Asymptomatic Ringworm Help

Paddycat2018

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Hello,

When I adopted my new Maine Coon kitten, some of his litter mates had a fungal infection. He came to my home with assurances that he didn't have ringworm, but he did have some small bumps on his forehead. On his first kitten check, our vet scraped the area and looked at it under a Woods' Lamp. There was no evidence of ringworm. Fast forward a month: it appears kitten is asymptomatic because the little stinker gifted me his ringworm infection. I took him back to the vet, but she still is unable to detect any sign of ringworm. How do I know if the kitten (Wikki) is still symptomatic when there's no evidence of infection on him? How do I begin to tackle his potential ringworm issues if there's nothing to treat? I would like to hold and cuddle him again, but I'm concerned about getting more ringworms.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 

Mamanyt1953

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I'm a bit stumped. While I did discover that, yes, cats can have asymptomatic ringworm and be contagious, NOWHERE could I find the treatment for it. I would call your vet back, tell her that you have developed ringworm from contact with the kitten, and ask her what the next step for clearing this up will be. The fungus is on him, somewhere, or you wouldn't have gotten it. Beyond that, I'm just at a loss. I am so sorry.
 
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Paddycat2018

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Thank you for your reply. I did take Wikki in a second time, but she didn't have any recommendations. I've Googled without success as well. It's very frustrating. I am still hoping some of you on this lovely forum will have experienced this and have some advice.
 

FeebysOwner

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You might find this document (see link below) informative. It discusses asymptomatic ringworms in cats. It talks about cats who are "dust mops" - the term “dust mop” is used to describe a cat that has spores on their fur from the environment but is not actually infected. These cats will be free of lesions, have a negative Wood’s Lamp exam, and have minimal colony growth on fungal culture. But, a culture done with their hair may pick up on the fungus when other tests fail. I would talk to your vet about this. Maybe your vet will go ahead and treat your cat with oral anti-fungal meds? That would likely be the answer for your cat, along with treatment for you/your family, and the typical household cleaning to get rid of any spores that may be still be hanging around.

He likely picked it up from his litter mates and just happened to be one of those 'dust mop' cats.
Can cats be asymptomatic carriers of ringworm? - University of Wisconsin Madison Shelter Medicine Program (uwsheltermedicine.com)
 

fionasmom

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How to Deal with Ringworm in Cats [Inc. the Housecleaning Regime] – TheCatSite Articles

You have probably googled this information since you have been dealing with this for a while.

The article from UW is really the only one out there and it does state that a negative Wood's lamp test does not rule out ringworm, although a positive definitely rules it in. I would bring that up to the vet about false negatives and pursuing a treatment. I am a little surprised that since you came down with ringworm that the vet let you walk back out of the office with no treatment for the kitty.
 
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Paddycat2018

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I just had a call from Wikki's doctor. She wants to do another scraping and culture it over the course of a few weeks to see if anything grows. She is hesitant about the lime sulfa dip because she doesn't know how it will affect a kitten. I feel better, though, that she's invested now. At least the culture will determine if he's asymptomatic (even thought it could take several weeks).
 
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