Please bear with me--I provide a long backstory (see below) before getting to my questions about Ringworm and Program. If you do not want to read the backstory, please skip to the last couple of paragraphs.
BACKSTORY: Back in February, my husband and I adopted a young female cat (Hetty Miep) from a local animal shelter. Approx. 3-4 weeks after we adopted her, Miep began itching her ears to the point that she lost quite a bit of hair. We also noticed the hair on her stomach (which had been shaved after she'd been spayed at the end of January--before we adopted her) wasn't growning back, and her overall hair texture was very coarse. At first the vet thought that she might have a food allergy. Then, the itching spread to our other cats (although Hilda was the only one that seemed to experience the same degree of itching), so the vet thought that the cats might have scabies/skin mites and began treating them with injections of Ivermectin. After one month's treatment, the itching had not abated and my vet advised me to take Miep to a specialist. The specialist thought that Miep (and her siblings) either had ringworm or demodex.
The specialist said that the only cure for demodex is lime sulfur treatments. If it was ringworm, there were other options. She started a culture with Miep's hair but warned us that it might take 2-3 weeks before we would know anything (she's had success letting the cultures develop longer than normal).
We were advised to go ahead and give the cats lime sulfur baths. We quickly discovered that it would not be possible to give the cats these ourselves. One of the cats, Elvin, is incredibly sweet at home but a complete nightmare at the vet's office (even after sedation, it is very difficult for our vet and 2 vet techs to control to him). When I called our regular veterinarian about the lime sulfur dip problem, he couldn't believe that the specialist had advised us to do this ourselves. He agreed that he didn't think it would be possible for his clinic to bathe Elvin and admitted that he really doesn't advise people to use lime sulfur baths unless there are no other alternatives (the lime sulfur causes a burning sensation for the cats). The specialist advised waiting a couple of more weeks (for the culture to develop) before making a decision on the baths.
"Luckily", the specialist called us after 3 weeks to let us know that Miep's culture had finally developed ringworm. She prescribed itraconazole (Sporonox). The cats hated it and it was very expensive (the medicine used up our vacation budget, but that's okay--they're worth it!), but we gave them the medicine for two months. After the first month, another culture was started; we continued giving the cats the Sporonox for the next month. That culture never developed ringworm, so we were hopeful that the ringworm was gone. The cats had all quit itching and Mieps hair had grown back on her stomach and was much softer.
ACTUAL QUESTION: In the last week (after being off of Sporonox for 3 weeks) my two girls (Hilda and Miep) have started itching again. My husband and I really can't afford to put the cats back on Sporonox, and we would like to avoid some of the other types of medicine (eg, Griseofulvin) because of possible dangerous short and long term side effects. I've read several reports (some in the forum archives) saying that Program (lufeneron), a medication typically used to treat for fleas, has been successful in treating Ringworm. I've ordered some for the cats. The vet advised giving them 80 mg/kg once a month for two months.
If anyone else has used Program to treat ringworm, please let me know how successful your experience was and also any information (that you might remember) relating to dosage (amounts, frequency of doses, and how long your cat(s) were on it) and methods for administering the medicine.
I read on Novartis' website that the medicine is "flavored". Does anyone know what flavor? I tried calling Novartis but was never able to speak to an actual person. I'm planning on crushing the pills into something "special" (eg, tuna or baby food) and am hoping that the pill flavor/smell won't be detected by the cats.
Any feedback on other's experiences would be much appreciated.
I feel so bad for our poor cats!
Thanks!
Heather
BACKSTORY: Back in February, my husband and I adopted a young female cat (Hetty Miep) from a local animal shelter. Approx. 3-4 weeks after we adopted her, Miep began itching her ears to the point that she lost quite a bit of hair. We also noticed the hair on her stomach (which had been shaved after she'd been spayed at the end of January--before we adopted her) wasn't growning back, and her overall hair texture was very coarse. At first the vet thought that she might have a food allergy. Then, the itching spread to our other cats (although Hilda was the only one that seemed to experience the same degree of itching), so the vet thought that the cats might have scabies/skin mites and began treating them with injections of Ivermectin. After one month's treatment, the itching had not abated and my vet advised me to take Miep to a specialist. The specialist thought that Miep (and her siblings) either had ringworm or demodex.
The specialist said that the only cure for demodex is lime sulfur treatments. If it was ringworm, there were other options. She started a culture with Miep's hair but warned us that it might take 2-3 weeks before we would know anything (she's had success letting the cultures develop longer than normal).
We were advised to go ahead and give the cats lime sulfur baths. We quickly discovered that it would not be possible to give the cats these ourselves. One of the cats, Elvin, is incredibly sweet at home but a complete nightmare at the vet's office (even after sedation, it is very difficult for our vet and 2 vet techs to control to him). When I called our regular veterinarian about the lime sulfur dip problem, he couldn't believe that the specialist had advised us to do this ourselves. He agreed that he didn't think it would be possible for his clinic to bathe Elvin and admitted that he really doesn't advise people to use lime sulfur baths unless there are no other alternatives (the lime sulfur causes a burning sensation for the cats). The specialist advised waiting a couple of more weeks (for the culture to develop) before making a decision on the baths.
"Luckily", the specialist called us after 3 weeks to let us know that Miep's culture had finally developed ringworm. She prescribed itraconazole (Sporonox). The cats hated it and it was very expensive (the medicine used up our vacation budget, but that's okay--they're worth it!), but we gave them the medicine for two months. After the first month, another culture was started; we continued giving the cats the Sporonox for the next month. That culture never developed ringworm, so we were hopeful that the ringworm was gone. The cats had all quit itching and Mieps hair had grown back on her stomach and was much softer.
ACTUAL QUESTION: In the last week (after being off of Sporonox for 3 weeks) my two girls (Hilda and Miep) have started itching again. My husband and I really can't afford to put the cats back on Sporonox, and we would like to avoid some of the other types of medicine (eg, Griseofulvin) because of possible dangerous short and long term side effects. I've read several reports (some in the forum archives) saying that Program (lufeneron), a medication typically used to treat for fleas, has been successful in treating Ringworm. I've ordered some for the cats. The vet advised giving them 80 mg/kg once a month for two months.
If anyone else has used Program to treat ringworm, please let me know how successful your experience was and also any information (that you might remember) relating to dosage (amounts, frequency of doses, and how long your cat(s) were on it) and methods for administering the medicine.
I read on Novartis' website that the medicine is "flavored". Does anyone know what flavor? I tried calling Novartis but was never able to speak to an actual person. I'm planning on crushing the pills into something "special" (eg, tuna or baby food) and am hoping that the pill flavor/smell won't be detected by the cats.
Any feedback on other's experiences would be much appreciated.
I feel so bad for our poor cats!
Thanks!
Heather