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

[rogue22912]

What I found that was cheap was at any tractor supply company they have a topical anti fungal spray safe for cats for 6 bucks i am trying that currently on Buddy, until I have the money to get his medicine from the vet.

 

[TrashCat]

If we can make it past this weekend with no new lesions, we will be officially ringworm free. We stopped bathing them almost 3 weeks ago. It takes up to 3 weeks for a lesion to appear to our naked eye. I realized that I have been treating my pets since July 8th! My profile pic is our kitten the first week we had him. Attached is a pic of him now. It has been nearly 8 weeks since my pets have been exposed to an animal with active ringworm and nearly 3 months since any of them had active ringworm. I felt like this completely dominated my life for the last 3+ months. We are finally getting the little kitten neutered. I do fear that the stress of the surgery will bring it back. There is a good chance a few stray spores are floating in our house. We vacuumed, sprayed, wiped, cleaned, laundered, bleached, dusted our butts of since this all began. I think everyone will be getting a bath the night before surgery just in case there are some spores floating around. Then we will bath the kitten when the vet says it's okay. I never want to go through this again. I hope we are truly done with this.

To rogue who is stressing over ringworm, Dr. Moriello says that cats will cure themselves in 70-100 days without any treatment. So even if all you do is clean, you cats will get better on their own.

 

[TrashCat]

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[Fedupmummy]

Hi guys.

So we are a large household in the UK hubby me 3 children baby on the way in ten weeks and we run a business from home.

We have 2 dogs, 3 cats including the new kitten and a rabbit in the garden.

I visited kitty at the woman’s house twice 9/10 and 10/10 cuddled kitty and her dogs she had many other Persians dogs chickens and ducks.

I came down with the ringworm around 24/10, did not know what it was though.

We got the kitten in October, and after her coming to join us 31/10 I took her to the vet 1/11 who said she was underweight not in great shape and had potential ringworm or allergie, culture sent off she got diagnosed with ringworm 9/11 after a what they said was a positive culture. She had it fairly bad on head and face. She was separated to the bathroom as we were told to by the vet. She had been given maleseb but hadn’t been bathed until this day. Intrafungol started with her. 4/11 the lady demanded her back for full refund as we asked her to contribute to vet bills, she said it was just because she needed her mum that she was poorly.

My two children and another child who comes here came down with it 11/11. Topical treatment started.

Kitten has been bathed 4 times with maleseb.

Then one dog was itching within half hour had him to vet, 2 lesions positive under woods, 23/11. Imavarol started for him and our long hair chi. Booked appointment for other two male cats, for 24/11. Both had small lesions by mouth which vet nearly missed with light as they thought it was where they had been scrapping. But nope. Intrafungol started for them and sporinox for the dog with lesions as he licked his wounds too much. More lesions spotted on the cats 25/11 and 26/11 with led uv light.

Both dogs are kept in kitchen most of the time due to our work.

Hubby came down with some 23/11. And son who was clearing up has two in his hair, so oral meds and shampoo given today.

A deep clean ensued Saturday, with half of one room and a bedroom left to go, every inch of every toy bleached, all not needed items cl aned and moved to storage and trying to keep two cats out of two bedrooms and covered our bed for them with a comforter we can wash.

we also purchased a Miele hoover and have been hoovering and dusting daily, bleaching bathroom. We are washing dogs bedding in bleach as are kittens in the cage in the bathroom. I know this is not good for her but I am at a loss of what else to do. Trying to wash everything on 60 degrees c with bleach but I’m ruining clothes

Please can anyone advise anything else. I need this to go before baby comes, I am a mess with the stress and docs are worried about pre term labour. Would air purifiers help x

 

[TrashCat]

I am so sorry you are going through this. Most of us on this page had a similar experience. The professionals we deal with during this ringworm outbreak are often clueless as to how fast and far this fungus spreads. I was told ringworm was "no big deal" and that one of the rescue workers let her infected pets sleep under the covers, but "look, I don't have it" as if ringworm wasn't contagious to adult humans. Even my vet didn't give us the rundown on how serious you need to take this. I learned pretty much everything about ringworm from this thread and the sources cited (Dr. Moriello, specifically). I wish that I had been told that day at the vet that I needed to treat ALL my pets, including the neighbor's dog as he came in contact with my dogs who had came in contact with the kitten. It spread to pets, people, neighbor's dogs but somehow the neighbors never got it. We cleaned, laundered and bathed pets like we were dealing with the plague. That's the only way to get rid of it. DILIGENCE. Keep up with the biweekly baths for ALL pets as uninfected pets will get it if you don't. Keep up with the routine for at least 4 weeks after the last lesion has healed (human or animal) before you stop with the program. Also, ringworm spreads on clothing so make sure your children don't handle pets while the pets are infected. You can either wash clothes in bleach or wash them twice to completely remove all spores.

My favorite products used chlorine dioxide like Starbrite Performacide, Force of Nature (a slightly different chemical makeup) and J-Kat products. I'm not sure if you can get any of those products in the UK. Chlorine Dioxide was FAR superiour to ketoconazole. I used ketoconazole 1% shampoo every other day (left on for 5 minutes) and I STILL got a scalp lesion. I started using the J-Kat shampoo on myself and cleared it in a week. I kept at it for a while after to make sure I had it completely cured, though.

It's not life threatening, I know, but this was one of the most upsetting and traumatizing things I have dealt with in my life. I'm so sorry you are experiencing it.

You probably have about 2 months of this before you can safely stop with the program.

 

[TrashCat]

Also, your question about air purifiers: Dr Moriello has said that environmental cleaning is only important if you are doing cultures on the animals. Her studies have found that cats only get ringworm from contact, direct or indirect and has never had a cat contract ringworm from the spores that are in the environment. She has said that she doesn't know if air purifiers would help, but I gathered that they would not. It's the cat and dog hairs that shed with spores attached to them that are the danger. Think of ringworm spores like hot pink chalk dust and it takes a certain level of concentration to actually create a lesion. So when you pick up a cat with a lesion, you have pressed chalk on yourself. Now if you pick up an uninfected cat, you have no pressed a high concentration of pink chalk dust on the uninfected cat, increasing their chances of developing a lesion. The amount of chalk dust on the floor is still minimal and is not likely to be enough to create a lesion. Vacuuming and dusting will get up the majority of the chalk dust.

Don't forget to clean your car too. As you may have been putting spores in your car before you realized how much the infection has spread.

 

[Fedupmummy]

this fills me with dread, the children aren't picking up the pets, they are being told not to go near them which is frustrating for the pets.

hubby hoovered the car sunday and we have been using the white vinegar solution on car seats.

We can't get the products in the UK and struggle to get things with fungicide in. :-(

Thanks

 

[Fedupmummy]

I read dr moriellos paper above, thank you for that. We are vacuuming daily and bleaching where they frequent at least weekly. All are being treated as are we, guess it’s just keeping up and on top of it.

Re carpets we cannot clean carpets here frequently with wet products nor have a shampooer do you have any alternatives to the disinfection?

 

[jessicakes]

Ugh Fedupmummy, ringworm is the worst. I would suggest just vacuuming like crazy if you can't get a shampooer. Hopefully that would help! My understanding is you want to get the spore count down as much as possible, and repeated mechanical cleaning won't hurt. It's so so stressful though and I wish it on nobody. Our new kitten was a carrier (asymptomatic) and brought it in. When we were vacuuming we would clean out the canister regularly with lysol, and when we got to the end, we also bleached the parts we could, just in case.

We are just coming out of a ringworm drama, I hope. But I also have a question. Our one cat who showed symptoms seems to have some scabs on her right shoulder and neck. This is not an area where she had hair loss and she received a negative PCR around Halloween. All of her fur has grown in, but I was just petting her and felt several in this area. There's no hair loss, just small isolated scabs. Could this be a reappearance of the ringworm? Both cats are on a monthly flea/heartworm/tick preventative but due for their next dose Friday.

 

[Fedupmummy]

Hey not sure if it is the ringworm coming back?

Hopefully someone with more experience can help.

Fingers crossed no more scalp lesions. Thanks

 

[Sevenfivefive]

My Recent ringworm experience started when my child brought it home from school . I have cats and dogs of my own , multiple foster animals , and a rotation of strays that go into isolation in my home while they await rescue to take them .

2 of our cats sleep with my Daughter and they both displayed symptoms around a week after my daughter presented with a lesion .

I did not isolate or separate any of the animals . I figure by the time we noticed the ringworm all 6 humans and 11 animals were exposed and the house properly contaminated by then . I did put a feral I have in my small iso room purely for convience of not having to try and catch him to dip him. He is not at the point that he is easily handled .

Room by room I damp dusted ceiling to floor , every inch of every space in my home . I opted to damp swifter all hard floors . Vacuumed and steam cleaned throw rugs and cat trees . I used odorban for all my cleaning needs ! The gallon of concentrate is cost efficient and goes a long way ! I went above the amount needed for the mix to use as an antifungal .

Each animal in the home got lime sulfur dipped each week . Instead of an antifungal cream we used Shapley’s MTG oil . I think that was honestly our saving grace ! Not only does it treat the fungus but as an oil it prevents the spores from spreading !

Our outbreak was 1 lesion on 1 human , 3 on one cat , 1 on another cat , and 1 on 1 dog.

No human or animal formed any new lesions from the initial presentation and no other human or animal displayed any symptoms at all . Remember we have 6 humans , 11 animals , multiple guests during this time !

This started the second week in October and we are all clear now . All lesions gone , all hair grown back !

After the major cleaning it was just a matter of daily maintance . It was a lot of good old fashioned elbow grease !

The MTG oil is not only super effective but also helps prevent spreading the fungus . I just want to scream it from the rooftops as many people are unaware that this oil even exists !​

 

[FordChick]

I am dealing with this now..5 cats and myself. The vet gave me cream on wednesday and i started them on sporanox yesterday.

My big boy hates fetting his dosage and drool comes out of his mouth..it breaks my heart

But already i can see improvement on their lesions. Is this possible after only 3 dzys2of treatment?

I also have a good wuaslity " pet" ionizing air filter running 24/7

I am in a studio, btw...currently everything is torn apart as we are painting getting ready for carpet and new furniture.


Again, is it normal to see improvdment so quickly with these meds or is my mind playing tricks on me?

 

[LisaBLee]

I’ve been reading this thread, along with so much online for the past 3-4 months. I’ve been fostering 3 kittens since August 26th. 2 days later I noticed fur loss and contacted the shelter but they were dealing with an outbrak and I couldn’t bring them in until a week later to be checked and co firm my suspicions. They gave me a ten day dose of itrafungol and Lyme dip. After almost three months of dipping twice a week, cleaning, laundering, disinfecting several times a week they realized I should have received a longer dose of orals and nov 26th started them on 21 day because their 2 previous dtm tests came back positive. They have 2 more and they also have come back positive. They’ve had no hair loss or lesions for the past 3 months. I don’t know what I’m missing anymore to be dealing with this so long. I’ve lost all potential adopters because the dtm’s are positive delaying adoption. I stopped dipping them twice weekly after 3 months out of sheer luck exhaustion and now working 60 hours a week makes it hard to find time. They’ve looked great for three months so I guess my question is can dtm cultures be showing some very small growth? My shelter doesn’t let me talk to Vet’s and apparently it’s different Vet’s each time so no one really communicates to the next about their case. I really want to get them adopted and They told me they could just do a spay waiver and that private vets might have a better Indictator or newer medicine that will allow them to approve them for spay where the shelter can’t. Such confusing information...

 

[FordChick]

An update on my ringworm situation

6 cats all on sporanox for 3 consecutive weeks and cream twice a day

I have been washing bedding and swiffer mopping.

3 weeks on sporanox are up and just my boy has a small patch left on his tail
We DID happen to get new carpet on Thursday and vacuum every day, but we don't disinfect the vacuum canister

I am just applying cream now

Hopefully, it is over

 

[TrashCat]

LisaBLee they probably do NOT have ringworm anymore, however, they are probably testing positive because there is still a few spores of ringworm in the environment. Dr Moriello's recent research has show that often cats are 'dust mops' to the spores and will culture positive if there are a few spores left in the environment. Not enough of a concentration to create a lesion, however. If you are insistent on getting a negative culture, do a lyme dip on them all and put the in a STERILE cage for at least 24 hours and then have them cultured straight from the sterile cage. Make sure the litter box and cat litter is new. You should get a negative result then.

I went full bore cleaning, but my neighbor (who got it from my dogs) did the chlorine dioxide baths (from J-kat, worth it) and vacuumed and dusted. Twice a week they would take the sheets off their couch and wash them with bleach. Neither the humans got it and their other lab type dog never even got one lesion while their blue heeler lost a bunch of hair on his thigh and got it on his foot. Once the heeler was growing hair back (literally a week later, that dog is special) we bathed and cleaned for 3 more weeks to make sure it was completely cured.

So while I was basically making my home sterile, my neighbors were just vacuuming, dusting and laundering and they had the same result as us. I made my self a little too crazy during the whole thing. It might be worse when you have cats because they get EVERYWHERE. While a 70 lb dog can't fit in have the places and isn't allowed on the furniture.

A friend's parents took in a stray with "frostbite" a month ago. Turns out it was ringworm! Now 8 cats (including 3 7 week old kittens) are getting biweekly baths. 2 of the 3 humans who came in contact now have it as well. Their old school vet told them it was no big deal and to just separate the ringworm infested with the non ringworm infested and put iodine on the lesions. We set them straight last night.

Me when someone mentions ringworm:

 

[LisaBLee]

Thank you! I’ve asked the shelter if they could give me the Pscore (I’ve done a lot of reading!) so I can determine if they are dustmops. I bought some foggers that are supposed to help with ringworm to hopefully catch those places that may be missed when I clean, launder, etc. I didn’t think of the idea of crating them after dip, just because they’ve been all over the apartment by now, but I may try it. I was bitten by a feral kitty recently (got tetanus and meds) so I haven’t dipped them in over a week. The shelter is asking me to consider placing them with another rescue whose vets may handle this differently? I’ve had them for six months so I really want to see this adoption through, or adopt them myself and take them to another vet and adopt them out after they are cleared by them. I’m tearing as I write this because The thought of just passing them on to someone else is....

 

[mlsbow]

My Recent ringworm experience started when my child brought it home from school . I have cats and dogs of my own , multiple foster animals , and a rotation of strays that go into isolation in my home while they await rescue to take them .

2 of our cats sleep with my Daughter and they both displayed symptoms around a week after my daughter presented with a lesion .

I did not isolate or separate any of the animals . I figure by the time we noticed the ringworm all 6 humans and 11 animals were exposed and the house properly contaminated by then . I did put a feral I have in my small iso room purely for convience of not having to try and catch him to dip him. He is not at the point that he is easily handled .

Room by room I damp dusted ceiling to floor , every inch of every space in my home . I opted to damp swifter all hard floors . Vacuumed and steam cleaned throw rugs and cat trees . I used odorban for all my cleaning needs ! The gallon of concentrate is cost efficient and goes a long way ! I went above the amount needed for the mix to use as an antifungal .

Each animal in the home got lime sulfur dipped each week . Instead of an antifungal cream we used Shapley’s MTG oil . I think that was honestly our saving grace ! Not only does it treat the fungus but as an oil it prevents the spores from spreading !

Our outbreak was 1 lesion on 1 human , 3 on one cat , 1 on another cat , and 1 on 1 dog.

No human or animal formed any new lesions from the initial presentation and no other human or animal displayed any symptoms at all . Remember we have 6 humans , 11 animals , multiple guests during this time !

This started the second week in October and we are all clear now . All lesions gone , all hair grown back !

After the major cleaning it was just a matter of daily maintance . It was a lot of good old fashioned elbow grease !

The MTG oil is not only super effective but also helps prevent spreading the fungus . I just want to scream it from the rooftops as many people are unaware that this oil even exists !​

Can you tell me when you applied the MTC oil? How Often?
Which MTG oil did you purchase?

 

[Snuderst]

Hi there,

Sorry to be checking in late, I'm not getting notifications about posts here for some reason. When I remember what a terrified mess I was when I first learned my cats had ringworm, I continue to be inspired and impressed with how calmly and sanely other people — like you — on this site are handling it especially when they have large numbers of cats (we "only" had four). To answer your questions:

1. We used the lower dilution that I think was recommended on the Vet Solutions bottle. It worked for us, but then we may not have had a virulent strain of the fungus. If you are concerned about your cats getting worse, dip them more often (two times a week) for insurance. The lower concentration still seemed very powerful. Just be sure to work it deeply into the fur and let it dry without rinsing. We preferred Vet Solutions because DermaPet gave me an allergic reaction. Perhaps it's a lot stronger.

2. Be careful about topicals gels and creams: some of them are harsh and will cause further irritation while not treating the lesions. I'm worried that you might be seeing side-effects of the miconazole and not worsening ringworm. The oral meds and the dips are said to be more effective, since both are systemic. For a topical treatment, you might try dabbing the stronger concentration of lime-sulfur on lesions and affected areas instead. It's supposed to be soothing and not harmful. We mixed up about a cup of solution in a jar and kept it around for dabbing on noses and ears. My calico cat has permanent black "dead" patches on her white ears from the nasty topical gel we used. Wish I could remember what it was.

3. You could probably collect the fur for the cultures at home, but they will need to go to a lab for incubation and examination, of course. A cooperative vet can give you culture kits (sterile toothbrush, container with growing medium) and show you what to do. And that should save you the cost of those office visits, at least. We considered buying an incubator for our vet's office since it would have cost less than the cost of all the cultures we needed. I can't remember why that fell through; we definitely paid for a LOT of cultures.

I hope this is helpful. I will be checking in back here and I will also try to figure out why I'm not getting messages!

Best,

Bunnelina[/QUOTE

Hi there,

Sorry to be checking in late, I'm not getting notifications about posts here for some reason. When I remember what a terrified mess I was when I first learned my cats had ringworm, I continue to be inspired and impressed with how calmly and sanely other people — like you — on this site are handling it especially when they have large numbers of cats (we "only" had four). To answer your questions:

1. We used the lower dilution that I think was recommended on the Vet Solutions bottle. It worked for us, but then we may not have had a virulent strain of the fungus. If you are concerned about your cats getting worse, dip them more often (two times a week) for insurance. The lower concentration still seemed very powerful. Just be sure to work it deeply into the fur and let it dry without rinsing. We preferred Vet Solutions because DermaPet gave me an allergic reaction. Perhaps it's a lot stronger.

2. Be careful about topicals gels and creams: some of them are harsh and will cause further irritation while not treating the lesions. I'm worried that you might be seeing side-effects of the miconazole and not worsening ringworm. The oral meds and the dips are said to be more effective, since both are systemic. For a topical treatment, you might try dabbing the stronger concentration of lime-sulfur on lesions and affected areas instead. It's supposed to be soothing and not harmful. We mixed up about a cup of solution in a jar and kept it around for dabbing on noses and ears. My calico cat has permanent black "dead" patches on her white ears from the nasty topical gel we used. Wish I could remember what it was.

3. You could probably collect the fur for the cultures at home, but they will need to go to a lab for incubation and examination, of course. A cooperative vet can give you culture kits (sterile toothbrush, container with growing medium) and show you what to do. And that should save you the cost of those office visits, at least. We considered buying an incubator for our vet's office since it would have cost less than the cost of all the cultures we needed. I can't remember why that fell through; we definitely paid for a LOT of cultures.

I hope this is helpful. I will be checking in back here and I will also try to figure out why I'm not getting messages!

Best,

Bunnelina

m
My white 16 yo persian also developed blackened skin around ringworm lesions, and I did not use topical anti fungal, just lime sulfur dips and terbinafine( lamisil). Her ringworm was getting worse since she developed elevated liver enzymes and had to come off the oral antifungal. The lime dips alone were not working and I started to become majorly depressed. I didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning. Previous to the ringworm, I had just cleared up a flea infestation brought home with a shelter cat I adopted, so I was in a living hell for three months, trying to work full time, clean and do tons of laundry. I wrecked my washer and had to get a new one. I estimate that I spent $3,000 on the excruciatingly painful situation. Elderly cats may not be able to clear the infection dt a compromised immune system. My 17 yo cat stopped eating...perhaps from stress and being elderly. I had to have him put down. I took the new adoptee back to the shelter,. My 16 yo was put down because she didn’t seem able to clear the infection, and I, as a nurse cannot work if I have a ringworm on my skin, which I did initially and that is how the cat diagnosis was made. Ringworm on human skin is unmistKable. I lost all 3 cats! I guess I had to choose self preservation, but now I’m suffering a grief complicated by guilt. Ringworm not deadly??
Persian

 

[Sevenfivefive]

Can you tell me when you applied the MTC oil? How Often?
Which MTG oil did you purchase?

I’m so sorry , I never had notification that I had a response . I used Shapleys MTG oil . I spot treated twice a week. With the oil a little goes a long way and it stays on for a while . We had no reoccurrence of the ringworm . This oil is truly a miracle ! I applied the oil in the evenings , one downside is the oil can cause an animal to sunburn . My dog had one spot in her face , I didn’t want to take chances with a fresh application during daylight hours when the dog would be going outside .

 

[Elambour88]

Does anyone know. My cat had a ringworm lesion on her ear. It was confirmed via the vet. She has been getting baths every 10-14 days after the first two weeks at weekly she's just on her last week of itraconzole and I had been putting topical ointment on as well. He ear lesion has been healed for a couple of weeks now, hair is growing back. I've cleaned my house religiously and done laundry till the cows came home. She originally glowed under black light on her spot as well.. NOW I was cuddling with her this evening and noticed a spot on her leg missing hair that was never there before. It is not red or inflamed like her ear it's just plain hair loss, that's does NOT glow under black light. My question is if she's been getting baths and topical and oral meds and I've clean and it is not glowing, then is it still ringworm? Like is it possible for her to be infected with more than one strain?