to be negative. You have a super-cautious vet. Keep us posted!

Thank you, Bunnelina!!  I would like to print out that article and give it to the vet.  When I see the owner vet on Monday, I may do that. He needs to know how forceful the other vet was about trying to convince me to have them clipped.  Also, my kittens would have had to have been sedated for the clipping, which would have caused an even BIGGER concern. We were so far into the treatment at that point, that it just didn't make sense to me. She was so adamant about it, though. I had the appointment set up for the next morning and went in to drop them off. I was in tears, and the manager came into the room to hear my concerns. She agreed with me and said, yes - let's do a PCR panel. The one vet didn't want to even bother with it because she was SO SURE it was generalized ringworm covering her body (instead of dry skin from the treatment).  I told the manager that I wanted to just see if it came back positive or negative. I said if it came back positive, then sure...I would agree to them being shaved.  Well, we all know it came back negative, and then the culture one week later also came back negative, and the PCR panel two weeks after that was also negative!  You know what would have happened if I would have had them shaved?  We would have done a PCR a couple weeks after the shaving, and the vet would have been justified in having them shaved, because the PCR would have been negative, right??!!  I can see where she was coming from, somewhat. It was her FIRST time seeing them (they had seen other vets in the practice, but her first time seeing them). Katia's skin was a mess - flaky and peeling.  She just wouldn't listen to me that the all over body flakiness started after treatment.  Oh well...the treatment did work, and I went with my gut instinct and stayed firm with it.

I will keep you all posted!!  If we go in on Monday, we should have the results by Thursday at the latest.    

 

[amyl]

We had our vet visit today. I completely forgot to bring a copy of the information above. I had it printed and ready to go, but left it at home. I did tell the vet that I had read some information about ringworm and gave him Dr. Moriello's name and a few tidbits of information about her research. 

The kitties had their last PCR screening today, so I will find out in 1-3 business days.  He said they would call by the end of the week, and I said, "Oh...I'll be calling before then."  haha!  

 

[amyl]

We are in the clear! Fourth and final screening was also negative. The nightmare is over!!!

 

[zuzuq]

Hooray!  Congratulations!  That's such a relief.  I haven't taken Zuzu in yet for the last screen.  It's been something like three weeks since the last PCR.  TBH, I'm totally not worried. All her hair is in again -- the fur is just a little shorter still where the lesions were and in one spot, the fur has grown in darker.  But otherwise, she looks totally great, her skin is clear and healthy.  She's sleeping in our son's room and and they are like two peas in a pod.  Husband's wondering whether we should even bother with the last screen at this point.  She's nearly done with the second prescription of terbinafine, and I'm inclined just to call it quits then.  It would be two months of treatment.

 

[amyl]

 
Hooray!  Congratulations!  That's such a relief.  I haven't taken Zuzu in yet for the last screen.  It's been something like three weeks since the last PCR.  TBH, I'm totally not worried. All her hair is in again -- the fur is just a little shorter still where the lesions were and in one spot, the fur has grown in darker.  But otherwise, she looks totally great, her skin is clear and healthy.  She's sleeping in our son's room and and they are like two peas in a pod.  Husband's wondering whether we should even bother with the last screen at this point.  She's nearly done with the second prescription of terbinafine, and I'm inclined just to call it quits then.  It would be two months of treatment.

Our vet wanted us to wait 3-4 weeks after stopping the oral medication to do the final PCR panel. I guess this is to make sure that the kittens stayed negative even after going off of the meds.  Was she on terbinafine for two months?

 

[zuzuq]

Yes, it's been two months.  But the vet didn't say we should finish the second course before doing the panel...she wanted us to come in 2-3 weeks after the last negative PCR, and that was last week.  The meds are pretty much done now, so...I guess I should bring her in, even though it seems kind of pointless now that she's got no bare patches and no lesions and no....anything.  Do I really need to spend another $100?

 

[kendrickthecat]

Hey guys,   

Any experience with Accel or Rescue cleaner?  

Thanks,   Kendrick

 

[amyl]

 
Yes, it's been two months.  But the vet didn't say we should finish the second course before doing the panel...she wanted us to come in 2-3 weeks after the last negative PCR, and that was last week.  The meds are pretty much done now, so...I guess I should bring her in, even though it seems kind of pointless now that she's got no bare patches and no lesions and no....anything.  Do I really need to spend another $100?

If nothing else, I would have the vet take a look at her and update their records. To me, it was worth spending the money to get the final negative!

 
Hey guys,   

Any experience with Accel or Rescue cleaner?  

Thanks,   Kendrick

I responded on the other thread to your question, and yes - this is what I used. I purchased mine from Amazon. Our vet's office uses this, as well.  It is as effective as bleach for killing ringworm on surfaces. 

 

[zuzuq]

Aaaaand, the ringworm is back.  About three weeks after stopping the terbinafine (which she took for two months straight), and after 10 sulphur lime dips!  I don't think it would have made any difference if I had brought her in earlier for another culture, frankly, since I would have had her tested again before stopping the terbinafine, and she had no signs of infection.  So I don't regret not taking her back in for another culture.

I took her in for diarrhea last week and put her on antibiotics and probiotics.  Our vet looked at her and also agreed she looked fine.  Then halfway through the antibiotics (like four days ago), I noticed some sores on Zuzu, in the same places as her earlier lesions.  No hair loss, but I freaked out and started bathing and dipping her again, and putting topicals on.  Told our vet, and she prescribed terbinafine again.  And we will have to put her on some powerful antibiotics too -- because she has a rare tapeworm as well!  Probably picked up before she was rescued because it isn't found in this region.  This cat!!!  On top of all that, she has decided she likes to poop on a shag rug downstairs.  She is seriously driving me nuts, and man, if she weren't so cute....

 

[amyl]

 
Aaaaand, the ringworm is back.  About three weeks after stopping the terbinafine (which she took for two months straight), and after 10 sulphur lime dips!  I don't think it would have made any difference if I had brought her in earlier for another culture, frankly, since I would have had her tested again before stopping the terbinafine, and she had no signs of infection.  So I don't regret not taking her back in for another culture.

I took her in for diarrhea last week and put her on antibiotics and probiotics.  Our vet looked at her and also agreed she looked fine.  Then halfway through the antibiotics (like four days ago), I noticed some sores on Zuzu, in the same places as her earlier lesions.  No hair loss, but I freaked out and started bathing and dipping her again, and putting topicals on.  Told our vet, and she prescribed terbinafine again.  And we will have to put her on some powerful antibiotics too -- because she has a rare tapeworm as well!  Probably picked up before she was rescued because it isn't found in this region.  This cat!!!  On top of all that, she has decided she likes to poop on a shag rug downstairs.  She is seriously driving me nuts, and man, if she weren't so cute....

Are you SURE it is ringworm?  Could it possibly be scratches?  Katia has one little "scratch" (smaller than a 1/4 of a pencil eraser) that I'm keeping an eye on. I'm putting the Miconazole 2% that I have on it, just in case.  I really don't think it is anything, but I'm being overly cautious.  Can you have a culture done to make sure?

 

[ginga ninja]

Hi, I know this is a cat site but I'm feeling totally lost right now. I have 3 dogs; 2 of them I boarded Jan 27-31 and 1 cannot be boarded due to MCT cancer and she can no longer have vaccines. Ani who has MCT stayed with a friend and Tinker and Tuesday went to boarding at a vet hospital. February 10th I noticed a bleeding scab (it looked like that) on Tinker - please note that she hates boarding and doesn't eat and is terrified the entire time, Tuesday is similar, very scared and hates it - I would never do this if I didn't have to travel last minute for work. By the 13th Tink had 3 lesions seeming to pop up from nowhere! I had a vet appointment made for the next day - they saw her and did a skin smear and said it was bacterial and that they thought it was autoimmune, I had surgery done the same day to biopsy, I have a cancer dog so I know the best way to see what is going on is via biopsy. I took her home and did nothing to keep her away from the other dogs! Tuesday got a swollen lip, then a sore on her neck where the hair fell off and it started bleeding!!! The following Wednesday they wanted an accurate weight on Tuesday and had the biopsy results - dermotyphosis. We did the weight and both were prescribed antibiotics and fluconazole. Well, by then I contacted the hospital that did this boarding and they said it was their fault essentially. Also Tuesday has a severe heart condition so the hospital that was at fault contacted her cardiologist and fluconazole can cause increased heart rate and isn't recommended for her - so we switched to terbinafine after 2 days. Tink has lesions from her head to her back legs (she's a nervous dog, got adopted and retuned 4 times from foster and finally returned to foster - me, for adoption) and I know she hates being away from home. Anyhow, 2 weeks in. My 2 extra bedrooms are completely covered in plastic visqueen, I mob and clean them daily, I'm keeping the 2 there but they are losing their minds. I have 2 yards so I keep Ani in the patio 1 and them in the yard with the pool. I have bleached the rocks and dirt with a pest sprayer and I don't know what else I can to. They're not cats but they're going nuts and so am I. I don't think I can clean anymore - I've tossed dust ruffles, covered furniture with blankets, kept all of them confined, cleaned air ducts, torn up carpets, literally triple washed every base board in this house, swiffered walls. I'm at the end of my rope and the vet won't even culture them for 2 weeks!!!

 

[ginga ninja]

Hi, I know this is a cat site but I'm feeling totally lost right now. I have 3 dogs; 2 of them I boarded Jan 27-31 and 1 cannot be boarded due to MCT cancer and she can no longer have vaccines. Ani who has MCT stayed with a friend and Tinker and Tuesday went to boarding at a vet hospital. February 10th I noticed a bleeding scab (it looked like that) on Tinker - please note that she hates boarding and doesn't eat and is terrified the entire time, Tuesday is similar, very scared and hates it - I would never do this if I didn't have to travel last minute for work. By the 13th Tink had 3 lesions seeming to pop up from nowhere! I had a vet appointment made for the next day - they saw her and did a skin smear and said it was bacterial and that they thought it was autoimmune, I had surgery done the same day to biopsy, I have a cancer dog so I know the best way to see what is going on is via biopsy. I took her home and did nothing to keep her away from the other dogs! Tuesday got a swollen lip, then a sore on her neck where the hair fell off and it started bleeding!!! The following Wednesday they wanted an accurate weight on Tuesday and had the biopsy results - dermotyphosis. We did the weight and both were prescribed antibiotics and fluconazole. Well, by then I contacted the hospital that did this boarding and they said it was their fault essentially. Also Tuesday has a severe heart condition so the hospital that was at fault contacted her cardiologist and fluconazole can cause increased heart rate and isn't recommended for her - so we switched to terbinafine after 2 days. Tink has lesions from her head to her back legs (she's a nervous dog, got adopted and retuned 4 times from foster and finally returned to foster - me, for adoption) and I know she hates being away from home. Anyhow, 2 weeks in. My 2 extra bedrooms are completely covered in plastic visqueen, I mob and clean them daily, I'm keeping the 2 there but they are losing their minds. I have 2 yards so I keep Ani in the patio 1 and them in the yard with the pool. I have bleached the rocks and dirt with a pest sprayer and I don't know what else I can to. They're not cats but they're going nuts and so am I. I don't think I can clean anymore - I've tossed dust ruffles, covered furniture with blankets, kept all of them confined, cleaned air ducts, torn up carpets, literally triple washed every base board in this house, swiffered walls. I'm at the end of my rope and the vet won't even culture them for 2 weeks!!!

 

[bunnelina]

 
Aaaaand, the ringworm is back.  About three weeks after stopping the terbinafine (which she took for two months straight), and after 10 sulphur lime dips!  I don't think it would have made any difference if I had brought her in earlier for another culture, frankly, since I would have had her tested again before stopping the terbinafine, and she had no signs of infection.  So I don't regret not taking her back in for another culture.

I took her in for diarrhea last week and put her on antibiotics and probiotics.  Our vet looked at her and also agreed she looked fine.  Then halfway through the antibiotics (like four days ago), I noticed some sores on Zuzu, in the same places as her earlier lesions.  No hair loss, but I freaked out and started bathing and dipping her again, and putting topicals on.  Told our vet, and she prescribed terbinafine again.  And we will have to put her on some powerful antibiotics too -- because she has a rare tapeworm as well!  Probably picked up before she was rescued because it isn't found in this region.  This cat!!!  On top of all that, she has decided she likes to poop on a shag rug downstairs.  She is seriously driving me nuts, and man, if she weren't so cute....

Oh, ZuzuQ, I'm so sorry to hear this. With AmyL, I have to ask if you are sure that's what it is?  I've read somewhere in Moriello's research that there can be more treatment-resistant ringworm strains and I really hope you don't have one. Can you stand to do another PCR test? This is so unfair..... keep us posted, please, and hang in there! 

 

[bunnelina]

Hi, I know this is a cat site but I'm feeling totally lost right now. I have 3 dogs; 2 of them I boarded Jan 27-31 and 1 cannot be boarded due to MCT cancer and she can no longer have vaccines. Ani who has MCT stayed with a friend and Tinker and Tuesday went to boarding at a vet hospital. February 10th I noticed a bleeding scab (it looked like that) on Tinker - please note that she hates boarding and doesn't eat and is terrified the entire time, Tuesday is similar, very scared and hates it - I would never do this if I didn't have to travel last minute for work. By the 13th Tink had 3 lesions seeming to pop up from nowhere! I had a vet appointment made for the next day - they saw her and did a skin smear and said it was bacterial and that they thought it was autoimmune, I had surgery done the same day to biopsy, I have a cancer dog so I know the best way to see what is going on is via biopsy. I took her home and did nothing to keep her away from the other dogs! Tuesday got a swollen lip, then a sore on her neck where the hair fell off and it started bleeding!!! The following Wednesday they wanted an accurate weight on Tuesday and had the biopsy results - dermotyphosis. We did the weight and both were prescribed antibiotics and fluconazole. Well, by then I contacted the hospital that did this boarding and they said it was their fault essentially. Also Tuesday has a severe heart condition so the hospital that was at fault contacted her cardiologist and fluconazole can cause increased heart rate and isn't recommended for her - so we switched to terbinafine after 2 days. Tink has lesions from her head to her back legs (she's a nervous dog, got adopted and retuned 4 times from foster and finally returned to foster - me, for adoption) and I know she hates being away from home. Anyhow, 2 weeks in. My 2 extra bedrooms are completely covered in plastic visqueen, I mob and clean them daily, I'm keeping the 2 there but they are losing their minds. I have 2 yards so I keep Ani in the patio 1 and them in the yard with the pool. I have bleached the rocks and dirt with a pest sprayer and I don't know what else I can to. They're not cats but they're going nuts and so am I. I don't think I can clean anymore - I've tossed dust ruffles, covered furniture with blankets, kept all of them confined, cleaned air ducts, torn up carpets, literally triple washed every base board in this house, swiffered walls. I'm at the end of my rope and the vet won't even culture them for 2 weeks!!!

Hi there, I was sorry to hear your story and to realize that you've been driven onto a cat forum for help with your dogs. I'm not sure how helpful we can be since we're talking about two very different species, who respond to treatments differently.  But there may be people here who have had to treat both cats and dogs and I hope they will jump in here with some advice. It sounds like you are burned out from cleaning, and that's normal. Check out the links by Dr. Moriello in some of the more recent messages above, and you will see what cat people are supposed to do and why. Best of luck to you! 

 

[zuzuq]

Oh, ZuzuQ, I'm so sorry to hear this. With AmyL, I have to ask if you are sure that's what it is?  I've read somewhere in Moriello's research that there can be more treatment-resistant ringworm strains and I really hope you don't have one. Can you stand to do another PCR test? This is so unfair..... keep us posted, please, and hang in there! 

I'm pretty sure -- the spots I saw were in the same locations as her earlier lesions (the fur has grown back in but is still shorter and darker so I know where they were). But I do think it's early, so I hope one more course will knock it out. I did dip #2 last night after 3 days of terbinafine and a week of topicals, and I don't see the spots anymore. The spots looked just like the lesions did when they were nearly healed -- if I'm wrong, that would be great, and she'll be fine. I'm not isolating her this time (except as necessary to retrain her for the litter box). Still have to tackle the tapeworm too, but I am hopeful we will close the book on the ringworm for sure this month. I haven't done the PCR or culture because I actually don't trust it now. She either has it and the last culture was wrong, or she doesn't.

 

[amyl]

I'm pretty sure -- the spots I saw were in the same locations as her earlier lesions (the fur has grown back in but is still shorter and darker so I know where they were). But I do think it's early, so I hope one more course will knock it out. I did dip #2 last night after 3 days of terbinafine and a week of topicals, and I don't see the spots anymore. The spots looked just like the lesions did when they were nearly healed -- if I'm wrong, that would be great, and she'll be fine. I'm not isolating her this time (except as necessary to retrain her for the litter box). Still have to tackle the tapeworm too, but I am hopeful we will close the book on the ringworm for sure this month. I haven't done the PCR or culture because I actually don't trust it now. She either has it and the last culture was wrong, or she doesn't.

I'm beginning to doubt the PCR, as well.  We had a negative culture and THREE negative PCR results, and now I think Katia has ringworm again. The spot has grown and it sure looks like ringworm to me. I'm not completely dipping her because of the horrible reaction her skin had to it last time. Instead, I have mixed up a small batch of it and put it in a spray bottle.  I sprayed it to the spot and the surrounding area, making sure to saturate it. 

Question for anyone who may know the answer - how long will the lime sulfur dip be good for in the spray bottle?  I mixed up a teaspoon amount to one cup (which was approximately the ration of 1/4-1/2 cup to a gallon).  I didn't need to use too much of it because I'm just using it on the one area.  I am going to get her into the vet sometime this week, but this is how I'm going to treat her until then.  

 

[zuzuq]

 
Are you SURE it is ringworm?  Could it possibly be scratches?  Katia has one little "scratch" (smaller than a 1/4 of a pencil eraser) that I'm keeping an eye on. I'm putting the Miconazole 2% that I have on it, just in case.  I really don't think it is anything, but I'm being overly cautious.  Can you have a culture done to make sure?

 
I'm beginning to doubt the PCR, as well.  We had a negative culture and THREE negative PCR results, and now I think Katia has ringworm again. The spot has grown and it sure looks like ringworm to me. I'm not completely dipping her because of the horrible reaction her skin had to it last time. Instead, I have mixed up a small batch of it and put it in a spray bottle.  I sprayed it to the spot and the surrounding area, making sure to saturate it. 

Question for anyone who may know the answer - how long will the lime sulfur dip be good for in the spray bottle?  I mixed up a teaspoon amount to one cup (which was approximately the ration of 1/4-1/2 cup to a gallon).  I didn't need to use too much of it because I'm just using it on the one area.  I am going to get her into the vet sometime this week, but this is how I'm going to treat her until then.  

I'm doing the same thing -- mixed up a small batch for the spray bottle and I'm not doing the full dip.  I've been shampooing her with medicated shampoo to get the topicals out of her fur, rubbing excess water out of her fur, and then dousing her neck and nape with the small batch of lime sulfur and massaging it into the problem areas.  Also splashing her paws, since she scratches herself with her paws.  I'm not seeing the problem spots anymore, but I'm going to finish the course of terbinafine and keep dipping for a few more weeks anyway.  We did the antibiotics bomb for the tapeworm, and she's been good with the litterbox for several days (I set up a motion detector alarm in the area where she was going), and I am hoping we can have a parasite and bad habit-free kitten soon!  Husband is getting impatient.  I don't know if I'll do another PCR, frankly.  At some point these cats' immune systems have to take over, right?  Right?