# Question about ringworm healing stages



## cmghalsell

Hey,

My husband and I adopted Wompy off the streets a 9 days ago, on Sunday, and took him to the vet right away. Vet said other than some stomach worms and fleas he looked fine. So we gave him meds for that and he seemed fine until tuesday when i noticed a scaly patch of skin under his fur. Right away i recognized it as ringworm and we got him back to the vet on Wednesday. Vet said we were probably right and gave us 1% miconazole drops to put on him daily. The ringworm appeared on his back left leg and did not spread to other parts of his body. So for 6 days we've put on miconazole in the morning, 30/70 apple cider vinegar/warm water baths at night followed by more miconazole when skin was dry. the skin crusted over and shed, leaving a *dark gray* circle on his skin that's the size of a half dollar coin. The skin looks smooth and I think I'm seeing peach fuzz growing back now. I'd like to know:

a: is he still contagious and can I let him out of the bathroom? I read some places they are still contagious after hair grows in and other places that say he's not contagious after 48 hours of treatment.

b: how long do i continue treatment and do i need to continue giving him full acv baths or can i just dab the affected area with a cotton ball.

c:how do i know he's completely healed? 

d: *why did the spot turn gray and is this a normal part of the healing process?*

I've sprayed our apartment down with white vinegar/soap/water solution i use for general cleaning. I don't like bleach so i want to avoid it if i can. We have wood/ laminate floors and I've swept, sprayed, and put away all the rugs.

He has another follow up vet appointment on Wednesday. I feel bad for him in a cold bathroom all alone though. Any advice would be nice ;-) THANKS!

PS. He seemed pretty down until two days ago when there was a noticeable improvement in his activity level. I think that was about the time the spot was halfway shed.

*edit* so you know, he is our only pet.


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## Tippy

I wish I could tell you what to expect in regards to the ringworm healing rate and the contagiousness. I am no vet and I am unsure. My best advice I can give to you is to call and ask to speak to your vet, or wait till Wednesday to find out. Your vet should be more than happy to tell you anything you need to know. I thought I was having a ringworm outbreak with my cat, as a matter of fact we are still waiting on those results. The vet said to just wash my hands after touching the cat. If your cat was all over the house while it had this breakout before you limited him to the bathroom, well then if it is ringworm it is likely already been exposed to the rest of the house. But please do not do anything before you ask your vet, as I would not want you to get it. If you want to spend some time with the kitty, just wash your hands very thouroughly afterwards. I feel for you guys, it is tough watching poor kitty be stuck in the bathroom. Mayby put a nice warm blanket in there for him to curl up on. Call your vet to see if you can let him out now. And I agree with you when you say you don't want to use bleach... I just had a severe bleach poisoning incident with my cat because I went nuts cleaning for the very reason you are here. It has been a battle in itself having to nurse her back to health. Stick to what you are using. Good luck to you and you kitty. Keep us posted! :smile:


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## cmghalsell

Thanks Tippy,
I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty, I read through your thread and I'm so happy to hear that things are looking up. 

Thanks for the advice, I'm really impatient and maybe i just need to calm down a bit and not be so anxious  with the holiday weekend coming up I think Wompy will be taking his first trip with us to my parent's house for the weekend so we can keep on top of his meds. He's pretty funny in the car; he hates his carrier (even though its his bed) but loves sitting on my lap and looking out the window. The vet said he should be less contagious now that he's been treated for a week, it's really the skin color change that's weirding me out... anyway, I'll have my hubby ask about it tomorrow when he takes him in.


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## Tippy

That is good news that you can be with him again :smile:. I am sure that will please you both. Being impatient does not always pay... take my word for it. I think its great that he gets to go on the road trip, at least he can be with momma and you can stay on top of the meds as you said. I am gonna guess and say the skin color thing is probably a normal part of the healing process, and don't worry too much. Just give Wompy lots of love and T.L.C. :smile: Good luck to you both, and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. Let us know what the vet says about the skin, and thank you for your regards for my Kitty, vet says she should make a full recovery!


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## neko13_3

I'll be honest, I have no idea how to answer your questions. But I've had 3-4 cats with ringworm patches (different times or not exposed to each other), just a few days with some Tinactin (athlete's foot stuff OTC) and it's no big deal. I never did any mass cleaning, never did isolation. And my cats slept with me. It never spread to me or my family or my other cats. I did use hand sanitizer after applying the tinactin to the cats. My little sister had ring worm once (from public schools)...it never spread to anyone else in the family or to my cats. And her's was on her face. The school didn't even send her home with it or tell her to stay home...just sent a nurse's note home saying 'we think she has ringworm'. 

So, I personally find ringworm to be an annoying nonevent.


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## Beckie210789

I agree Neko. My kitten Waffles had it from 3 weeks. We treated topically until he was 8 weeks old, and then our vet put him on a week long low dose of Itraconozole. He cleared up, then I got 2 patches of it, one on my arm and one on my stomach, it was itchy, and looked like a perfectly round spot of poison ivy. I treated it with OTC creams, and it went away, my cat Kodak got a spot of it, we treated him orally with a medicine in pill form, it cleared up, one of my spots flared up, more OTC cream, and now (knock wood) everyone is clear. My boyfriend never got it, none of my other cats got it. All were healthy and had strong immune systems. I caught a cold the week I broke out with it initially, and Kodak was diagnosed with a UTI when he broke out, so both of us were immune compromised. I cleaned really well, washed bed linens more often, and washed my hands a lot after handling Waffles initially, but one can only do so much when you're trying to bottle raise a demanding mouthy grump of a kitten (hehe) 

So basically, having ring worm is annoying, but it wasn't like it was painful, and since I started treatment immediately, it was gone quickly. 

I read somewhere, when I was researching ringworm in cats and kittens, that the grey discoloring was common with the infection. HOWEVER, I would continue topical treatments for a while after the sore is gone, because it can flare up (after it looks better) and then it can become resistant to topical meds. I found that Lamisil cream worked best on myself, but since Waffles and Kodak were already on oral meds when I got my outbreak, I never asked if the Lamisil was safe on cats. (it has a different active ingredient than other OTC antifungal creams) But Lotrimin cream is safe for use on our fur babies.


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## cmghalsell

Thanks Becky and Neko,

A second layer of skin came off last night, leaving the wound a mottled pink/black color.

My hubby took Wompy in this morning for his follow up and the vet says that although it looks better, now that it turned black she's not so sure it's ringworm. His culture is still ambiguous. She said she's going to talk to an animal dermatologist for a second opinion and get back to us. She said that since he looks better, continue treatments minus so many baths. 

I guess i kind of freaked out. Even though i keep reading that its just an annoying "nonevent" it still helps to hear it personally


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## Lenkolas

Yes! I third (or fourth?  ) what has been said here. I had two kitties (one foster, the other foster failure) with ringworm for two months in my house, with 3 other cats! I had them confined in a room, but honestly all of my fears were unfounded. None of the 3 others got it, I didn't (and I am very prone to skin allergies and weird skin reactions) and my bf didn't either. The kittens were taking itraconazole and after the treatment we never had to worry about the fungus again. 

So yes, a pain in the neck, but nothing serious. Washing hands, bed linens and cleaning more often is a good idea. 

Good luck! ;-)


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