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- #561
Yes, I mistakenly call them "cultures" because they substitute for cultures and use similar material gathered from the cat — but they are actually a diagnostic test that doesn't require any growth.
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6 Things I Learned from Our Ringworm Plague (book length....)
- Thread starter bunnelina
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So....I don't have to give up the yarn I have in my craft room? I've spent, over the last seven years, thousands of dollars in yarn....
OH.....I almost forgot....I spread this afghan out on my couch to take a photo and I turn my back for 5 minutes and Gus is napping on it. Do I have to throw it out now? Is his ringworm all over it?
I did have one occasion to wear a scarf I made that he'd been near, and I haven't come down with ringworm myself.
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OH.....I almost forgot....I spread this afghan out on my couch to take a photo and I turn my back for 5 minutes and Gus is napping on it. Do I have to throw it out now? Is his ringworm all over it?
I did have one occasion to wear a scarf I made that he'd been near, and I haven't come down with ringworm myself.
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Zuzu's foster mom told me today that she found a lesion on herself yesterday, which was about two weeks ago, right around the time we adopted her. She handled Zuzu extensively before she was dipped for the first time, so I think she got way more exposure to the spores than we ever did. Because of our experience, the shelter where Zuzu came from is now dipping all of its cats, but it seems like no one else has gotten it at the rescue or at Zuzu's foster (where there are three cats and a dog). That makes us think she came into the shelter and rescue with it, which also lends credence to our theory that she's a purebred who was thrown out because of ringworm. Our vet is so happy with us for sticking with Zuzu...she says she sees lots of people return rescues over treatable things like ringworm and it makes her crazy (and so she comped me an office visit!).
I've been a lot more relaxed about handling Zuzu in the last few days now that her skin looks so much better. Haven't been doing a lot of holding yet, but lots and lots of petting and scratching. I do worry about the socialization because for a ragdoll, she's not much for relaxing in my arms (except post-bath). Hopefully she will get over it. We are spending more time with her and having more contact with her now than before. I am checking myself and the kids for lesions every day (I feel itchy all the time just thinking about the ringworm!)...so far so good.
If the PCR comes back negative, we'll continue with the terbinafine and the dips for a few more weeks just to be sure, but we'll start giving her more freedom and cuddling. My husband has allergies so we'll make our bedroom a cat-free zone...and will probably continue to isolate from all the bedrooms for a little longer until she's all cleared up.
I've been a lot more relaxed about handling Zuzu in the last few days now that her skin looks so much better. Haven't been doing a lot of holding yet, but lots and lots of petting and scratching. I do worry about the socialization because for a ragdoll, she's not much for relaxing in my arms (except post-bath). Hopefully she will get over it. We are spending more time with her and having more contact with her now than before. I am checking myself and the kids for lesions every day (I feel itchy all the time just thinking about the ringworm!)...so far so good.
If the PCR comes back negative, we'll continue with the terbinafine and the dips for a few more weeks just to be sure, but we'll start giving her more freedom and cuddling. My husband has allergies so we'll make our bedroom a cat-free zone...and will probably continue to isolate from all the bedrooms for a little longer until she's all cleared up.
It is my understanding that if it can be washed, it can be cleaned of ringworm spores. I have made several afghans, and they are all machine washable. I'm not sure how to clean the yarn that hasn't been made into something. Have the cats gotten into it? If they haven't had contact with it, then it should be ok. Of course, the spores can be everywhere, but I can't imagine that they would be in much concentration if the cats haven't crawled on it or slept on it.
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Gus has been in the room where the yarn is, but he doesn't get ON or IN the yarn if it's in rolls or balls. If it's made into a scarf or afghan, yes, he'll lay on it. But he's very good about not messing with my skeins and rolls. He knows it isn't a toy for him.
Sonny's exposure to my yarn has been minimal since we brought him home; he was a tiny homicidal muffin on legs and we didn't want him to a: get tangled up in my yarn or b: try to eat it.
Come to think of it - all of us (me, my hubby Joe, Gus, and Sonny) have been around one particular tan blanket we have, and both humans have remained ringworm-free, even between washes of the blanket. Interesting.
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I can take the yarn balls and expose them to sunlight, in clear plastic bags. It's still very warm here in Florida and the UV rays kill spores.
This just made me laugh! :lol3: Perfect description of an active kitten.
I'm curious as to how long you'd have to expose the yarn to UV outside for it to kill off any spores.
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- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #568
Do you have a study that shows how much UV light is needed? As far as I know, it's anecdotal, and so I wouldn't count on it as you'd have no way to know it is effective.
Since I started this thread, I would like to ask everyone who writes here to be sure that, if you are giving advice to others. that you are quoting reputable sources and can back up what you say with a recent article or study from a professional. It's fine to talk about your own experience and what you tried, of course, and it's great to offer support and encouragement. But please don't say things like "UV rays kill spores" without also providing your source for the rest of us to evaluate and ALSO saying how it has been proven to work for us and our cats. If you can cite a study, please do. But I've tried to find your source and all I can find is this book for vets, which says that no one who has studied this has been able to come up with any practical way to make use of it, since they were experimenting with culture dishes.
Here's a quote from Infectious Disease Management in Shelters, edited by Lila Miller and Kate Hurley (2011), with some info on the subject. I found this on Google books.
Since I started this thread, I would like to ask everyone who writes here to be sure that, if you are giving advice to others. that you are quoting reputable sources and can back up what you say with a recent article or study from a professional. It's fine to talk about your own experience and what you tried, of course, and it's great to offer support and encouragement. But please don't say things like "UV rays kill spores" without also providing your source for the rest of us to evaluate and ALSO saying how it has been proven to work for us and our cats. If you can cite a study, please do. But I've tried to find your source and all I can find is this book for vets, which says that no one who has studied this has been able to come up with any practical way to make use of it, since they were experimenting with culture dishes.
Here's a quote from Infectious Disease Management in Shelters, edited by Lila Miller and Kate Hurley (2011), with some info on the subject. I found this on Google books.
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- #569
It would be interesting to compare pricing for PCR tests versus ringworm cultures. Does anyone have any numbers? Thanks!
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PCR through IDEXX was $80 per cat, and culture done at vet clinic was $42.50.
To provide some documentation backing this, I will quote the article that was shared https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4361704/ - "Exposed soft materials can be washed in hot or cold water; bleach is optional. it is important not to overload the washer, and to use the longest wash cycle possible as agitation removes spores. if concern is high, wash the laundry twice."
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I finally got to see the doctor for myself. I have some very nasty looking lesions on my left side where Grace (RW infected kitten) liked to snuggle: shoulder, neck, ear, under left EYE!!, left breast, chest, left thigh. I have some on my back and a large ring on my right arm and spots covering the rest of my body I didn't mention. I am on oral terbinafine 250 mg daily and prescription ointment 2x daily. I had to buy 2 economy sized boxes of bandages to cover them all and it takes an hour after I shower with tea tree oil to treat every single spot and ring with medication and then bandage, then clean everything around me, dispose of towels and clothing in a hot wash with bleach.
Grace's back appears to be improving, even though the lime-sulfur dip still has not arrived in the mail (ordered it expedited, so much for that!) i'm still using the Mal-A-Ket shampoo from the vet (2% Acetic Acid, 2% Chlorhexidine Gluconate, 1% Ketoconazole) because I can't do nothing while I wait for everything I need to come in the mail. She also has the drops that we put directly onto the "affected area" which is the same medication I have in the ointment I put on my "affected areas" as well.
However, she is not doing well emotionally and this is the hardest part. She was so loved and cuddled before she was put into quarantine and now she is quite literally, freaking out. She cries and cries all day and it breaks my heart and makes me worry what kind of kitten she will be once we survive this.
We try to spend time with her 3-4 times per day, during which we take care of her feeding, bathing, medications and cleaning of her environment. She will not eat unless you sit next to her and comfort her, so I am sitting in this room (filled with spores that I am sure I can feel assaulting my body while my skin is on fire from all my "affected areas") and have these big purple gloves on to pet her, constantly thinking "don't touch your face, don't scratch your skin, if you touch that be sure you clean it with bleach before you leave..." She desperately wants to be held so I hold her as long as she wants to be held until she will eat her food and start purring again. She has gotten almost too good about taking her medicine from the dropper, it makes me a little sad that she should have to be good at that already. She is completely traumatized by the baths, her entire body shakes violently and she cannot be comforted other than holding her against your body tightly for a good hour. Once she has been treated, medicated, cleaned and fed, I then have to start cleaning my way out of the room. I clean everything in the room with hot water and bleach (I have her in the upstairs bath, it's empty now except for the things needed for her immediate care), clean myself with hot water and anti-fungal soap, my clothing removed and put in plastic bags to go down to the washer, then I shower again (at least 2-3 times per day), treat my "affected areas", bandage them, then wash the clothes and towels, etc on hot with bleach.
I DO THIS 3-4 TIMES PER DAY
My rings are less angry, but new dots are becoming rings. My entire body is covered with dots or rings and it constantly burns and itches. It's pretty miserable for me so I'm hoping Grace is getting some relief as her wounds begin healing.
We are just sort of living in limbo, waiting for the lime-sulfur to arrive to start treating her properly and waiting for the Opti-Cide gallon jugs to arrive to clean the rooms she incubated in. I bought wipes and spray bottles too, so the gallon jug is to put in the hot water inside the carpet cleaner to keep the carpets clean, then the spray bottles are for all the surfaces you can't wipe, then there are wipes for all hard surfaces. Hospitals use this to clean up after contamination, it kills everything. MRSA. Swine Flu. And Ringworm.
I know you are probably thinking right now that this is excessive. Maybe. But I'm a little OCD already when it comes to germs, I keep my house VERY clean, I have Clorox wipes in every room of the house and use them several times a day, cleaning faucets, handles, switches, all surfaces. I "spring clean" my house on weekends, scrubbing floors, floorboards, all of it.
When you add something like an infectious, parasitic spore into my environment, well... OCD goes into overdrive and I find myself doing things like spraying my body with a diluted bleach solution or bathing in diluted bleach. Having these burning dots all over my body and big, purple angry rings scattered throughout only fans the flames.
Once I am able to start bathing Grace in the lime-sulfur and her skin has visibly improved, I will take her back to have tests done again. I also want to take Max (my large, Norweigan mountain cat) in and have him tested too. His fur is so thick, it is VERY hard to see his skin. I've been watching him to see if he is itching or behaving oddly but so far nothing seems amiss. Of course I'm not comforted by that, I'm sure that under his gorgeous coat of fur there are colonies of parasites feeding on his flesh and I am wracked with guilt and shame every time I look at him. I won't be able to rest until he gets tested. I need to find a new vet that has a better understanding of how to treat ringworm but it's hard to make all these calls because I'm at work during business hours and when I'm free, the vets are all closed.
Grace's back appears to be improving, even though the lime-sulfur dip still has not arrived in the mail (ordered it expedited, so much for that!) i'm still using the Mal-A-Ket shampoo from the vet (2% Acetic Acid, 2% Chlorhexidine Gluconate, 1% Ketoconazole) because I can't do nothing while I wait for everything I need to come in the mail. She also has the drops that we put directly onto the "affected area" which is the same medication I have in the ointment I put on my "affected areas" as well.
However, she is not doing well emotionally and this is the hardest part. She was so loved and cuddled before she was put into quarantine and now she is quite literally, freaking out. She cries and cries all day and it breaks my heart and makes me worry what kind of kitten she will be once we survive this.
We try to spend time with her 3-4 times per day, during which we take care of her feeding, bathing, medications and cleaning of her environment. She will not eat unless you sit next to her and comfort her, so I am sitting in this room (filled with spores that I am sure I can feel assaulting my body while my skin is on fire from all my "affected areas") and have these big purple gloves on to pet her, constantly thinking "don't touch your face, don't scratch your skin, if you touch that be sure you clean it with bleach before you leave..." She desperately wants to be held so I hold her as long as she wants to be held until she will eat her food and start purring again. She has gotten almost too good about taking her medicine from the dropper, it makes me a little sad that she should have to be good at that already. She is completely traumatized by the baths, her entire body shakes violently and she cannot be comforted other than holding her against your body tightly for a good hour. Once she has been treated, medicated, cleaned and fed, I then have to start cleaning my way out of the room. I clean everything in the room with hot water and bleach (I have her in the upstairs bath, it's empty now except for the things needed for her immediate care), clean myself with hot water and anti-fungal soap, my clothing removed and put in plastic bags to go down to the washer, then I shower again (at least 2-3 times per day), treat my "affected areas", bandage them, then wash the clothes and towels, etc on hot with bleach.
I DO THIS 3-4 TIMES PER DAY
My rings are less angry, but new dots are becoming rings. My entire body is covered with dots or rings and it constantly burns and itches. It's pretty miserable for me so I'm hoping Grace is getting some relief as her wounds begin healing.
We are just sort of living in limbo, waiting for the lime-sulfur to arrive to start treating her properly and waiting for the Opti-Cide gallon jugs to arrive to clean the rooms she incubated in. I bought wipes and spray bottles too, so the gallon jug is to put in the hot water inside the carpet cleaner to keep the carpets clean, then the spray bottles are for all the surfaces you can't wipe, then there are wipes for all hard surfaces. Hospitals use this to clean up after contamination, it kills everything. MRSA. Swine Flu. And Ringworm.
I know you are probably thinking right now that this is excessive. Maybe. But I'm a little OCD already when it comes to germs, I keep my house VERY clean, I have Clorox wipes in every room of the house and use them several times a day, cleaning faucets, handles, switches, all surfaces. I "spring clean" my house on weekends, scrubbing floors, floorboards, all of it.
When you add something like an infectious, parasitic spore into my environment, well... OCD goes into overdrive and I find myself doing things like spraying my body with a diluted bleach solution or bathing in diluted bleach. Having these burning dots all over my body and big, purple angry rings scattered throughout only fans the flames.
Once I am able to start bathing Grace in the lime-sulfur and her skin has visibly improved, I will take her back to have tests done again. I also want to take Max (my large, Norweigan mountain cat) in and have him tested too. His fur is so thick, it is VERY hard to see his skin. I've been watching him to see if he is itching or behaving oddly but so far nothing seems amiss. Of course I'm not comforted by that, I'm sure that under his gorgeous coat of fur there are colonies of parasites feeding on his flesh and I am wracked with guilt and shame every time I look at him. I won't be able to rest until he gets tested. I need to find a new vet that has a better understanding of how to treat ringworm but it's hard to make all these calls because I'm at work during business hours and when I'm free, the vets are all closed.
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Got Zuzu's PCR test results back and she is positive for microsporum canis. Crestfallen. Another four weeks of isolation and treatment. Not to mention another $400 in vet visits and tests.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #574
So, if the faster tests save people a few weeks of extra dipping and paying for oral meds, and if doing PCR tests mean fewer weeks of house-cleaning, isolation, and related torture due to the shorter wait time to accumulate three negative results, I'd say the extra cost is well worth paying.
Thanks, AmyL!
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Thank you, I don't know what I would have done had I not Googled this and found your thread! The vet was NO help at all and I had no idea what ringworm was or how to protect my adult pets from getting it too, obviously, or how to protect myself. Not trying any miracles, just sticking to basic science. It's a fungus, I'm using anti-fungals. I would never bleach the cat!! But I would bleach myself, and have. I know that Clorox wipes and Lysol spray have no anti-fungal properties. I am using diluted bleach per the instructions for all surfaces that can be bleached. I have a Dyson Animal with a HEPA filter and a Hoover carpet cleaner with separate wash and rinse tanks so we are vacuuming first with the Dyson, then washing with hot water and anti-fungal. I know that the fungus resides on the hair and dust or shed skin cells but anti-fungals let me sleep at night.
I called a few groomers to see if they do lime-sulfur dips and they were pretty resounding NO's. I'm going to try calling a few vets on my lunch break, after I read those links, and print them to take home.
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- #576
Oh, cmcd 1070.
What a heart-breaking report! You have one of the worse stories I've heard here because of your own spots. I hope they clear up quickly, and they should with all the treatment you are doing. Maybe lay off the bleach, though? It may kill spores but it could also be irritating your skin to the point where you're becoming a more attractive host anyway. Bleach isn't recommended for use on humans or cats!
I feel so sorry for your poor kitten and share your concerns about whether this is going to affect her socialization. But you seem to be doing your very best for her and even after just one or two dips she will be far less contagious and you can relax some. Remember to keep her nice and warm whenever she is wet. Do not bother to shampoo her first (read posts above if you're not sure about that, ignore instructions on bottle) and just saturate her to the skin, do not rinse her, and let her dry someplace where she can be warm and not shivering. You can blot a bit, but let the dip dry on her.
It's so sad when they want to take their meds.... ! It used to tear me to shreds when our kitten Possum would put his little paws around the syringe to take his awful cherry Sproranox, always optimistic that we'd wised up and were giving him something nice for a change. He is sitting next to me now, seven years later, having a bath and not remembering a thing about those bad times.
So just remember — this will pass. Soon! You will get better and so will the kitten, and anyone else in the house who might have it. You are sort of a poster child, though, for all of us who worked hard on treating this because we didn't want it to spread to others, including ourselves. Keep in mind that, there are some who say, accurately, that ringworm resolves on its own and will go away by itself — in time .... if you have the patience to put up with it in the meantime. OMG. I'm sure that your story would change their thinking!
It sounds like you are doing all you can, and at this point it doesn't sound like you can GET much worse yourself, so I' keep on spending time with your kitten and cuddling her as much as you dare.
Did your doctor give you any idea of how long your own ringworm might take to resolve? Oral meds should work pretty quickly. Can you drink will taking your meds? If I were you, I sure would! Hang in there and take good care of yourself. Binge-watch something distracting. Eat chocolate....
What a heart-breaking report! You have one of the worse stories I've heard here because of your own spots. I hope they clear up quickly, and they should with all the treatment you are doing. Maybe lay off the bleach, though? It may kill spores but it could also be irritating your skin to the point where you're becoming a more attractive host anyway. Bleach isn't recommended for use on humans or cats!
I feel so sorry for your poor kitten and share your concerns about whether this is going to affect her socialization. But you seem to be doing your very best for her and even after just one or two dips she will be far less contagious and you can relax some. Remember to keep her nice and warm whenever she is wet. Do not bother to shampoo her first (read posts above if you're not sure about that, ignore instructions on bottle) and just saturate her to the skin, do not rinse her, and let her dry someplace where she can be warm and not shivering. You can blot a bit, but let the dip dry on her.
It's so sad when they want to take their meds.... ! It used to tear me to shreds when our kitten Possum would put his little paws around the syringe to take his awful cherry Sproranox, always optimistic that we'd wised up and were giving him something nice for a change. He is sitting next to me now, seven years later, having a bath and not remembering a thing about those bad times.
So just remember — this will pass. Soon! You will get better and so will the kitten, and anyone else in the house who might have it. You are sort of a poster child, though, for all of us who worked hard on treating this because we didn't want it to spread to others, including ourselves. Keep in mind that, there are some who say, accurately, that ringworm resolves on its own and will go away by itself — in time .... if you have the patience to put up with it in the meantime. OMG. I'm sure that your story would change their thinking!
It sounds like you are doing all you can, and at this point it doesn't sound like you can GET much worse yourself, so I' keep on spending time with your kitten and cuddling her as much as you dare.
Did your doctor give you any idea of how long your own ringworm might take to resolve? Oral meds should work pretty quickly. Can you drink will taking your meds? If I were you, I sure would! Hang in there and take good care of yourself. Binge-watch something distracting. Eat chocolate....
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #577
I'm sorry! But this probably wasn't a surprise, right? Now you can stop wondering and get on with it, and get it over with!
The year our cats had ringworm we also lost a cat to cancer. I estimated that we'd spend $10,000 on vet bills that year, and we didn't do anything extreme beyond trying some chemo and the standard ringworm treatment. It was a rough year so I can sympathize. I do think that the PCR tests, while expensive, could probably save so much time, energy and money spent on extra weeks of medication, dipping, cleaning, worrying, and hassle, that they are probably well worth it.
Hang in there!
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He gave me enough oral terbinafine to take once per day for two weeks. The pharmacy gal was skeptical that the tube of ointment would last that long, but either way, I was prescribed 2 weeks of medicine.
I have a tendency to have skin conditions. Last year I picked up MRSA during an ER visit and spent 6 months on antibiotics and Prednisone. Once that was cleared up I got a different bacterial infection on my face and now I have ringworm. Clearly my immune system is compromised when it comes to skin diseases.
I called the vet back today. Her PCR DNA test was positive for microsporum canis, no surprise there. I wanted to know if they do cultures to see what her count is. They don't do DTM cultures there so I called around to some other places to see if they do. I did find another vet. However, the vet said that ringworm is very unusual in this area (Denver, CO) because it thrives in warm moist places and it is very dry and cold here. They want to test her for feline aids because a healthy cat would not get ringworm and if she does have a compromised immune system, she likely won't survive the treatment of oral medications.
So I asked the vet what her option was besides treatment.
She said she probably won't survive.
So I said, you mean to put her down?
She paused for a very long time and then said well, if she is that sick, she will die anyways.
Wait. I thought we were talking about ringworm? How did this escalate to her imminent death?
I have a tendency to have skin conditions. Last year I picked up MRSA during an ER visit and spent 6 months on antibiotics and Prednisone. Once that was cleared up I got a different bacterial infection on my face and now I have ringworm. Clearly my immune system is compromised when it comes to skin diseases.
I called the vet back today. Her PCR DNA test was positive for microsporum canis, no surprise there. I wanted to know if they do cultures to see what her count is. They don't do DTM cultures there so I called around to some other places to see if they do. I did find another vet. However, the vet said that ringworm is very unusual in this area (Denver, CO) because it thrives in warm moist places and it is very dry and cold here. They want to test her for feline aids because a healthy cat would not get ringworm and if she does have a compromised immune system, she likely won't survive the treatment of oral medications.
So I asked the vet what her option was besides treatment.
She said she probably won't survive.
So I said, you mean to put her down?
She paused for a very long time and then said well, if she is that sick, she will die anyways.
Wait. I thought we were talking about ringworm? How did this escalate to her imminent death?
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After speaking to two vets who both agreed that ringworm is highly unusual in this area and only very sick animals would get it, and an animal as young as her being that sick would likely not survive treatment. They did not outright say they would put her to sleep but they hesitated to agree to even treat her other than topically.
I found a veterinary hospital willing to treat her, inpatient with the full ringworm regiment including lime-sulfur baths and oral medication. They said it will take a minimum of 2 weeks, probably more, but they had never lost an animal to ringworm treatment. I am taking her tomorrow. While she is gone it will give me time to recover from it myself and also make sure my other pets are clear or treated if they got it too, and get it cleared out of my house before bringing her back so that she is not reinfected when she gets home.
I cannot imagine anyone who had ringworm thinking this will resolve itself in time. It is SO miserable. I wish I had known what ringworm was, what to look for. When it first started, I googled my symptoms and everything pointed to bed bugs! I tore my house apart looking for bed bugs and could not find any. Plus we have been with the same furniture in the same house for years, nothing new, no new linens, nothing. The only new thing was the kitten. So I googled "new kitten red itchy bumps" and got articles about how unlikely it was to get bed bugs from a new kitten. UGH! I had NO CLUE.
The best I can hope for now is that Grace survives her treatment and we are both cleared of this and no one else gets infected and we are able to thoroughly rid the house of it before she returns.
I found a veterinary hospital willing to treat her, inpatient with the full ringworm regiment including lime-sulfur baths and oral medication. They said it will take a minimum of 2 weeks, probably more, but they had never lost an animal to ringworm treatment. I am taking her tomorrow. While she is gone it will give me time to recover from it myself and also make sure my other pets are clear or treated if they got it too, and get it cleared out of my house before bringing her back so that she is not reinfected when she gets home.
I cannot imagine anyone who had ringworm thinking this will resolve itself in time. It is SO miserable. I wish I had known what ringworm was, what to look for. When it first started, I googled my symptoms and everything pointed to bed bugs! I tore my house apart looking for bed bugs and could not find any. Plus we have been with the same furniture in the same house for years, nothing new, no new linens, nothing. The only new thing was the kitten. So I googled "new kitten red itchy bumps" and got articles about how unlikely it was to get bed bugs from a new kitten. UGH! I had NO CLUE.
The best I can hope for now is that Grace survives her treatment and we are both cleared of this and no one else gets infected and we are able to thoroughly rid the house of it before she returns.
I agree! We go back next weekend for another ringworm test, and then two weeks after that for the last one. I'm going to request the PCR test at both. So far so good with the culture that we are waiting on. It has been six days, and no change in color and nothing growing. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed!! If it is negative, then that means we have a negative PCR and a negative culture so far. Still one cat looking scabby and flaky, though, but one vet said it was miliary dermatitis, which was a reaction to having the ringworm. I don't know about the miliary dermatitis. I think it looks more like seborrhea sicca, from my online checking around.
Wait...what??? Cats can get ringworm. Our vet said it is quite common in kittens, and there are some breeds of cats that are very prone to getting it. What is wrong with these vets? If she has a compromised immune system with FELV, then that is still no reason to put her down. There is a kitten at my vet's office waiting to be adopted who tested positive for it. The technician explained that there are medications they can give to them to help boost their immune systems, and they do live shorter lives and are more apt to get sick, but c'mon...
As far as your own ringworm, please ask your doctor for Naftin lotion (or the generic version of it). Three of us got a couple of spots each in our house from the kittens, and mine cleared up in about 4-5 days. I continued to use the lotion for a week after they cleared, and nothing has come back. That was back on December 4th when we first saw our spots. I highly recommend Naftin cream for human cases of ringworm if you want it to clear FAST!!
