Ringworm, mange? Best guesses on this stray kitten? (Pictures included)

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moxiewild

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:vibes::vibes::vibes:the potting soil works. Perhaps she would use puppy pads? Puppy pads in litter boxes sometimes work for cats that know what a litter box is, but don't use it. If she uses one on the floor, and that's then put in a box, she might get the idea.

Poor little thing.
I sure hope it does! We have another much younger kitten and picked up another one of his siblings today too, and they are not getting it either (they’re still pretty young though, 8 weeks). I just wish they’d go anywhere but the bedding!

I have puppy pads literally everywhere after the first incident! Haha. I have large puppy pads on top of smaller “sticky” puppy pads, and those are on top of a shower curtain on the floor! 😂

I really hate cleaning poop in particular because I’m a bit of a germaphobe, so I try to make it as easy as possible 😆

I was hoping I’d see a pattern in how she was going... a specific location, or only in the carrier (which would make me think she might just prefer a covered box), but it’s totally random. Even going on bedding isn’t consistent.

I did put one of the puppy pads in the box, and she ended up going very out of her way to pee behind it on the floor. Closest she’s gotten to actually in the box, though!
 
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moxiewild

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Have you thought of using straw as bedding? It's warm and absorbent and you can just compost it if she uses it as a litter box.
Yes, this did cross my mind actually.

The problem is that she spends most of her time sleeping on top of the carrier, where we place either a bed or blanket, so placing straw there isn’t really feasible.

However, there are two other places we have bedding - in the carrier, and on top of the bathroom counter. She eliminates in all three places, but I could probably just put nothing on the counter, and then straw in the carrier. That might help at least. I just finished my last bale for shelters, so I’ll go pick up another one in a day or so if she still isn’t catching on.

I actually took the bed off of the counter today and replaced it with a small litterbox with just a puppypad inside (no litter). She’s already peed in it!

I don’t get cats sometimes. I need to use potting soil so she understands where to go since it’s more like what she’s used to - but then why is she more willing to go on a puppy pad than in litter (wood based litter, no less!) with leaves and sticks and prices of grass in it???

You would think that would seem far more familiar to her than a puppy pad or blanket. I never understand this 😆
 

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You never know with cats. We have a 3-year-old feral at the shelter that peed in water bowls for well over two years, despite having a slew of litter boxes and a 1/4 acre of land to use. We started putting puppy pads under the water bowls and then putting pieces of them in the litter boxes, and he finally caught on. We still haven't figured out why he peed in water bowls.
 

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Is there any chance that she is incontinent? I guess having diarrhea will mean she doesn't always make it to the litter box in time, but could she have trouble controlling her bladder as well? Maybe the reason she uses her bedding as a litter box is that when she falls asleep there she relaxes and her bladder spontaneously empties.
 
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moxiewild

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Is there any chance that she is incontinent? I guess having diarrhea will mean she doesn't always make it to the litter box in time, but could she have trouble controlling her bladder as well? Maybe the reason she uses her bedding as a litter box is that when she falls asleep there she relaxes and her bladder spontaneously empties.
I don’t think so in this case, actually. Mostly because she appears stay on top of the carrier 99% of the time. That’s the bed she goes in least too. I think she only peed there once, and the other time she only tracked diarrhea.

She did seem to consistently poop inside of the carrier, though. So tonight we didn’t replace the carrier after cleaning, and instead placed a covered litterbox there with the soil. She has three in there for tonight, so we’ll see what she does.
 
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moxiewild

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So tonight I spent a lot of time with her.

The good news is, after an hour of trying, she finally learned how to play :)

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The bad news is, she started bleeding again. Definitely from her genitals. But it was only “spotting”. It seems like the playing triggered it but I don’t know how it would?

She is also very itchy, and not just where she’s lost hair, but her face too. She has a new little sore by her ear :(
 

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Can you get an x-ray to determine if she has dead kittens inside?
I spoke to our vet about it. She felt that unless she gets worse or starts bleeding again, an X-ray is unnecessary. She felt like there would probably be more signs by now if there was still a fetus inside of her, but does think it’s possible that she could have miscarried, or sustained other physical trauma, or even a UTI.

My vets don’t push tests and diagnostics on me... I always feel like I’m the one pushing it on them 😂

She doesn’t seem to be overly itchy... but I will definitely keep the steroid cream in mind, thank you.
Is there any chance that she is incontinent? I guess having diarrhea will mean she doesn't always make it to the litter box in time, but could she have trouble controlling her bladder as well? Maybe the reason she uses her bedding as a litter box is that when she falls asleep there she relaxes and her bladder spontaneously empties.
If you do finally move to having any xrays done, maybe they can also include her spine and tail. And don't forget to have a radiologist read the xrays, not the regular vet. Besides just not being used to using a litter box as a possibility, I myself was wondering if any possible spine or tail injury or nerve issues could be leading to her going outside of the box (e.g. unable to control such things because of bone, soft tissue or nerve damage). It's hard to say without more info via the vet.

She is such a sweetie! Thank you for saving her and caring about her health and well-being :hugs:
 

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I think she really needs an x-ray of her uterus. She’s got something going on in there that needs addressing. :(

She also sounds like she needs a round of metronidazole for the diarrhea. It will cure a bacterial infection in her gut and kill any parasites in her intestines. Parasites and worms are not the same thing. When the diarrhea is resolved she will probably use the litter pans.

That being said, she appears to be gaining weight! A cortisone shot would stop her itching.

Once she feels better she will play more!
 
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moxiewild

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moxiewild moxiewild :hearthrob::bigeyes: -- just checking in on Elvira. :crossfingers: How are you both doing?
Not great.

I’ve actually started a different thread. Elvira may or may not be patient zero, but we’re now having a giardia outbreak in the house.

Elvira and two others tested positive, and our older guys with weak immune systems have been showing obvious symptoms. So has every single kitten, other than our “preexisting” 7 month old tripod who is isolated with her mom upstairs (although she threw up and acted unwell one day. I’ve never seen her throw up in the many months we’ve had her, so we continue to keep an eye on her).

At this point, we can confidently say that 9 total have it, with two who very briefly threw up or didn’t eat one day but haven’t shown signs since.

We have a young FIV+ guy, and two other immunocompromised senior/geriatric cats we’re keeping a very close eye on, but overall they seem fine so far.

We’re also pretty sure one of our only young and healthy guys is immune st this point, as he’s by far had the most exposure but is still okay.

Unfortunately, all 16 have definitely been exposed at this point so we’ll see.

We’re most concerned right now about one of our senior females and one of our VERY geriatric males. Both have CKD, among other health issues, and are clearly infected. It’s normally a constant battle for us to keep weight on them, so dealing with anorexia, diarrhea, and vomit with them has been extremely stressful and just... emotional for us right now.

We are obviously also closely monitoring Elvira and the other infected kittens.

At this point, we’re just scrambling right now to try and find a way to contain this since we can’t isolate many of the cats for various reasons. We do have all of the kittens separated in crates right now in the kitten room, however (they’re absolutely miserable about it, of course).

We do not regret helping Elvira though, and we are committed to seeing this through one way or another until she is healthy and ready to go to a forever home.
 

PushPurrCatPaws

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Oh no! I am so sorry you are going through all of this. I hope everyone makes it through :grouphug2:
That is a LOT to deal with!
 

Sarthur2

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I’m so sorry to hear this. What medicine are they being treated with?
 
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moxiewild

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So update (I am now updating my other thread Norachan linked above, so haven’t updated here - sorry!).

It looks like we now also have ringworm, so that’s awful :( Calling the vet tomorrow for culture results to confirm. Elvira appears unaffected thus far.

She has finished her clavimox, as well as the metro for giardia, so we took her to her follow up.

WBC is back to normal, and still no signs of... well, much of anything. All the vets seem to be able to do is theorize.

So I asked for an x-ray, and our vet even consulted the senior vet at the clinic about it.

I may not be remembering entirely what all they saw, but I do recall there looked to be a small amount of fluid in Elvira’s uterus. The senior vet thinks she was probably pregnant and miscarried, perhaps due to being emaciated. Fur loss could have been from that (kind of doubt it, since she’s missing fur on the back of her forelegs too, but she could have just been excessively grooming in general) or just something entirely separate to the miscarriage that occurred around the same time, like a bad flea infestation.

They have basically said that based on everything they’ve done, they do not believe the cause to be ringworm or mites or anything else contagious, and she has been cleared to come out of quarantine... well, theoretically, of course, since we’re dealing with giardia and ringworm with the others.

Her fur is also growing back and she had gained a whopping almost 2 lbs in 2 weeks!!! We can barely feel spine and ribs now, so that’s awesome!

They’ve also given us the go ahead to have her spayed and vaccinated, so we’ll be doing that ASAP. She went into heat this week and now we have some in tact toms fighting outside :(

Once she’s spayed and cleared of giardia, we’re thinking about trying to introduce her to the other kitten we have around her age, along with that kittens Mom, since those two have been relatively well separated from the other giardia and possible ringworm groups and have their own room.

It would be really, really great if the three of them could get along, otherwise Elvira will be forced to stay in a small bathroom until her fur grows back in and she becomes more “adoptable”, and I really want to avoid that at all costs. :(
 
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