- Joined
- May 17, 2019
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- 21
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I feel as though I've dealt with my fair share of ringworm in my lifetime! LOL
Back Story: 3 years ago I got a kitten from my parents. They had a stray cat come into their yard pregnant and give birth. They kept most the litter and the mom, and yes they vetted them all. I had one cat already named Meeko, he was 2 at the time. I brought in my new kitten with little to no fear. However, I learned my lesson... she brought with her cocciidia. After both cats started to get sick, I took them to the vet. The kitten who I named Nausicaa was fine with just some oral medications but Meeko... his kidneys were starting to go down due to lack of water. So he had a nice stay in the pet hospital for a week. I left for a planned vacation once Meeko returned and I had a very capable pet sitter to give them medications and watch over them. I return home, and I am sitting around my apartment and realize my kitten Nausa looked so red on that space between her eye and ear... after a vet visit... RINGWORM! Started her with oral medications, and topical cream. Just a day or so later, on the spot that Meeko had this IV I notice a lesion, took him to the vet... RINGWORM! He started the same treatment. I honestly think they got it because their immune systems were so down from the previous illness and stress of me not being home. I started a cleaning routine at my apartment and weeks later, all were good and well.
Fast forward to 2 years later....back on December 8th I adopted a kitten at petsmart. For the first 4 or 5 days, I kept him separated, watched his bathroom movements, food habits and let him sniff the other cats under the door. Eventually they were playing between the door. So... I let him out and they all get along wonderfully, playing and chasing, having a good ol' time. I go to take my new kitten, Finny Boi (Finnegan) to the rescue vet to get his booster vaccines. The vet tech was looking him over and she was like... did he have ringworm? I was like.... NOOOOOOOOO!!! They took him back and tested him under the UV lamp, and dude has ringworm. He probably had it when we got him. So he is young and we didn't get the oral meds, so we are doing topical only. After that, I had the fear in me. What if he had anything else! So I promptly made an appointment with my vet and had him looked over. Luckily, his only aliment is ringworm. I life in a downtown city loft apartment, so it's impossible to quarantine plus, I don't want to stress the kitten out too much. Its been almost 3 weeks and he looking better, and I am diligently checking my cats (fingers crossed, so far no lesions are seen). I've been a cleaning machine. I got some of that "Rescue" cleaner to disinfect their play areas and litter boxes. I am just hoping my other cats don't end up getting it or me (which I did last time, but it wasn't that bad).
I got a Roomba recently with a hepa filter, and I bought all kinds of replacements so that once this is done I can just disinfect and replace parts but boy... is that a life saver for the vacuuming. I also put sheets over my furniture so I can switch out and wash every other day. Constant dusting and wiping down surfaces and I have huge windows with lots of sunlight, so I let the cats sit in the windows and sun bath all afternoon, which I think helps with the fungal infections. I just wanted to share my story, because I know it's scary to think of dealing with Ringworm, it doesn't really hurt the cats as long as it's manageable but just takes time and patience to get through the cleaning. Just wanted to let anyone else out there going through this, you are not alone!!! We will see the light at the end of the tunnel!
Back Story: 3 years ago I got a kitten from my parents. They had a stray cat come into their yard pregnant and give birth. They kept most the litter and the mom, and yes they vetted them all. I had one cat already named Meeko, he was 2 at the time. I brought in my new kitten with little to no fear. However, I learned my lesson... she brought with her cocciidia. After both cats started to get sick, I took them to the vet. The kitten who I named Nausicaa was fine with just some oral medications but Meeko... his kidneys were starting to go down due to lack of water. So he had a nice stay in the pet hospital for a week. I left for a planned vacation once Meeko returned and I had a very capable pet sitter to give them medications and watch over them. I return home, and I am sitting around my apartment and realize my kitten Nausa looked so red on that space between her eye and ear... after a vet visit... RINGWORM! Started her with oral medications, and topical cream. Just a day or so later, on the spot that Meeko had this IV I notice a lesion, took him to the vet... RINGWORM! He started the same treatment. I honestly think they got it because their immune systems were so down from the previous illness and stress of me not being home. I started a cleaning routine at my apartment and weeks later, all were good and well.
Fast forward to 2 years later....back on December 8th I adopted a kitten at petsmart. For the first 4 or 5 days, I kept him separated, watched his bathroom movements, food habits and let him sniff the other cats under the door. Eventually they were playing between the door. So... I let him out and they all get along wonderfully, playing and chasing, having a good ol' time. I go to take my new kitten, Finny Boi (Finnegan) to the rescue vet to get his booster vaccines. The vet tech was looking him over and she was like... did he have ringworm? I was like.... NOOOOOOOOO!!! They took him back and tested him under the UV lamp, and dude has ringworm. He probably had it when we got him. So he is young and we didn't get the oral meds, so we are doing topical only. After that, I had the fear in me. What if he had anything else! So I promptly made an appointment with my vet and had him looked over. Luckily, his only aliment is ringworm. I life in a downtown city loft apartment, so it's impossible to quarantine plus, I don't want to stress the kitten out too much. Its been almost 3 weeks and he looking better, and I am diligently checking my cats (fingers crossed, so far no lesions are seen). I've been a cleaning machine. I got some of that "Rescue" cleaner to disinfect their play areas and litter boxes. I am just hoping my other cats don't end up getting it or me (which I did last time, but it wasn't that bad).
I got a Roomba recently with a hepa filter, and I bought all kinds of replacements so that once this is done I can just disinfect and replace parts but boy... is that a life saver for the vacuuming. I also put sheets over my furniture so I can switch out and wash every other day. Constant dusting and wiping down surfaces and I have huge windows with lots of sunlight, so I let the cats sit in the windows and sun bath all afternoon, which I think helps with the fungal infections. I just wanted to share my story, because I know it's scary to think of dealing with Ringworm, it doesn't really hurt the cats as long as it's manageable but just takes time and patience to get through the cleaning. Just wanted to let anyone else out there going through this, you are not alone!!! We will see the light at the end of the tunnel!