The dreaded ringworm..

Have any of you had experience with this with your babies? How did you cope?
We had a persian mama SPCA foster in April with four babies - unfortunately we didn't realize until June that it was dermatophyte. She had been in the foster room and isolated but those nasties fly all over. I caught it and got rid of it, my poor sister got it even worse and is still fighting it, Simon and Tigger had lesions on their ears (gone now), Puck had lesions on his neck, and Molly and Goliath never showed any signs. I put Puck on Terbinafine (Lamisil tablets) at a 'guess' dosage because it's used mainly in Europe and it seems to be gone (knocks on desk) because his fur is all intact, but I'm wondering if it actually lives in the environment for up to 18 months like I've heard. The information on the net is *scary*. I've read it ALL and suffered so badly from a bug phobia that I had to go on Ativan. lol. Anyway, I have this recurring nightmare that I'm going to wake up one morning with a huge bald spot/lesion on my head and it's freaking me out. :shock: When do I know it's gone without taking all five down to get cultured three times each at approximately $60 per cat per visit? I can do the normal stuff but $1000 for cultures is pretty much an impossible dream..

 

I'm sorry I never experienced it but I'm sending lots of hugs and kisses your way! Yiiiikes! Very scary whatever that stuff is! What is it?

 

I've never had to deal with ringworm, but I've heard it is such a pain to get rid of completely. I would talk to your vet, and have them go over everything you need to do to get rid of it. They may have updated methods on treating it at home. I would also keep reading up on it and then ask your vet what they think of various methods that you've read about. I wish you a lot of luck.

 

Ringworm isn't that bad so don't be so freaked out. As am I am sure you probably know it is actually a fungus, it is called ringworm b/c of the ring like appearance that the lesions have on humans. In cats normally it cause hair loss in a circular pattern. But when it is on the nose, it isn't a circular pattern, it just cause hair loss and the fur on the nose looks yucky. It's hard to describe how it looks. It wont cause you to lose your hair, I have never heard of a human losing hair on their head from it. Normally it causes round sores on the arms or trunk.

I have dealt with it several times. The absolute best way that I have found to get rid of it in cats is to use program. You give them twice the normal monthly dosage of program, make sure they take it right after a meal. I usually feed soft food to make sure they have eaten. For some reason it doesn't work if they haven't eaten.

The program should start to clear it up right away, but it may take a week or two for all of the fur to come back in. Ringworm is pretty easy to spot on a cat, so whenever I see one of mine starting to get it, they get program.

For any lesions that you might have use over the counter Tinactin. Don't put a band aid on it after you put the cream on. Put the cream on let is sit for 5 min or so, then wipe it off. It should start to go away in a couple of days.

It can live in the environment, so you may have re-occurences over the next little while. My experience is it might re-occur over six months or so. I suggest keeping some program on hand and as soon as you see any hair loss in the cats give them the program. I have only had a culture done once I think it is a waste of money. Once you know what it looks like you can spot ringworm pretty easily.

Most vets advise doing chemical dips and using antifungal creams for rignworm, but those don't work very well. The effectiveness of program has been tested and it works. It can cause some short term slight kidney function elevation, but this isn't a problem unless your cat has other health problems. In healthy cats it works well. I have used this method several times and my cats have been ringworm free for almost 2 years.

 

I have had some experience with ringworm, I rescued 2 kittens that were almost bald because they had such bad ringworm infestation.

My whole family was covered in it, the kittens loved to snuggle right under the covers at bedtime after I'd gone to sleep and I was cover head to foot in itchy round marks (writing this is making me scratch!) I looked like I had chicken pox!
I'm fairly sure the cats were treated with Program as Fleafly has sugested.
we never had any cultures taken from our cats just 1 vet visit.

I can't remember what us humans were treated with (it was over 8 years ago now) it was some kind of cream our doctor prescribed.
We were told by our doctor to basiclly stay away from all other people until all signs of it were gone, I think this was a bit over the top!

It cleared up fairly quickly (I think about 1 or 2 weeks) it didn't seem to be hard to get rid of, maybe we were lucky but the kittens did seem to have a bad case of it . Once it was gone it never came back, I didn't know that it could live for another 18 months in the enviroment :shock: Hopefully your rid of it already, if it comes back treat it with program.
It really wasn't that bad, I wouldn't panic if it came back.
Good Luck

 

Fleafly, that's really informative. Thanks for posting this info. :y_the_best: I miss seeing you here at Auspet. I was just wondering if you knew if cats/dogs that were on the program Regime on a regular basis, if it can actually prevent occurrences of ringworm. Or is the normal dosage too low to actually prevent it? My vet mentioned Program to me, when Romeo and Juliet first adopted me. I got a pamphlet, but I still have not taken the time to read it.

 

It'sa fungus that kind of grows in the shape of a ring and spreads outwards, hence the name. I'm not sure exactly where it comes from - dirt, as far as I can tell. It's pretty much harmless unless untreated, and then can cause a pretty deep-seated infection. It's more of a nuisance than anything else. lol. I certainly wouldn't wish it on anyone! <gg>

 

We actually tried a few things and unfortunately Program didn't work for us at all - the griseofulvin and sporonox and stuff scared me when it talked about liver/kidney function, renal failure, etc. We did the double dose on all of them but the lesions kept coming. I had it on my arms and in other unmentionable spots and seem to see little spots that look like it starting again, but I use the Lamisil cream that I was prescribed (you can't buy it otc here) and it goes away pretty quick. The main thing for cleaning is bleach but in a carpeted apartment I'm pretty limited. I did find out that Quatsyl-D Plus, the cleaner that our shelter uses, does deactivate the spores. There are all kinds of things that can be used for the environment, but I guess our laws in Canada are different or something because you can't get most of it here, or even have it shipped.
Did you find that the cats did some extra shedding when it was in the environment? Did you do the twice daily vaccuming and all that stuff?
I'm glad to hear I'm not wrong in not wanting to do the cultures, at least!

 

i just finished up treating my 2 little boys w/ ringworm..i used pets best, i found it online.it is a god send..got rid of the ringworm in about a week...here is the link..you should ck it out..it works well...

www.qbased.com

 

My brother is sending me the stuff to reformat my computer, so hopefully I can use the site more. I can read posts, but it shuts my internet down and I have to reset everything for it to work again when I try to check private messages or reply to posts. I have some stupid virus on there.

The only time program didn't work for me was when I didn't feed it to them right after a meal. I didn't read the directions the first time and didn't do it right. I have used it 4-6 times with great success.

I think that if they are on it for preventive measures it does help them not to get ringworm, but I think once they have it it takes double the dosage to wipe it out. I am not sure about that, but I think so. Ringworm isn't a problem if they don't go outside. The only times I have had it is in stray kittens I find on the streets. Little kids get it sometimes too and can pass it to indoor pets. I will see if I can find any more info on program and ringworm, I did some google searches on it awhile back.

 

I'm pretty sure I gave it to them with a fatty-enough meal - the Medi-Cal Developmental for the older ones and the kitten food for Molly and Simon. We tried it for three months but Tupuck (Puck) just kept on getting the lesions. It's cleared up since I used the Terbinafine (knock on wood).
I've read different reviews of Program for ringworm, some saying it worked and some saying it didn't, so I guess if it works for some cases that's a good thing!
My main concern was having it revolve around the apartment with all five of them for months on end. I am also unable to foster any more kits for the SPCA until 20 months have passed without any signs of it, or until all five come back with three negative cultures. It's really not "harmful" but in people with low immunity, the aged or the very young it can cause an extremely hard to treat, deep-seated infection, and of course the Shelter can't legally adopt out a cat that isn't ringworm-free.
I had a look at that website mentioned - there are so many sites out there with "cures" but I'm always loathe to put my credit card out there without knowing if they really work! I will definitely keep this treatment in mind if it comes up again - those stinkin' Lamisil tablets are $4.35 EACH and Tupuck's an 18 lb cat so it wasn't cheap....but it seems to have worked so I'm happy.

 

i was skeptical about the pets best too....but first hand it worked for me..and i was treating my babies for lilke 2 months w/ lamisil and some medicated shampoo's...this stuff worked in days..it was a godsend..and neither myself or my 5 yr old caught the RW..

 

WOW YOU GUYS...GREAT INFORMATION. ALL OF YOU, FLEAFLY, RCRGAL, AND KAREN80. THAT IS REALLY HELPFUL IN CASE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE NEED INFO. :wink: :y_the_best: :m26: :m34: