Hi! I am so happy to have found this site, hoping to get some feedback and advice from real people, rather than Google articles that all repeat the same.
Here's my long story. My husband and I recently bought a beautiful Siberian kitten from, as it turns out, an unreputable breeder. We already had two cats, and were trying to get a perfect playmate for one of them, Malibu. We had always adopted cats from shelters before, but this time we wanted to get a Siberian because we suspect that's what Malibu is, and he is the most unique, playful and lovable cat we have ever had. We wanted to make sure the new kitten was free of disease before we introduced him to the other two, so prior to bringing him home we took him to a vet. The vet found ear infection, but cleared him otherwise. We kept the kitten in a separate room until we took him to another vet to recheck his ears, and then slowly and stressfully we started socializing him. We had noticed lesions on his ears when we got him, but since two vets looked at his ears and weren't concerned, we ignored them. Until we got ringworm! Sure enough that's what his lesions were. Took him back to the vet, about 4 weeks ago, and she gave us oral Terbinafine and Climbazole/Clorhexidine shampoo to bathe him every other day. She also instructed us to put Lotrimine on his ears twice a day, and to isolate him from other cats and pretty much burn our house and build a new one in order to get rid of the spores. The kitten had finally started playing with Malibu, and keeping him in the closed room day and night was not something we were wling to do. We didn't want him to become a neurotic cat, and listening to a kitten cry behind the door is just unacceptable to me. Besides, the other cats had already been exposed to the spores, and after a week or so both got ringworm symptoms too.
So, yes, we all got it. My dermatologist was utterly unimpressed and advised us to go on with our lives, rather than go crazy trying to eradicate the spores, which she said was impossible anyway. However, I chose to instead drive myself completely crazy, incessantly vacuuming, cleaning, laundering, Swiffering the whole house and outdoor patio, because cats are allowed to hang out in the garden. Every moment that I don't clean, I spend researching everything I can find on ringworm on the internet. I haven't been able to sleep at all since the whole circus started. I have concerns about oral antifungal medication because of liver toxicity. I fear I will end up killing my cats to get rid of a superficial skin infection. All the research on dosage, effectiveness and safety of Terbinafine in cats was done on a very small sample, nine cats, 30 cats, never hundreds. The kitten lost his appetite and rambunctiousness pretty much immediately after starting the treatment. Then after two weeks he started having diarrhea, so I took him off the medicine. I read a study that shows that the amount of Terbinafine concentrated in the skin and hair remains at inhibitive levels for more than five weeks after a two week course of medication, so I am hoping he is still protected. Malibu is showing similar side expects, and he is incredibly stressed out. He got it the worst, and he's been on Terbinafine compounded liquid for 8 days now, after trying just baths and topical Terbinafine for a week with nothing but worsening and spreading of infection to both of his ears. The third cat, Luna, we can't medicate at all, so we have to rely on her own immunity to clear the infection. The kitten was declared free of ringworm by the vet, based on Wood's lamp exam. However, we purchased a good Wood's lamp and when we examine Malibu under it, only a couple of dots on his face glow, but his ears which have been peeling and dropping clumps of hair, don't glow at all. So I am not sure we can rely on it.
Wow, this IS a thorough report, sorry about that. Here are my questions:
Does it even make sense to treat, when all three cats have it, and one of them can't be medicated? Research shows that, unlike with therapy, when cats clear the infection naturally they actually gain the immunity to subsequent infections.
Are they going to keep getting ringworm back and forth from one another indefinitely?
Has anyone had any success without oral therapy, and with shampoos instead of Lyme sulphur?
Has anyone just let the cats clear ringworm naturally, while only meticulously cleaning the environment?
If you read all this, thank you so much! If you have any advice, it would be much appreciated. I am going crazy here.
Here's my long story. My husband and I recently bought a beautiful Siberian kitten from, as it turns out, an unreputable breeder. We already had two cats, and were trying to get a perfect playmate for one of them, Malibu. We had always adopted cats from shelters before, but this time we wanted to get a Siberian because we suspect that's what Malibu is, and he is the most unique, playful and lovable cat we have ever had. We wanted to make sure the new kitten was free of disease before we introduced him to the other two, so prior to bringing him home we took him to a vet. The vet found ear infection, but cleared him otherwise. We kept the kitten in a separate room until we took him to another vet to recheck his ears, and then slowly and stressfully we started socializing him. We had noticed lesions on his ears when we got him, but since two vets looked at his ears and weren't concerned, we ignored them. Until we got ringworm! Sure enough that's what his lesions were. Took him back to the vet, about 4 weeks ago, and she gave us oral Terbinafine and Climbazole/Clorhexidine shampoo to bathe him every other day. She also instructed us to put Lotrimine on his ears twice a day, and to isolate him from other cats and pretty much burn our house and build a new one in order to get rid of the spores. The kitten had finally started playing with Malibu, and keeping him in the closed room day and night was not something we were wling to do. We didn't want him to become a neurotic cat, and listening to a kitten cry behind the door is just unacceptable to me. Besides, the other cats had already been exposed to the spores, and after a week or so both got ringworm symptoms too.
So, yes, we all got it. My dermatologist was utterly unimpressed and advised us to go on with our lives, rather than go crazy trying to eradicate the spores, which she said was impossible anyway. However, I chose to instead drive myself completely crazy, incessantly vacuuming, cleaning, laundering, Swiffering the whole house and outdoor patio, because cats are allowed to hang out in the garden. Every moment that I don't clean, I spend researching everything I can find on ringworm on the internet. I haven't been able to sleep at all since the whole circus started. I have concerns about oral antifungal medication because of liver toxicity. I fear I will end up killing my cats to get rid of a superficial skin infection. All the research on dosage, effectiveness and safety of Terbinafine in cats was done on a very small sample, nine cats, 30 cats, never hundreds. The kitten lost his appetite and rambunctiousness pretty much immediately after starting the treatment. Then after two weeks he started having diarrhea, so I took him off the medicine. I read a study that shows that the amount of Terbinafine concentrated in the skin and hair remains at inhibitive levels for more than five weeks after a two week course of medication, so I am hoping he is still protected. Malibu is showing similar side expects, and he is incredibly stressed out. He got it the worst, and he's been on Terbinafine compounded liquid for 8 days now, after trying just baths and topical Terbinafine for a week with nothing but worsening and spreading of infection to both of his ears. The third cat, Luna, we can't medicate at all, so we have to rely on her own immunity to clear the infection. The kitten was declared free of ringworm by the vet, based on Wood's lamp exam. However, we purchased a good Wood's lamp and when we examine Malibu under it, only a couple of dots on his face glow, but his ears which have been peeling and dropping clumps of hair, don't glow at all. So I am not sure we can rely on it.Wow, this IS a thorough report, sorry about that. Here are my questions:
Does it even make sense to treat, when all three cats have it, and one of them can't be medicated? Research shows that, unlike with therapy, when cats clear the infection naturally they actually gain the immunity to subsequent infections.
Are they going to keep getting ringworm back and forth from one another indefinitely?
Has anyone had any success without oral therapy, and with shampoos instead of Lyme sulphur?
Has anyone just let the cats clear ringworm naturally, while only meticulously cleaning the environment?
If you read all this, thank you so much! If you have any advice, it would be much appreciated. I am going crazy here.
The reason for treating it with medication is to speed up the process so they don't infect other pets or people. Well, in our case that has already happened! 
We have spent $$$$ on vets, medications, cleaning supplies, new toys and scrachers, insane gas&electric and water bills, so paying for lime sulphur baths is not an issue. However no one here offers that service. Also, Malibu's lesions are right around his eyes, and sounds like a dip wouldn't be a great option for the face... So we bath him twice a week with antifungal shampoo too.
