# Ringworm (yuck) advice?



## RoxiesMummy (Jun 12, 2012)

Friday I took Roxie in to the vet for another round of kitty shots and a wellness exam (she is like...11-12 weeks now, estimate). The vet noticed a little pink spot on her back leg and said she was pretty sure it was ringworm, and I should get some tinactin (sp?) and put it on her to be sure, and to keep her away from the ferrets so they didn't get it.

I got the stuff and put it on her little leg, and I noticed today she has another spot behind her ear. They are roundish and pink, but she still has fur there. Went online, read about ten websites, and yeah, she probably has ringworm.

SO...I vacuumed the house and made a list of things we need. I have read lime sulfur baths, Malaseb shampoo, and Resizole conditioner as suggestions, as well as cleaning everything like...alll the time.  

Two questions:
1. Can I get this shampoo and conditioner and lime sulfure stuff at the pet store? We have a petsmart and a petco.
2. Any other suggestions? It would be much appreciated.

*Sigh* I ADORE kitten, but I hate that we have to deal wtih all of these parasites. I got her from my friend, who had adopted three kittens from someone off Craigslist who had a cat in the backyard who had kittens. We've gotten rid of the fleas and roundworms that she came with, so I guess we have one more thing to get rid of!!! My poor pretty girl does NOT need to deal with all this yuckiness!


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Ringworm isn't a parasite, it's a fungus... it's actually just athlete's foot, but on other parts of the body instead. It sucks, it's such a pain keeping everything clean! 

I had it once in two locations - it really burned and was itchy... ugh, not fun! It looked like some sort of awful burn mark on me for a month or more. I got it from the cats at the cat sanctuary (since I deal with all the sick AIDS/Leukemia cats and some of them have it)... but I kept it covered, dry, and washed my hands regularly, washed my clothes daily, and washed bedding often as well. No one I know and none of the pets I know got it from me, maybe because it's more often to occur when you have a weak immune system or when you have been exposed to with with an open sore (where I got it from - it developed at the site of a cat scratch).

I'd suggest to continue using the stuff you got from the vet, and cleaning every area she is in, the places she sleeps most often... every day. Throw covers on furniture as well and wash them, too. You could also do the lime baths once a week or so... and keep using the stuff until a week or so after it looks totally gone, you don't want it coming back.

Something I've mentioned on this forum before is that you can buy the people version of cream for ringworm treatment in any store for about 10-15 dollars, and it should work as well on and be totally safe using on a cat... so if you have this problem again, that'll be a much cheaper route.

I hope she gets better soon!


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

RoxiesMummy said:


> Friday I took Roxie in to the vet for another round of kitty shots and a wellness exam (she is like...11-12 weeks now, estimate). The vet noticed a little pink spot on her back leg and said she was pretty sure it was ringworm, and I should get some tinactin (sp?) and put it on her to be sure, and to keep her away from the ferrets so they didn't get it.
> 
> I got the stuff and put it on her little leg, and I noticed today she has another spot behind her ear. They are roundish and pink, but she still has fur there. Went online, read about ten websites, and yeah, she probably has ringworm.
> 
> ...


First off, in my opinion the sulfur lime dips are way too harsh a treatment for a kitten. What your doing is dipping her is harsh chemicals. Absolutely don’t do it.

Ringworm is not a big deal. It’s a fungus and your kitten probably got it from the soil outside and your kitten has a weak underdeveloped immune system so it succumbed to it. Most children get ringworm from playing in outside sand boxes. It’s almost a rite of passage in childhood. Don’t stress about it. If your other animals have a strong immune system they won’t contract it if exposed to it. Ringworm usually manifest in warm moist areas on a kitten. Keep checking your kitten around its head. 

Once I took in 13 sick kittens. They all had ringworm. Once a week, for 8 weeks, we did ringworm baths. It took us 8 hours! First we shampooed them with Malaseb shampoo, rinsed. Then put on leave in conditioner of ResiZOLE. Wrap them in a warmed towel from the dryer to dry them off with and hold them in it to keep them warm till totally dry. 

During the week 3 times a day Id put Athletes foot cream on their scabs. My vet said the generic brand is as good as the expensive brands. A tube cost $ 3 or $4. One of the kittens kept getting worse and worse. It was losing a lot of hair on its head. In desperation I contacted a friend who understands homeopathic treatments. She suggested putting colloidal silver on the scabs several times a day. It immediately started turning it around for this sweet kitten. 

There are many type of ringworm. Some don’t show under a black light. A vet can prescribe a topical ointment called miconazole. It’s expensive. Around $27. Griseofulvin is also a prescription drug. Too hard on kitten’s kidneys so not recommended. Use only on adult cats.


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## KittyKali (May 28, 2012)

RoxiesMummy said:


> We've gotten rid of the fleas and roundworms that she came with, so I guess we have one more thing to get rid of!!! My poor pretty girl does NOT need to deal with all this yuckiness!


Can I ask what you used to rid of her fleas? Mine is infested I'm afraid :evil:


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

KittyKali said:


> Can I ask what you used to rid of her fleas? Mine is infested I'm afraid :evil:


When my kitten was flea infested, the vet gave him a dose of frontline in his office. The suckers all jumped ship by that very night.


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## RoxiesMummy (Jun 12, 2012)

For the fleas I gave her a bath using Dawn dish soap. She was like six or seven weeks when got her so I was scared to use anything else. Bathed her and used the flea comb to get eggs. Washed all her bedding. Did that twice and then the vet did Frontline on her.


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## RoxiesMummy (Jun 12, 2012)

I wont do the lime and sulfur. That sounded a lil harsh to me anyway. Can I get maseleb shampoo from petco or does it need to be ordered online?

Thanks!!!


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## Julie Carvill (Jun 30, 2010)

Good luck with your precious calico girl.


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## Lenkolas (Jan 18, 2011)

I had two kittens infected with ringworm. They came from a house where all cats -mom, dad and 5 kittens- were infected. So I took these two and isolated them. Treatment with baths was not being as effective as it was expected, plus bath time was turning out to be a permanent nightmare for all of us (I still have the scars to show). After the vet took blood samples, we started treatment with itraconazole. It was like a miracle: in 2 weeks nasty ringworm was completely gone.
But itraconazole can be very hepatotoxic (liver toxic) so exams are advised before and after treatment. My two little kittens did great, no damage to the liver whatsoever. One of those kittens is Ice my odd eyed cutie. The other one was adopted by a friend of mine.

Good luck!


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

RoxiesMummy said:


> I wont do the lime and sulfur. That sounded a lil harsh to me anyway. Can I get maseleb shampoo from petco or does it need to be ordered online?
> 
> Thanks!!!


I ordered mine on line, since it was cheaper than buying it at the vet office. I doubt youd find it at a retail store. Let me know if you have trouble finding it.


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## RoxiesMummy (Jun 12, 2012)

Thanks everyone ! I ordered the Maselab shampoo from Amazon, bc that seemedto be the cheapest place. Ive been putting the tinactin stuff on her twice a day. We are going back to the vet in like... week and a half I think...for another wellness/shots visit, so if it isn't bettr by then, I'll spring for the  miconazole stuff

I feel better hearing that a lot of you guys have gone through it and its not a huge stuff. She has a little spot behind her ear and two on her paws and they make me sad. I feel like I'm a bad kitten mom, even though I'm 99% sure she picked it up before I got her.


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