New Ringworm Patch After Two Weeks Help!

[Mom2JamesDean]

Hi Cat Lovers,

So I found a stray kitten (about 7-9 mos) on the street about two weeks ago. I took him home and was going to take him to the shelter but ended up falling in love instead. I took him to the vet the next morning, and he had a suspicious looking patch on the back of his neck, which the vet did a fungal test on to see if it was ringworm. The results came out negative, but she said it could be the organisms were too small, and to still keep him in quarantine and give him miconazole until his appointment in a week and a half. Quarantine has been brutal. He is such a social cat and he doesn’t understand why he has to be locked in our ONLY bathroom (which has been majorly stressful). We have been diligently giving him his miconazole at scheduled times, and tomorrow is his appointment where we might FINALLY be able to let him out of quarantine (it will be exactly two weeks), and a NEW ringworm looking spot on his back thigh showed up last night. I’m so stressed! Do you guys think this new patch could be ringworm or something else? It’s a bald spot with two red wound looking marks in it. I’m so sad, I don’t want him to be locked up anymore . My poor little beeb. I just wish I could tell him this is temporary.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

It's really impossible to know, especially since the original spot came back negative. What is happening withe original spot? Is it looking better? From what I can tell, miconazole takes about two weeks to clear up the issue, and since it is applied only to the exact spot of the skin lesion, I think it's definitely possible for another lesion to appear elsewhere within that time. Are you diligently cleaning the bathroom just in case it IS ringworm?

Here iare some articles about ringworm:

Ringworm In Cats: How To Win The Fight

Ringworm Infestation In Cats: The Housecleaning Regime

And here's one about skin conditions: Skin Conditions In Cats

 

[Mom2JamesDean]

Thank you for the articles! So the original spot oddly looks like a crop circle on the back of his neck. Where there’s a ring of no hair with a small short hair patch in the middle. And then I rub the miconazole on the lesion and then anywhere his hair looks thin (which is a lot of patches), but I definitely get this leg with the miconazole. He does have a habit of excessive grooming, itching and ripping out his fur. But also we’ve vaccumed his bed, I wipe the floor with Clorox wipes. I wash his bowl after every meal. The only things that haven’t been deep cleaned or thrown out has been the litter box (I do scoop twice daily and add fresh litter every so often) and the scratch pad which I was just going to throw out once he was out of quarantine. I’ll try to attach photos. All though he’s very squirmy.

 

[Mom2JamesDean]

If you look closely you can see the two red dots on the spot and then the bottom is his crop circle which does look better. But the skin is very white underneath

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Did you go back to the Vet? What did they think about the new spot?

 

[Mom2JamesDean]

So, it’s not ringworm. He was FINALLY let out quarantine. But it seems as though he has some form of alopecia. He obsessively grooms himself, which is the cause of his bald spots and skin lesions, and the vet suggests that we switch out his food to see if it’s an allergy. I’m very worried (again), because today, he licked himself until he started to bleed.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

OK, a whole other story now. Here an article about food allergies:

11 Key Facts About Food Allergies In Cats

And here are some threads about excessive grooming:

Cat Excessive Scratching And Grooming, Causing Hair Loss And Scabbing

Excessive Grooming And Scratching To Blood

There is some pretty good info in those threads!

 

[Mom2JamesDean]

Thank you for all your help. I took him to the vet again, and she has him in a cone while I give him liquid steroids. But he somehow manages to get it off, goes crazy licking and then fights me really hard to get it back on.