Ringworm update

[Maria Bayote]

Ringworm is nasty. One of my cats had that and I assumed he got that before we rescued him off the street. It took a week before it got healed. I was worried as I had multiple cats and there was no place for him to be contained elsewhere. Luckily, none of the other cats got that nasty ringworm.

Aside from the medications and shampoo, please ensure that you do rigorous vacuuming everyday including the beds and areas your cat is frequenting to. Do not use the same towel or sheets on him twice without washing it. Aside from that, you need to mop the floors also everyday with disinfectants. At least that is what I did. Thankfully it dd not spread, considering I live in a very tiny one bedroom apartment.

 

[Cheryl8000]

Of course! From what I was told by the vet specialist is Ringworm is a slow growing fungus and slow resolving fungus. It takes time for the lesions to start and time for the lesions to heal. This could be why you are seeing new lesions pop up- until the treatment kicks in. ( 3-weeks?? I think they said..) We also did blood work on my 1st kitty to see if there was any underlying immune issues that could cause a delay in healing as this was his second go w/ ringworm and treatment.Very happy when that came back all okay. Mark that off worry list. His immune system is just not strong enough to fight it off right now- and adding he is long haired. I just gave up on trying to figure out the why's and just move forward to resolve. It will drive you mad.
I looked @ my Itrafungol ( by Elanco) Box and Bottle and mine does NOT say refrigerate?? But store @ 68-77F (20-25C). Even the compound we started w/ the pharmacist noted to NOT store in the refrigerator. Hmm...
Elwood's 1st kitty as I noted spread too and it is difficult to see- you feel like you are not doing enough and you cannot fix them. Plus they don't understand why-I get it. I clean a lot and I mean a lot. I was cutting back a bit as I thought we were seeing a light @ the end of the tunnel. But w/ now Bodhi the second kitty actively infected and shedding spores I am back to what aggressive cleaning. They are isolated in our living room- everything that cannot be wiped down, vacuumed, or washed has been tossed. I wipe down everything everyday, vacuum daily, litter box daily cleaning, wash sheets covering furniture every other day. I have separate clothes I wear and gloves to handle the kittens. The clothes and any that is washed from that room is sanitized. Yes, it is a lot of work but it makes me feel like I assisting in resolving the issue- takes some of the stress away. LOL on the back- me too! I got a freaking callous on my hand from the vacuum cleaner.

Maybe

 

[Cheryl8000]

Was the secondary infection caused by the environment? How old is your kitty. That’s what I’m afraid of. Doing my best at cleaning. The hardest part is not having family over. My poor grandkids want to come see the new kitty, but now they can’t come over at all. My youngest grandson is only six months and they have a multi pet household which would be terrible if I passed it to them.

 

[JTBanana]

Hard to say- More than likely I would suspect that my second kitty got it from the first kitty when he was on the compound treatment for 2 and half weeks. The living room area is very small and I disinfect & sanitize daily- but again all very possible. It take about 2-3 week for ringworm exposure to start showing signs- which is in line w/ exposure when first kitty had active shedding lesions on the compound treatment. They both are brothers and will be 6 months end of this month. That has to be terribly difficult w/ your grandkids. But it's for their best interest and health they stay away.

 

[Cheryl8000]

Ringworm is nasty. One of my cats had that and I assumed he got that before we rescued him off the street. It took a week before it got healed. I was worried as I had multiple cats and there was no place for him to be contained elsewhere. Luckily, none of the other cats got that nasty ringworm.

Aside from the medications and shampoo, please ensure that you do rigorous vacuuming everyday including the beds and areas your cat is frequenting to. Do not use the same towel or sheets on him twice without washing it. Aside from that, you need to mop the floors also everyday with disinfectants. At least that is what I did. Thankfully it dd not spread, considering I live in a very tiny one bedroom apartment.

Hard to say- More than likely I would suspect that my second kitty got it from the first kitty when he was on the compound treatment for 2 and half weeks. The living room area is very small and I disinfect & sanitize daily- but again all very possible. It take about 2-3 week for ringworm exposure to start showing signs- which is in line w/ exposure when first kitty had active shedding lesions on the compound treatment. They both are brothers and will be 6 months end of this month. That has to be terribly difficult w/ your grandkids. But it's for their best interest and health they stay away.

Hard to say- More than likely I would suspect that my second kitty got it from the first kitty when he was on the compound treatment for 2 and half weeks. The living room area is very small and I disinfect & sanitize daily- but again all very possible. It take about 2-3 week for ringworm exposure to start showing signs- which is in line w/ exposure when first kitty had active shedding lesions on the compound treatment. They both are brothers and will be 6 months end of this month. That has to be terribly difficult w/ your grandkids. But it's for their best interest and health they stay away.

Are your little guys neutered? Mine is not, and he’s five months old. I heard that they have to be 100% healed to undergo the procedure. I hope we don’t have spraying problems on top of this! How do you disinfect their area without the fumes? Mine is in a back bathroom, and I wipe it down every day with vinegar so he doesn’t get harmed by the fumes. Twice a week when he gets his bath, my husband gets in there with bleach and a steamer while I sit outside in the sun with my guy wrapped in a towel while he dries. It may not be the best, but I don’t know what else to do.

 

[JTBanana]

NO. They were scheduled for pre-op EOM and surgery last week. Given the current situation the vet advised strongly against it - which I 100% agree. In fear of the ringworm going to the incisions. Yep, I worry about the spraying too. Just take one day @ a time and try your best to not worry about the what if's. I have the windows open when I clean- I use 409 or Clorax Clean-up both rec'd by Vet. Yes, the sun is the best for them. I put them in the afternoon sun and they seem to enjoy it thoroughly. What steam cleaner are you using? I need to purchase one for my furniture now..

 

[Cheryl8000]

NO. They were scheduled for pre-op EOM and surgery last week. Given the current situation the vet advised strongly against it - which I 100% agree. In fear of the ringworm going to the incisions. Yep, I worry about the spraying too. Just take one day @ a time and try your best to not worry about the what if's. I have the windows open when I clean- I use 409 or Clorax Clean-up both rec'd by Vet. Yes, the sun is the best for them. I put them in the afternoon sun and they seem to enjoy it thoroughly. What steam cleaner are you using? I need to purchase one for my furniture now..

It’s called Costway, a canister steamer I got it on Amazon prime. I haven’t used it on soft surfaces yet, but on my floors and in the bathroom it works really well. I bleach first, let it sit, then blast everything. Hopefully we’ll both get through this with healthy and happy kitties!!! Keep me updated on their healing!

 

[JTBanana]

Thank you! Back @ you!

 

[missylovescats]

I posted about a week ago about the new kitten we got, which has ringworm, which was spreading even after treatment. Well, this is week three of oral and topical treatments, and it is spreading like wildfire. There are now so many spots to take care of that instead of being a loving sweet boy he is now wary of us touching him. Instead of playing with him and cuddling him, too much time is spent on getting every spot. It’s on the inside and outside of his ears, neck, shoulder, stomach, feet. It starts out as a small spot on his shoulder. We are following protocol very carefully, or so I thought. When I sent my husband out to get a refill on his Itrafungol, the new bottle said refrigerate after opening. I had not done this with the first bottle. I was never told, and it did not state this in the original bottle. Is this why it did not work? I’ve taken him to the vet three times for this, and am at my wits end. I now have it, and could not touch my grandson on his third birthday today. None of my grandkids can come over until this is under control. My husband is supportive, but he says there needs to be a turnaround. We are taking him back next week, and if I’m not satisfied, will take him to another vet for a second opinion. Also, we are treating the spots topically three times a day. Can we knock it back to two, and spend the third visit just playing with him? We wash all ur clotuing every time we leave the bathroom, so we keep the visits to two. I’ve read many articles, but need some hope here!!!

Hi, we are on week 13 of treatment and daily house cleaning and disinfecting. We could not isolate our cats so have been cleaning, vacuuming, wet mopping, disinfecting and then dry mopping the house daily. And daily changing and washing of the sheets and towels and well let's just say between my dh and I we are doing 8-10 loads of laundry daily. We have 2 washing machines and 2 dryers. Thank goodness because we used them round the clock and still are.

We have 4 cats with RW. The kitten who we adopted who gave it to the three adult cats has done the best so far with treatment and we think is RW free. Not sure but we are culturing all of them Wednesday and praying for RW negative.

Out of the 3 adult cats 2 look much better and all their hair is regrowing. But it took months. I would say for the first 6-8 weeks despite Itrafungol and week lime sulfur dips in 8 oz per gallon they still had new spots occurring. However since week 10 so far so good.

Unfortunately our senior cat Fred who is 17 could not tolerate the Itrafungol so he couldn't get it and was only getting L-S dips. They all had 12 L-S dips total with the exception of the kitten who had 13 since he was diagnosed a week earlier than the others.

Problem is Fred's hair while regrowing is growing in brown (used to be white) and he is still crusty and black in areas. I fear this means his RW is still active despite 12 L-S dips but don't know for sure.

Again, as I wrote above, they are all getting cultured (old fashioned culture because the vet doesn't do PCR sadly so we are in for a long wait) this Wednesday. My dh and I are anxious because he has to get knee surgery next month and cannot do it if we still have RW in the house. No way can I take care of the cats treatments by myself.

Praying they will be OK and praying fred can survive this. He has not been doing well with L-S treatments but we had to do something for him since he could not tolerate the Itrafungol either. He is listless and doesn't really move due to his severe arthritis. We also had to d/c his steroids for the arthritis because of the RW. A challenging situation for all involved but especially the cats.

I share this one to let you know yes the fungus can spread for quite a while despite treatment. And two to ask if anyone knows what the black crusty stuff is on Fred 12 weeks into treatment with L-S dips? Thanks.

 

[Cheryl8000]

I am so sorry for what you’re going through. I thought we had a lot of laundry with our little one! Hope it gets better for you. I’m hoping we turned a corner. We had a second opinion, and the new lesions were not ringworm at all, but an allergic reaction to his meds. We were advised to stop treatments, and all his hair is growing back. I pray there are no new spots to come!

 

[Cheryl8000]

Boy it really paid off to get a second opinion! We went to a new vet, and he took one look at our little one and said that looks like an allergic reaction to all the meds. He did not glow under the woods lamp at all, and his original lesion already had hair growing in. It’s only been 72 hours, but he looks so much better, and all his hair is growing in. We will have him quarantined for two more weeks, then have him tested again. Hopefully we’re nearing the end!

 

[missylovescats]

I am so sorry for what you’re going through. I thought we had a lot of laundry with our little one! Hope it gets better for you. I’m hoping we turned a corner. We had a second opinion, and the new lesions were not ringworm at all, but an allergic reaction to his meds. We were advised to stop treatments, and all his hair is growing back. I pray there are no new spots to come!

Wonderful news! So happy for you!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Boy it really paid off to get a second opinion! We went to a new vet, and he took one look at our little one and said that looks like an allergic reaction to all the meds. He did not glow under the woods lamp at all, and his original lesion already had hair growing in. It’s only been 72 hours, but he looks so much better, and all his hair is growing in. We will have him quarantined for two more weeks, then have him tested again. Hopefully we’re nearing the end!

 

[blumarine916]

Boy it really paid off to get a second opinion! We went to a new vet, and he took one look at our little one and said that looks like an allergic reaction to all the meds. He did not glow under the woods lamp at all, and his original lesion already had hair growing in. It’s only been 72 hours, but he looks so much better, and all his hair is growing in. We will have him quarantined for two more weeks, then have him tested again. Hopefully we’re nearing the end!

Hi. I know this is thread is months old but I would like to know if the RW finally cleared up for your kitty. I’d love to hear your success story for some reassurance of the same situation I’m currently facing.

 

[missylovescats]

Hi. I know this is thread is months old but I would like to know if the RW finally cleared up for your kitty. I’d love to hear your success story for some reassurance of the same situation I’m currently facing.

Hi I am not the original poster but all 4 of our cats got RW in July from a rescue we saved and we just finally received culture 2 results negative for all of them. We had a tough RW because we treated them aggressively with Itrafungol for over 4 months straight no breaks as per the vet derm and weekly LS dips for 13/14 weeks and we are still shampooing them weekly with Malaseb. And 2 rounds of negative cultures woohoo. Technically we need a third negative culture but we have already put the cats through the mill and based on my sister's rec (she is a vet too but long distance so we couldn't take our cats to her weekly and instead went to a local vet) two negative cultures are enough. Fingers and toes crossed they remain RW negative.

Good luck with your kitty and you and kitty will be OK. It might take a bit of time but eventually it will be OK and remember RW isn't deadly. Just a pain in the you know what. I am down to 95 lbs from all this daily cleaning/disinfecting etc. At 5'6" I need to put some weight back on but it was quite a challenging 5 plus months. You will get through it I promise. And if you need support or encouragement we are here for you.

 

[blumarine916]

Hi I am not the original poster but all 4 of our cats got RW in July from a rescue we saved and we just finally received culture 2 results negative for all of them. We had a tough RW because we treated them aggressively with Itrafungol for over 4 months straight no breaks as per the vet derm and weekly LS dips for 13/14 weeks and we are still shampooing them weekly with Malaseb. And 2 rounds of negative cultures woohoo. Technically we need a third negative culture but we have already put the cats through the mill and based on my sister's rec (she is a vet too but long distance so we couldn't take our cats to her weekly and instead went to a local vet) two negative cultures are enough. Fingers and toes crossed they remain RW negative.

Good luck with your kitty and you and kitty will be OK. It might take a bit of time but eventually it will be OK and remember RW isn't deadly. Just a pain in the you know what. I am down to 95 lbs from all this daily cleaning/disinfecting etc. At 5'6" I need to put some weight back on but it was quite a challenging 5 plus months. You will get through it I promise. And if you need support or encouragement we are here for you.

Gosh 4 months is such a long time. I’m only on week 4 and already lost 2kg myself with all the anxiety, daily vacuuming and mopping. I can’t really isolate my cat because we live in a small house and we need to use all the rooms so I’m also giving my other cat the weekly Malaseb bath for prevention.

What saddens me (or makes me anxious) is when I see that hairless patch on my cat when she walks past. I keep thinking it’s getting bigger but Im not sure. It’s definitely bigger than when it was discovered. I also get nightmares that my other cat Meffy will also get it because that would be horrible. Meffy is very close to me and sleeps with us every night. I can’t even shut the bedroom door without her crying all night long.

I’m getting used to the cleaning. It’s the other things that stressed me out.

Were you cats very young when you rescued them? Mine is 6 years old. How did they handle the daily medication and all those baths?

 

[Cheryl8000]

Hi. I know this is thread is months old but I would like to know if the RW finally cleared up for your kitty. I’d love to hear your success story for some reassurance of the same situation I’m currently facing.

I’m so sorry, but just seeing this now. Our little one is now seven months, and has been ringworm free for over two months. It never returned. Hopefully you are past the worst, but if not it will clear up eventually. I never want to go through that again, but it was worth sticking it out because we have the absolute best cat now, can’t imagine being without him! Best of luck to you.