Hello, my husband rescued a kitten from the side of a highway last week. She was estimated to be about 6 weeks old. She had an initial vet visit but weighed less than 1lb so not much was done other than to give her sub-cutaneous fluids, revolution for ear mites and fleas. She was severely dehydrated with patches of skin showing that we were told was due to malnutrition.
This week, we noticed although gaining weight, she was losing more hair. Fleas and mites were gone but she had scales and dry skin. No redness. We took her back to the vet who said she didn't know how she missed ringworm as this kitten's case we severe. Ugh.
She had her first medicated bath yesterday and one dosage .7mg of itraconazol tonight. She weighs 2.7 lbs. She threw up about an hour later. Not sure if this is the medication or the stress from a change to her environment of confining her. I have read as much as I can on ringworm on these forums and others and am confused by it and the treatments. I know that cleaning is important, but but my husband is beside himself and on the verge of tears for this poor kitten and from the stress of trying to sterilize the house. From what I have read, I know it's impossible to sterilize the house and that the spores are naturally occuring in all environments, its when they are concentrated that it becomes an issue.
Dr. Karen Moriello's reports that "Microsporum canis infections are typically due to contact with an infected animal, mainly cats. Transmission from contaminated environments is not an efficient route of transmission" so am I reading this wrong, or why the extra emphasis on sterilizing the environment as everyone seems to stress? I have read the length and depth of strenuous cleaning others have gone through and am wondering if it's really effective, or just making them feel better?
Dr. Moriello also stated that "Experimental dermatophyte infections required that the skin surface was lightly abraded prior to dermatophyte inoculation and kept moist as the infection developed. Additionally, normal grooming is likely a host defence mechanism in cats. Clinical infection was very difficult to establish in laboratory cats experimentally infected with dermatophytes, and Elizabethan collars and prevention of self-grooming were required to allow clinical infection to develop." So, this reads to me that cats need some type of scratches on them for the spores to settle and their own self-grooming prevents infection. I think our kitten's flea bites were the abrasions so this makes sense and it seems that a contaminated environment alone is not enough as Dr. Moreillo reports that "... contact with a contaminated environment alone in the absence of concurrent microtrauma is an exceedingly rare source of infection in both people and animals." "In another study, infected owners were found only in households containing cats and owner infection seemed most commonly associated with direct contact with the cat (kittens) rather than through the environment; in 23 contaminated homes no owner infection was noted even though animals were in the home. In vivo data exist that support the primary mode of dermatophyte transmission is animal–animal contact even in the presence of a contaminated environment."
My husband is literally going to have a nervous breakdown and I'm trying to assure him we need to clean, but we cannot possibly sterilize the house. Dr. Moriello also reports that cleaning is only to lessen the duration of the infection, not get rid of it as it goes away on it's own and that deep cleaning 2x week is fine with daily routine cleaning. Has anyone followed this?
We are also very concerned for the mental well-being of our kitten. She is at the age where she needs to be socialized. Per Dr. Moriello, "Confinement needs to be used with care and for the shortest time possible. Dermatophytosis is a curable disease, but behaviour problems and socialization problems can be life-long if the young or newly adopted animals are not socialized properly. Veterinarians need to consider animal welfare and quality of life when making this recommendation." How the heck do we handle this?
Did anyone come out okay with following what Dr. Moriello reports? Or am I way off base in interpreting her paper? I'm not even sure what we are dealing with here. Thanks for listening and any advice welcome.
This week, we noticed although gaining weight, she was losing more hair. Fleas and mites were gone but she had scales and dry skin. No redness. We took her back to the vet who said she didn't know how she missed ringworm as this kitten's case we severe. Ugh.
She had her first medicated bath yesterday and one dosage .7mg of itraconazol tonight. She weighs 2.7 lbs. She threw up about an hour later. Not sure if this is the medication or the stress from a change to her environment of confining her. I have read as much as I can on ringworm on these forums and others and am confused by it and the treatments. I know that cleaning is important, but but my husband is beside himself and on the verge of tears for this poor kitten and from the stress of trying to sterilize the house. From what I have read, I know it's impossible to sterilize the house and that the spores are naturally occuring in all environments, its when they are concentrated that it becomes an issue.
Dr. Karen Moriello's reports that "Microsporum canis infections are typically due to contact with an infected animal, mainly cats. Transmission from contaminated environments is not an efficient route of transmission" so am I reading this wrong, or why the extra emphasis on sterilizing the environment as everyone seems to stress? I have read the length and depth of strenuous cleaning others have gone through and am wondering if it's really effective, or just making them feel better?
Dr. Moriello also stated that "Experimental dermatophyte infections required that the skin surface was lightly abraded prior to dermatophyte inoculation and kept moist as the infection developed. Additionally, normal grooming is likely a host defence mechanism in cats. Clinical infection was very difficult to establish in laboratory cats experimentally infected with dermatophytes, and Elizabethan collars and prevention of self-grooming were required to allow clinical infection to develop." So, this reads to me that cats need some type of scratches on them for the spores to settle and their own self-grooming prevents infection. I think our kitten's flea bites were the abrasions so this makes sense and it seems that a contaminated environment alone is not enough as Dr. Moreillo reports that "... contact with a contaminated environment alone in the absence of concurrent microtrauma is an exceedingly rare source of infection in both people and animals." "In another study, infected owners were found only in households containing cats and owner infection seemed most commonly associated with direct contact with the cat (kittens) rather than through the environment; in 23 contaminated homes no owner infection was noted even though animals were in the home. In vivo data exist that support the primary mode of dermatophyte transmission is animal–animal contact even in the presence of a contaminated environment."
My husband is literally going to have a nervous breakdown and I'm trying to assure him we need to clean, but we cannot possibly sterilize the house. Dr. Moriello also reports that cleaning is only to lessen the duration of the infection, not get rid of it as it goes away on it's own and that deep cleaning 2x week is fine with daily routine cleaning. Has anyone followed this?
We are also very concerned for the mental well-being of our kitten. She is at the age where she needs to be socialized. Per Dr. Moriello, "Confinement needs to be used with care and for the shortest time possible. Dermatophytosis is a curable disease, but behaviour problems and socialization problems can be life-long if the young or newly adopted animals are not socialized properly. Veterinarians need to consider animal welfare and quality of life when making this recommendation." How the heck do we handle this?
Did anyone come out okay with following what Dr. Moriello reports? Or am I way off base in interpreting her paper? I'm not even sure what we are dealing with here. Thanks for listening and any advice welcome.
