Ringworm

JacquieM

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These are pictures taken three days after his first Miconazole shampoo. To be clear, he has had no hair loss, the area in the picture without hair is where I trimmed the hair to get a better look at what was going on.That only made him lick it worse.can anyone help me identify what this is?thank you!The third picture is clearest in showing the problem. I see little tiny black specks in his skin.
I think people will be leery about suggesting possible diagnoses. Are you able to bring your cat to the vet? Are you thinking it might be ringworm? Or you just don’t know.
 

JacquieM

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These are pictures taken three days after his first Miconazole shampoo. To be clear, he has had no hair loss, the area in the picture without hair is where I trimmed the hair to get a better look at what was going on.That only made him lick it worse.can anyone help me identify what this is?thank you!The third picture is clearest in showing the problem. I see little tiny black specks in his skin.
These are pictures taken three days after his first Miconazole shampoo. To be clear, he has had no hair loss, the area in the picture without hair is where I trimmed the hair to get a better look at what was going on.That only made him lick it worse.can anyone help me identify what this is?thank you!The third picture is clearest in showing the problem. I see little tiny black specks in his skin.
I know that Vivibebean on this thread experienced red areas on her cat that her vet told her were excoriations, or marks resulting from scratching.
 

JacquieM

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S Sandy7272 J JacquieM
my seocnd fungal culture that my cats did on 7/18 came back negative! for all three!!

but im still cautious because my ragdoll still does have that bald spot on the ear. no wound now, but hair hasnt grown comepletely yet.
and then my russian has a different looking bald spot on top of his eye as well. i think because he scratched it?

i did fungassy test on each of my cats.
S Sandy7272
do you have any picture of your fugassy tests?

i read zoetis's instruction on how to classify color change and colony growth but i find it a bit confusing without pictures to shows as reference for non-ringworm colony growth, bacterial growth, and no growth.
if you could elaborate more on how to interpret it

it is day 2 of the fungassy culture and a smalllll bit of my ragdoll's and siberian's toothbrush's BRISTLE in the culture is turning a slighttttt light pink? worried about that now. i attached pictures of the two fungassy test.






Evaluation of the test results can begin as early as 48 hours after inoculation. A pinkish color will appear in the amber medium under the specimen and developing colony. The color will intensify as growth proceeds and is due to the alkaline metabolites produced by the dermatophytes. When a positive dermatophyte infection is present, the entire medium will turn red by the seventh to fourteenth day. If there is no growth within ten days, redistribute the sample on the medium. Occasionally growth does not occur due to improper inoculation.

10. A color change may occasionally be produced by a specimen heavily contaminated with saprophytic fungi or bacteria.1 However this is not a problem because differentiation from dermatophytes can be made as follows:

Dermatophyte: A color change appears in the medium with colony growth - colony pigments are usually light colored.

Saprophytic fungi: Colony growth is well established before any color change appears in the medium - colony pigments are usually dark colored.

Bacteria: The morphology of bacterial colonies differs from the morphology of fungal colonies.
Negative for all 3‼
🎉🎉🎉
 

Forry

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I think people will be leery about suggesting possible diagnoses. Are you able to bring your cat to the vet? Are you thinking it might be ringworm? Or you just don’t know.
Hi,thank you and I apologize for intruding on your thread.I've never been very good at figuring out how these forums work.I'm going to try and get him to a vet in a couple weeks, I know he needs to go.Yes,the expense of a vet could be a problem for me unless I can find a vet that will work with me on a payment plan. Particularly if there is a large expense. I will start calling around to different vets.im just not sure if it's ringworm.hes not losing any hair at all.thr Miconazole shampoo I used on him seemed to help,and he actually seemed to like getting it done,believe it or not 😊
 

Forry

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I know that Vivibebean on this thread experienced red areas on her cat that her vet told her were excoriations, or marks resulting from scratching.
Oh,thank you! Maybe I can find her and ask what her experience with the scratching was. 😊
 

vivibebean

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Hi
I found it confusing as well! I lightly tapped the bristles in the medium but did not leave the toothbrush. When I plucked the hairs were the lesions had been I tapped them in the medium also. Making sure all samples were attached to the medium. I found what I thought to be better examples of test results at pennvet. I’m attaching pictures and hopefully you can find the site and compare. I did not take any photos of my results. I just did my best watching for change and how it developed. Always hesitant on opening the cabinet where they were kept.
I also had called Zoetis who makes the fungassy but no help in interpreting just recommended taking to a vet to read the results. That would not work in my case. I had taken samples from all my pets and each one appeared differently most of the time. I kept comparing with the pennvet pictures.
Thanks for the help!! :)
Since 8/7 in the morning, none of the fungassy samples changed. The two sample with the very light pink tooth brush’s bristle on the bottom still looks the same. No growth or spread.

The medium is still amber/yellow and no colony growth! I would like to think that the very light pink bristle is not related to fungal growth? If it was, pretty sure it would’ve grown a little bit by now. It’s been 3 days already.

oh wow, each of their fungassy test was differnet looking compared to the others? :O
Zoetis doesn’t seem helpful in interpreting at all LOL.
 

vivibebean

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These are pictures taken three days after his first Miconazole shampoo. To be clear, he has had no hair loss, the area in the picture without hair is where I trimmed the hair to get a better look at what was going on.That only made him lick it worse.can anyone help me identify what this is?thank you!The third picture is clearest in showing the problem. I see little tiny black specks in his skin.
F Forry
Hello! Don’t worry you’re not intruding. The thread is for everyone!

looks like what my ragdoll had when I lime sulfured her and had her on miconazole topical lotion. She mainly got that redness on the head and neck.
When I brought her to the derm vet. They said it was excoriation. Her ringworm culture on that spot came back negative. I attached two pictures of how it looked like back in may-June when it happened. One picture is redder than the other but it’s the same redness taken in the same day. She also had black specks within the redness as well.
 

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vivibebean

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These are pictures taken three days after his first Miconazole shampoo. To be clear, he has had no hair loss, the area in the picture without hair is where I trimmed the hair to get a better look at what was going on.That only made him lick it worse.can anyone help me identify what this is?thank you!The third picture is clearest in showing the problem. I see little tiny black specks in his skin.
also so your cat is on the miconazole shampoo because he definitely does have ringworm? kinda surprised that if it is excoriation, that he would get it from the miconazole shampoo since it is less irritable than lime sulfur

In July-august, my cat developed some redness (with hair loss) again on top of her right eye about 2-3 days after another fungal culture was taken. About 5-7 days after the redness started again on top of her right eye, she ended up developing an open wound. I assume it’s because she has been scratching her ears a lot and her nails were sharped before. Anyways, the open wound closed a week after it developed. Her fungal culture came back negative again. Right now her fur on that spot is slowly growing back.

I did an at home fungal culture on that same exact spot just to double check. Nothing growing at the moment.
I didn’t bring my cat to vet derm to get it assessed but they said to treat it as ringworm given the history.
this is how it looked like before the open wound showed up.

Also on the picture you sent, what is this part that I circled? Looks like open skin?
If it heals fast, I wouldn’t say that it’s ringworm. Ringworm lesions usually takes a few weeks to heal heal even with medication. Not sure if your cat is on itrafungol or not :O
 

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Forry

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F Forry
Hello! Don’t worry you’re not intruding. The thread is for everyone!

looks like what my ragdoll had when I lime sulfured her and had her on miconazole topical lotion. She mainly got that redness on the head and neck.
When I brought her to the derm vet. They said it was excoriation. Her ringworm culture on that spot came back negative. I attached two pictures of how it looked like back in may-June when it happened. One picture is redder than the other but it’s the same redness taken in the same day. She also had black specks within the redness as well.
Hello,and thank you! She's so cute,even though she is having a difficult time in those pictures.
 

Forry

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also so your cat is on the miconazole shampoo because he definitely does have ringworm? kinda surprised that if it is excoriation, that he would get it from the miconazole shampoo since it is less irritable than lime sulfur

In July-august, my cat developed some redness (with hair loss) again on top of her right eye about 2-3 days after another fungal culture was taken. About 5-7 days after the redness started again on top of her right eye, she ended up developing an open wound. I assume it’s because she has been scratching her ears a lot and her nails were sharped before. Anyways, the open wound closed a week after it developed. Her fungal culture came back negative again. Right now her fur on that spot is slowly growing back.

I did an at home fungal culture on that same exact spot just to double check. Nothing growing at the moment.
I didn’t bring my cat to vet derm to get it assessed but they said to treat it as ringworm given the history.
this is how it looked like before the open wound showed up.

Also on the picture you sent, what is this part that I circled? Looks like open skin?
If it heals fast, I wouldn’t say that it’s ringworm. Ringworm lesions usually takes a few weeks to heal heal even with medication. Not sure if your cat is on itrafungol or not :O
I don't know for certain that he has ringworm, I bought the miconazole shampoo to see if it would help relieve some of the itching. So far he's had one shampoo and I wasn't able to cover his entire body with the shampoo, but I did cover that one really bad area you see in the pictures, and it has stopped the itching and licking in that area so far.

Thank goodness the open wound above her eye closed quickly and the fungal culture was negative! I didn't know about at home fungal culture tests.do you have anymore information on that?

That area that you circled looks to me like he probably scratched at it a little bit, but yes,that has already healed in about 2 days so that's good to know that if it heals quickly it may not be ringworm! Thank you!
 

vivibebean

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I don't know for certain that he has ringworm, I bought the miconazole shampoo to see if it would help relieve some of the itching. So far he's had one shampoo and I wasn't able to cover his entire body with the shampoo, but I did cover that one really bad area you see in the pictures, and it has stopped the itching and licking in that area so far.

Thank goodness the open wound above her eye closed quickly and the fungal culture was negative! I didn't know about at home fungal culture tests.do you have anymore information on that?

That area that you circled looks to me like he probably scratched at it a little bit, but yes,that has already healed in about 2 days so that's good to know that if it heals quickly it may not be ringworm! Thank you!
I don’t think it is ringworm. Miconazole isn’t the strongest medication for ringworm. Itrafungol oral medication is ideal. Especially if what your cat has is healing. Unless he has lesions that can’t be seen under the fur or crustiness/ dandruff.

The fungal culture test is called fungassy. It’s stored in the refrigerator and after you take the sample and put it in vial. You leave it at room temperature in the dark with a loose cap. Takes 2-14 days to see growth of ringworm.
much cheaper than going to the vet. Plus you get to test your cat many times instead of paying a lot to test your cat once in the vet.

also rare cases, some cats have ringworm but does not lose fur. Don’t think yours is though.
 

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Forry

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Wow,thank you,that is nice to hear and great information about the fungal culture test.😊
 

vivibebean

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no problem! F Forry

S Sandy7272
just wondering, but did any of your fungassy cultures remained the typical regular amber/yellow color without any colony change for days to weeksss despite being inoculated?

my cat's fungassy culture have not had any color change. still amber/yellow and no colony growth. not sure if its because i didn't innoculate it well? or if there just isn't growth yet because it is only day 6 today or if there just no growth in general.

i would assume some bacterial growth would appear though just because bacterias are everywhere. but i dont see bacterial growth yet too.
 

JacquieM

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Hi,thank you and I apologize for intruding on your thread.I've never been very good at figuring out how these forums work.I'm going to try and get him to a vet in a couple weeks, I know he needs to go.Yes,the expense of a vet could be a problem for me unless I can find a vet that will work with me on a payment plan. Particularly if there is a large expense. I will start calling around to different vets.im just not sure if it's ringworm.hes not losing any hair at all.thr Miconazole shampoo I used on him seemed to help,and he actually seemed to like getting it done,believe it or not 😊
Definitely not intruding! Welcome, welcome. So your cat is super itchy, I see. Shelter medicine sources are excellent for tips about feline disorders. Also Tufts University has a highly regarded vet program and so also online resources. Cornell does, too.
 

vivibebean

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hello!!! just wanted to let yall know that my cats have been released out of their quarratine a few days ago! their 1st fungassy tests all came back negative. their second batch of fungassy is also still negative. only gatsby's toothbrush fungassy test is growing a black/white colony. no medium change though so it is not ringworm!

extremely glad they are all out and i can be normal again, but still paranoid. i hope i clean the rooms outside of their quarantine room enough.
hope yall have been doing well :)
 

JacquieM

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hello!!! just wanted to let yall know that my cats have been released out of their quarratine a few days ago! their 1st fungassy tests all came back negative. their second batch of fungassy is also still negative. only gatsby's toothbrush fungassy test is growing a black/white colony. no medium change though so it is not ringworm!

extremely glad they are all out and i can be normal again, but still paranoid. i hope i clean the rooms outside of their quarantine room enough.
hope yall have been doing well :)
FANTASTIC!! I’m so glad.
 

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she mentioned that the itrafungol dose can be given at 10 mg/kg every day for 3 weeks. i was pretty shock to hear this because my primary vet barely mentioned this possibility which she described to be the "loading period" (amount of time it takes bottom
layer of skin to get to top layer of skin), before then "pulse dosing" (one week on and one week off cycle).
....
in regards to the woods lamp, she said that Microsporum does not always grow on woods lamp. M. canis - usually glows on Wood's lamp. my cats came back positive for microsporum and not M. canis.

I really found this post exceptionally helpful. Thank you for sharing what the dermatologist had to say especially as this is a specialist in veterinary medicine. I had a couple questions.

I have a woods lamp, and you mentioned the dermatologist said microsporum does not always glow under UV woods lamp but that M. canis does. I'm a bit confused by this sentence because doesn't the "M" in "M. canis" stand for microsporum though?

Also you mentioned the dermatologist recommended Itrafungol 10 mg/kg for 3 weeks. Is this 3 weeks straight or pulse therapy like traditionally given (1 week on 1 week off for 6 weeks = 3 treatment week cycles)?

I'm currently dealing with M. canis right now in two of my cats and I don't think I'd wish it on my worst enemy. My persian has it on his belly and my snowshoe has it on his mouth area. We are currently on pulse therapy Itrafungol (5 mg/kg) for both of them and nearly done the 2nd treatment cycle (so 3 weeks total into it so far). I also apply MiconaHex+Triz spray on my persian's belly lesions daily and apply a cone so he doesn't lick it off. Unfortunately I can't apply this to my snowshoe due to it being on his mouth area and he licks it off.
My Persian's lesions used to glow under woods lamp but now they aren't anymore, however he still has crustiness and his nail beds look TERRIBLE. My snowshoe's mouth lesion is STILL glowing under woods lamp despite half way through Itrafungol treatment. I feel the reason for this is that I'm unable to do topical therapy on him since its on a difficult area that I cannot stop him from licking :(
For both of my cats, I just feel it's still looking the same and overall not getting better despite excessive cleaning/isolation + Itrafungol.

During your ringworm infection, did it infect your cat's mouth area and if so, how did you manage topical therapy in this difficult area?
Also, did you find the infection got worse (like spread to other areas) before finally getting better during Itrafungol?
 

vivibebean

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I really found this post exceptionally helpful. Thank you for sharing what the dermatologist had to say especially as this is a specialist in veterinary medicine. I had a couple questions.

I have a woods lamp, and you mentioned the dermatologist said microsporum does not always glow under UV woods lamp but that M. canis does. I'm a bit confused by this sentence because doesn't the "M" in "M. canis" stand for microsporum though?

Also you mentioned the dermatologist recommended Itrafungol 10 mg/kg for 3 weeks. Is this 3 weeks straight or pulse therapy like traditionally given (1 week on 1 week off for 6 weeks = 3 treatment week cycles)?

I'm currently dealing with M. canis right now in two of my cats and I don't think I'd wish it on my worst enemy. My persian has it on his belly and my snowshoe has it on his mouth area. We are currently on pulse therapy Itrafungol (5 mg/kg) for both of them and nearly done the 2nd treatment cycle (so 3 weeks total into it so far). I also apply MiconaHex+Triz spray on my persian's belly lesions daily and apply a cone so he doesn't lick it off. Unfortunately I can't apply this to my snowshoe due to it being on his mouth area and he licks it off.
My Persian's lesions used to glow under woods lamp but now they aren't anymore, however he still has crustiness and his nail beds look TERRIBLE. My snowshoe's mouth lesion is STILL glowing under woods lamp despite half way through Itrafungol treatment. I feel the reason for this is that I'm unable to do topical therapy on him since its on a difficult area that I cannot stop him from licking :(
For both of my cats, I just feel it's still looking the same and overall not getting better despite excessive cleaning/isolation + Itrafungol.

During your ringworm infection, did it infect your cat's mouth area and if so, how did you manage topical therapy in this difficult area?
Also, did you find the infection got worse (like spread to other areas) before finally getting better during Itrafungol?
Hello :) im glad that my post was helpful. ive been meaning to make another thread about my entire experience with ringworm and what i used, what vet said, and etc, but havent gotten to it yet because im still monitoring my cats in case it comes back. theyve been cleared for 2 months since being released in August. there are three type of ringworm that they usually tests for pets. by Microsproum, i meant the full term "Microsporum Spp". its not excatly the same as M. canis.

also do not rely on the blue light too much. my cat had an ringworm lesion that shined a lot green under the lamp. even right after she finsihed the treatment, it still shined green, but LESS and WASN'T the lesion wasnt completely healed or gone. i tested my cat's lesion right after the treatment and it came back NEGATIVE shockingly despite it still showing green under the wood lamp and not completely healed.
in conclusion, just because it is still green doesnt mean it is not healing and , it was only AFTER that my cat FINISHED her 5-6 weeks pulse dosing treatment that her lesion finally healed and stopped shining green.
my primary vet said that it has to be a certain type of green arrangement that indicate active infection. a healing ringworm lesion will still possibly shine green, but doenst mean it is active. but i would say less green is a good sign?

since my cats had on and off ringworm infection for about a year, i finally stopped seeing my primary vet for ringworm treatment and started seeing a derm vet. she prescribed my cats Itrafungol 10 mg/kg to be given EVERYDAY for 3 weeks and to continue pulse dosing after the 3 weeks if the lesions did not heal. pretty much told me that there no actual ending date for itrafungol and to pretty much give them it until their lesions disappears. she only does liver function labs every 6 months or if theres symptoms of liver toxicity.

none of my cats had it in the mouth or the nails. my primary vet told me that itrafungol is a systemic antifungal medication so it is actually enough to treat the ringworm by itself. the other topical medication is pretty much give to accelerate the healing process, reduce the chance of it spreading and etc. for your cat with the ringworm lesion in the mouth, i would say that the itrafungol is enough to treat it. do continue putting topical everywhere on his/her body though to help with the treatment better.
for the nails, i heard you gotta dig into the nails (open the paws in and out, etc) to get the topical in it. ringworm could be hiding inside.

when my cats were on pulse dosing method (one week on and one week off), they healed much slowly. wouldn't see improvements until mid or later/ end into the treatment. most other pet owners on pulse dosing method healed very slowly as well. for exmaple, the cat that i mentioned above in the second paragraph^^^ .

when my cats were on the loading dose method ( 2x pulse dose amount given everyday for 3 weeks), they healed a lot faster. probably by the 1.5- 2nd week, i could see improvements. some of my cat's ringworm lesions did get a bit worse in the beginning.
 

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