Greetings,
Help! We adopted two feral kittens from different shelters in the past month, and also have two teenaged Doll-Face Persians. The kittens are being treated for various worms. Our female Persian has mild kidney disease and IBD (she's on steroids, potassium, appetite stimulant). Our male Persian has an inflamed throat, probably a virus caught from a kitten (he's on a painkiller). All the cats are getting along really well: a miracle.
When we took one of the kittens to the vet for shots yesterday, she noticed two tiny crusty spots, one on her ear and one on her toe. The Woods test showed nothing and she did a ringworm culture. This can take 1 to 3 weeks. That's 1 to 3 weeks of me freaking out, not knowing (just dreading) what we're in for or what to do NOW. I'm the worrying type. I feel like this time should be spent doing something useful to protect all 4 cats. Like cleaning the house. And bathing them? I am not sure and could really use some guidance.
I'm not going so far as to have our Persians clipped and bathe them in lime-sulfur until we know what we've got, but I wonder if this kitten (or both kittens) should have an antifungal shampoo bath soon? Are there side-effects, besides an unhappy kitten? She only has the two small spots, which I'm treating with Tresaderm from the vet. We two humans have no spots, so far!
I plan to vacuum the house like mad today: Walls, ceilings, and other surfaces besides the floor. We have a vac with a HEPA filter; I'll toss the bag. We'll probably send out our rugs for cleaning; we only have area rugs and they're overdue for that anyhow. I can wash all of our curtains and most of our bedding in very hot water. But I can't launder with bleach because we have a high-efficiency washing machine. I could go to the laundromat - should I? How often should I do all this?
The kitten in question spends most of her time on the floor, but likes our upholstered and slipcovered chairs, too. We have an 800-square-foot apartment and there's really no place to isolate any of the cats, and they all have the full run of the place. There's not much room in the bathroom to soak four cats with staining sulphur and let them dry. And there's not enough ventilation, either. I guess it probably makes NO sense to do that now, but I'm in dread/panic mode and am thinking too far ahead. I want to FIX this. I know it's a longgg process....
Not sure about using the 1:10 bleach solution that works for floors and hard surfaces, because it's toxic to animals and tough on humans. I have asthma, so this probably won't be possible for us. We have wooden floors and painted woodwork. Is there anything else I can try that's not so caustic?
As you can probably tell, I'm currently a wreck. We lost our dearly beloved Bunnelina to lymphoma and heart disease just last month, and getting two lovely feral kittens was my way of dealing with that loss. I expected worms and viruses and behavioral issues, but not this. I wanted a "project." I really DIDN'T expect a major disaster like ringworm, which I knew nothing about before yesterday.
I'm scared for our older cats and our own health. I'm scared of all this cleaning and bleach. I'm scared of having greenish-yellow, stinky kittens; they are recently socialized and I hate the idea of traumatizing them with treatments. Even a liquid med is too much for our baby calico and she hides from us afterward for hours. I also worry that any dipping treatments will totally upset our fragile older cats; they practically expire from heart attacks when we try to bathe them in water.
Do vets or groomers ever do these baths in their facilities? Ours doesn't, apparently.
Help! And thank you for reading all this!
Help! We adopted two feral kittens from different shelters in the past month, and also have two teenaged Doll-Face Persians. The kittens are being treated for various worms. Our female Persian has mild kidney disease and IBD (she's on steroids, potassium, appetite stimulant). Our male Persian has an inflamed throat, probably a virus caught from a kitten (he's on a painkiller). All the cats are getting along really well: a miracle.
When we took one of the kittens to the vet for shots yesterday, she noticed two tiny crusty spots, one on her ear and one on her toe. The Woods test showed nothing and she did a ringworm culture. This can take 1 to 3 weeks. That's 1 to 3 weeks of me freaking out, not knowing (just dreading) what we're in for or what to do NOW. I'm the worrying type. I feel like this time should be spent doing something useful to protect all 4 cats. Like cleaning the house. And bathing them? I am not sure and could really use some guidance.
I'm not going so far as to have our Persians clipped and bathe them in lime-sulfur until we know what we've got, but I wonder if this kitten (or both kittens) should have an antifungal shampoo bath soon? Are there side-effects, besides an unhappy kitten? She only has the two small spots, which I'm treating with Tresaderm from the vet. We two humans have no spots, so far!
I plan to vacuum the house like mad today: Walls, ceilings, and other surfaces besides the floor. We have a vac with a HEPA filter; I'll toss the bag. We'll probably send out our rugs for cleaning; we only have area rugs and they're overdue for that anyhow. I can wash all of our curtains and most of our bedding in very hot water. But I can't launder with bleach because we have a high-efficiency washing machine. I could go to the laundromat - should I? How often should I do all this?
The kitten in question spends most of her time on the floor, but likes our upholstered and slipcovered chairs, too. We have an 800-square-foot apartment and there's really no place to isolate any of the cats, and they all have the full run of the place. There's not much room in the bathroom to soak four cats with staining sulphur and let them dry. And there's not enough ventilation, either. I guess it probably makes NO sense to do that now, but I'm in dread/panic mode and am thinking too far ahead. I want to FIX this. I know it's a longgg process....
Not sure about using the 1:10 bleach solution that works for floors and hard surfaces, because it's toxic to animals and tough on humans. I have asthma, so this probably won't be possible for us. We have wooden floors and painted woodwork. Is there anything else I can try that's not so caustic?
As you can probably tell, I'm currently a wreck. We lost our dearly beloved Bunnelina to lymphoma and heart disease just last month, and getting two lovely feral kittens was my way of dealing with that loss. I expected worms and viruses and behavioral issues, but not this. I wanted a "project." I really DIDN'T expect a major disaster like ringworm, which I knew nothing about before yesterday.
I'm scared for our older cats and our own health. I'm scared of all this cleaning and bleach. I'm scared of having greenish-yellow, stinky kittens; they are recently socialized and I hate the idea of traumatizing them with treatments. Even a liquid med is too much for our baby calico and she hides from us afterward for hours. I also worry that any dipping treatments will totally upset our fragile older cats; they practically expire from heart attacks when we try to bathe them in water.
Do vets or groomers ever do these baths in their facilities? Ours doesn't, apparently.
Help! And thank you for reading all this!