Ringworm And Not Coping, Please Help Me.

[Minnow3]

Where do I start. I’m in desperate need of support. I contracted ringworm and now my cat has it on her ear. The vet has sent off for a culture. In the meantime, she’s been quarantined to a small carpeted spare bedroom with a few bits of furniture in it. The vet has asked to just put canesten on the ear for now. The majority of our house it carpeted.

I’m beyond overwhelmed with the potential of reinfection and others getting infected. The “cleaning regimes” I have found do not help and just overwhelm me even more. I have been trying my best to vacuum, dust, wash as mush as I can, but we live in a house with mostly carpeting.

I have developed a phobia of the ringworm. I also suffer from a chronic illness that causes paralysing anxiety and depression, which is why on some days I have trouble keeping up with the cleaning.

I’m in tears most dasy and am doing mostly on my own, whilst trying to work.

I feel like I’m not doing enough and am petrefied that my 10 year old step-daughter will get it.

Is there anything I can spray on furniture that may reduce spores? I can’t use bleach my husband is allergic to it.

I did buy F10 and am spraying it all over and using it as a fogger in rooms (has a lovely scent).

I feel like giving up and to top it all off I hadn’t to put down my much beloved Tuxedo Cat Lucy this week because of her chronic health issues. I’m in a bad way, any support would be appreciated.

 

[abyeb]

I’m sorry to hear that you and your kitty are going through this. Ringworm is a struggle, but TCS members are very helpful, so we’ll help you as much as we can.

Here’s some articles that you might find helpful:

Ringworm In Cats: How To Win The Fight

Ringworm Infestation In Cats: The Housecleaning Regime

 

[foxden]

M Minnow3
I'm so sorry to hear that you lost your Lucy and are now dealing with ringworm.

In the Crossing the Bridge forum here... Crossing the Bridge ... members can help you with that loss.

Many members have dealt with ringworm, and I'm certain they will jump in and help here.

 

[KAThryn777]

I am brand new here but I landed her because my new kitty has ringworm bad. I totally get you on the feeling overwhelmed!!! We have a fairly large house and 3 little kids who run all over the place and track spores everywhere. I feel like I’m never going to win

 

[jcat]

Have you seen this thread? It has excellent tips on how to cope with ringworm. 6 Things I Learned from Our Ringworm Plague (book length....)

 

[Minnow3]

Have you seen this thread? It has excellent tips on how to cope with ringworm. 6 Things I Learned from Our Ringworm Plague (book length....)

Yes and it makes me want to wave a white flag and give up.

 

[jcat]

I've only dealt with it at the shelter (where it's easier due to there being no carpets or upholstered furniture), but I know what you mean about feeling overwhelmed. I know I felt that way the first time, when we had four guinea pigs and five cats with it come in at about the same time. We were constantly bathing animals, giving oral meds, and cleaning. The good news is that none of the staff members or other animals got it and it did clear up within a couple of weeks. It helps to think of it as similar to athlete's foot.

 

[KAThryn777]

Yes and it makes me want to wave a white flag and give up.

We’ve got this. I’ve read it too and I’ve been cleaning for days just to get to a point I can start bleaching stuff. My house wasn’t horrible but with 3 kids it is certainly lived in

 

[Minnow3]

We’ve got this. I’ve read it too and I’ve been cleaning for days just to get to a point I can start bleaching stuff. My house wasn’t horrible but with 3 kids it is certainly lived in

My bigger issue is suffering from anxiety and depression. Some days I struggle to get going and have very low energy, so I haven’t been cleaning everyday. I have developed a phobia of this and am now taking medication for acute anxiety. We live in the UK and have a small home with little storage. My husband is a musician, so there’s lots everywhere. I just don’t think I’ll ever feel comfortable in my own home again. I’m trying my best, but some days I don’t clean and then think it’s all hopeless. I feel like giving up. I lay in bed first thing having anxiety attacks about it.

 

[RLG]

You can do it! Do one small thing at a time. U know that, I'm sure

 

[klancee47]

This is the saddest thing I can even think about and the war I am fighting battling it is overwhelming me. My cat got ringworm from a foster kitten I brought into the house, Dec 10th it started. By January 19th, My poor baby had to be put to sleep. The vet that was treating her was not doing what they said they were doing and the ringworm got so intense on my cat she was just so terribly unhappy and in pain, then the new vet I took her to said that she had an underlying blood infection, which was causing the ringworm to not heal. I am so sorry that I felt I had to put her to sleep but the agony she was in and the fear that I lived in was devastating to me. (my whole house was contaminated, she lived in the whole place) I felt like I was losing my mind, my anxiety was causing me to not sleep and I was paranoid. I was doing everything the vet told me to do and it was getting worse. They were supposed to be giving her lime sulfur bath once a week, I bought a 16 ounce bottle of the stuff, and after three weeks of paying for the baths I noticed that the bottle still felt full, It was a 16 oz bottle and it called for 4 ounces in a gallon of water each bath, after three baths I felt the bottle and it still felt full so I measured it and there was 14 ounces in it, I scratched my head and thought what the heck, so I asked the girl who bathes the cat the next time I took her in and she said she made a bath with 4 ounces and was reusing it WHAT! really REUSING IT. NO way! So she went and told the vet that I had confronted her about it and the vet came in and read me the riot for attacking the assistant, I let them bath her again that day thinking (THAT THEY GOT THE POINT and would use 4 ounces) but when I picked my cat up the bottle had no more used out of it, So they didn't really bath her in enough of the sulphur lime bath, I blame them a lot for not doing that much right. Reno, NV (Desert Hills Animal Hospital on Lincoln Way in Sparks, NV.)

I have a major outbreak of ringworm in my home also and it is epic in the fact that I feel like I live with a terrorist. I can't see it so don't know if what I am doing is any good or just wasted energy.

Did you get an answer from anyone to your request for information? I need help and you asked some good questions that would help me also. I am at the cleaning stage, I have had carpet cleaners in for 3 of my four rooms that the cat was in. I now have to have them come out and clean the room she was quarantined in. I am spraying all wall with pure vinegar, I use bleach where I can but I have carpet and am afraid to bleach it. I have washed all my furniture with a bleach solution, and two weeks later sprayed them totally wet with vinegar. I feel like I am being held hostage in my own home because I am afraid to have people in and while I am broke out all over my face I don't want to go into public.

Could you please pass any good information that you have received along to me PLEASE I need help. I am 70 and have had cats all my life and this is the first time ever to get ringworm, I was fostering kittens, will never do that again.

 

[KAThryn777]

Hugs to you. We ended up making the same decision. He had the ringworm and it wasn’t getting better and then it started but getting infected. We are also in the disinfect phase. WHich is awful!

 

[Minnow3]

This is the saddest thing I can even think about and the war I am fighting battling it is overwhelming me. My cat got ringworm from a foster kitten I brought into the house, Dec 10th it started. By January 19th, My poor baby had to be put to sleep. The vet that was treating her was not doing what they said they were doing and the ringworm got so intense on my cat she was just so terribly unhappy and in pain, then the new vet I took her to said that she had an underlying blood infection, which was causing the ringworm to not heal. I am so sorry that I felt I had to put her to sleep but the agony she was in and the fear that I lived in was devastating to me. (my whole house was contaminated, she lived in the whole place) I felt like I was losing my mind, my anxiety was causing me to not sleep and I was paranoid. I was doing everything the vet told me to do and it was getting worse. They were supposed to be giving her lime sulfur bath once a week, I bought a 16 ounce bottle of the stuff, and after three weeks of paying for the baths I noticed that the bottle still felt full, It was a 16 oz bottle and it called for 4 ounces in a gallon of water each bath, after three baths I felt the bottle and it still felt full so I measured it and there was 14 ounces in it, I scratched my head and thought what the heck, so I asked the girl who bathes the cat the next time I took her in and she said she made a bath with 4 ounces and was reusing it WHAT! really REUSING IT. NO way! So she went and told the vet that I had confronted her about it and the vet came in and read me the riot for attacking the assistant, I let them bath her again that day thinking (THAT THEY GOT THE POINT and would use 4 ounces) but when I picked my cat up the bottle had no more used out of it, So they didn't really bath her in enough of the sulphur lime bath, I blame them a lot for not doing that much right. Reno, NV (Desert Hills Animal Hospital on Lincoln Way in Sparks, NV.)

I have a major outbreak of ringworm in my home also and it is epic in the fact that I feel like I live with a terrorist. I can't see it so don't know if what I am doing is any good or just wasted energy.

Did you get an answer from anyone to your request for information? I need help and you asked some good questions that would help me also. I am at the cleaning stage, I have had carpet cleaners in for 3 of my four rooms that the cat was in. I now have to have them come out and clean the room she was quarantined in. I am spraying all wall with pure vinegar, I use bleach where I can but I have carpet and am afraid to bleach it. I have washed all my furniture with a bleach solution, and two weeks later sprayed them totally wet with vinegar. I feel like I am being held hostage in my own home because I am afraid to have people in and while I am broke out all over my face I don't want to go into public.

Could you please pass any good information that you have received along to me PLEASE I need help. I am 70 and have had cats all my life and this is the first time ever to get ringworm, I was fostering kittens, will never do that again.

Your post just makes me feel so sad. I was finally put on an antidepressant this week because my anxiety is through the roof and I have developed paralysing panic attacks. What I DO know from reading about fungal spores and after speaking to my doctor is that they are naturally occurring in all environments and it usually take direct contact (skin to skin) or with something that is heavily contaminated to get infected, especially if there is a break in the skin. If someone or animal is immunocompromised, then yes they will be more prone to getting an infection.

I found this on “Petforum” it’s based on more recent information by Karen Morrell, one of the leading Cat dermatologists in the world - it is far less over the top. Also I saw her in an interview and she said that people use far too many disinfectants, soap and water works too. I can’t use bleach, so I have purchased products from a company called F10, they are really good. Here’s the information:

“I've always based my advice on ringworm on what I've learnt from Karen Moriello, who leads the world with her feline ringworm research.

When it comes to the house, you don't need to worry *too* much. Catching ringworm from the environment is not easy (only one research paper has actually documented it happening). Ringworm spores are a dormant phase of the fungus' life cycle, so they cannot replicate in the house and cannot 'invade' your home. They are, luckily, very susceptible to cleaning. They remain viable in the environment for months, not years.

Cleaning the house is generally to reduce the number of false positives you get when the cat is tested for ringworm - the spores can rest harmlessly on the coat and cause a positive culture even when the infection has gone, so you can end up continuing treatment for no reason.

Cleaning the house is not really aimed to reduce the chances of spread. Other pets and family members can only realistically catch ringworm from direct contact with the kitty, not from the furniture, carpet etc.

This is how to clean stuff, though:

Hard surfaces - including the cat carrier
Wash with soap and water 1-2 times weekly. Bleach is not necessary. The fungus is susceptible to plain soap and water. You can spray disinfectant on the surfaces afterwards if you like, to remove residual spores.

Clothes and fabrics
Wash clothes on the longest cycle with regular detergent. The temperature is unimportant. Lots of agitation is needed, so it's recommended to underload the machine on each wash. Denim and other tightly woven fabrics need two washes. Dry cleaning is effective, but make sure you remove pet hairs first.

A note on handling laundry - wet laundry IS an exposure risk, so carry it around in bags and wash your hands afterwards.

Pet beds
As for clothing, but wash pet bedding on the last wash of the day.

Clean the washing machine and dryer after use
Wipe out the machine after use and spray the dryer with disinfectant after the last load.

Carpets
Vacuuming will not remove spores from carpets, but it will remove cat hairs. They will die within a few months, but if you wish to wash the carpet in the meantime you can do this with regular steam cleaning or brushing with carpet detergent.

A note on washing carpets - when the carpets are damp, spores will bloom about 48 hours afterwards. It is recommended to keep kids off the carpets for a few days while they dry. The spores die 7-10 days later.


With regards to handling, infected kittens can potentially spread the fungus to people. For infection to occur, you need 'microtrauma' to the skin. This is generally light abrasions caused by scratching or clothes rubbing, and it will allow the fungus to penetrate the skin.”

The past few days I haven’t done much in the way of cleaning and have been told cleaning my cats room twice per week is enough.

I hope this helps, places that say ringworm is not a big deal are full of crap. I’m so sorry this has happened to you. x

 

[Minnow3]

Hugs to you. We ended up making the same decision. He had the ringworm and it wasn’t getting better and then it started but getting infected. We are also in the disinfect phase. WHich is awful!

I think depending on what happens here I may never get a pet again. It’s strange, but if I lose Bijou to this it would be all too traumatising. I’m so sorry you had to make that decision, but it’s nice to know we’re not alone. x

 

[Antonio65]

Over here we have a product that it's called GD90 and is a disinfectant, virus killer and spore killer and does not contain bleach.
It can be sprayed of floor, carpet and furniture. It comes in 1 liter bottles and it has to be diluted 1:100, so 1 liter lasts forever.
Check your area and see if you have something similar.

 

[karlagoodkat]

Currently dealing with ringworm on myself, wife and a cat (I have 5!). Did you all get rid of it?!

 

[nansiludie]

Currently dealing with ringworm on myself, wife and a cat (I have 5!). Did you all get rid of it?!

I didn't reply on this post but I had one cat come home with ringworm and I have a multiple cat household. I had 8 inside at the time and several outside and only that one cat had it and I got him cleared with at home lime sulphur baths. I did keep him in a kennel by himself and bleached it every other day and it worked well for us. He doesn't have any issues from it and no one else including myself ever caught it.