# Battle of the RINGWORM!!!



## BoscosMum (Apr 29, 2004)

This is TERRIBLE!
*I AM EXHAUSTED!*

The kitten is still getting her daily baths and is on oral meds.
Both of my dogs have 1 lesion each, both dogs on meds.

The human people in the house went in and got Ketronazole 2%.
I am washing the lesions with tea tree oil and baking soda 
to creat a scrub mixture.
In hopes to flake off excess dead skin.

My 7 yr old (the *culprit* of this spreading)
She has about 10-12 lesions.

I have 6 lesions....

My 5 yr old has 1 lesion.... (so far)

My 3 year old currently has 3 lesions.....

I am changing bedding every 2 days, including blankets.
I am medicating everyone, including pets enough to make me puke.
We are vacuumimg what little carpet we have twice daily.

I just dont know how to survive through this.

I swear to GAWD....this is 10 times worse than head lice.

Amazingly enough both of my adult cats are ringworm free.
as far as I know at this point.....
I did notice a bare spot on Tipsy's tail.....
I think it is just because she is an compulsive groomer though.
She is always hacking up hairballs.....

Tomorrow I am going to wash her tail and medicate it just to be on
the safe side......giving her a bath does not sound like fun
at this point.....
You guys would die if you saw my arms and hands from the
daily kitten baths.

I swear by the time this is over this kitten is *going to hate my guts! *


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## My3babies (Sep 27, 2007)

Are you looking for advice or just venting? Kitty's mom and I know all too well how stressful ringworm can be. I am sure we could offer some suggestions if you were interested. 

How old is the kitten? Which oral medication are you using for the kitten? What are you bathing the kitten with?


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## Kittys Mom (May 7, 2004)

If you're venting...I TOTALLY understand. It should get better soon...I hope. I can't imagine what it would be like dealing with ringworm on kids as well as animals. We only had it on pets (and no kids "interfering" with the treatment).

If you're looking for advice. 
For the kids:
Are you keeping the lesions covered? Use athlete's foot cream on them at least once a day and keep them covered with bandaids. Otherwise, when they are touched by hands or material (sheets, shirts, etc), it will spread.

Here's a detailed list of what we did with our 6 ringworm cats:
We did Lime Sulfur dips instead of the shampoo. We did this once a week at 8oz per gallon (the bottle says 4-8oz...but 8oz is best). We used a rose sprayer to apply the solution to the cats, this was MUCH easier than dipping them, we didn't use as much solution, and it didn't get cold as fast (plus we could refill halfway through without using the entire bottle of lime sulfur for one bath!). I used soft e-collars to keep the kittens from licking themselves off. We did all the bodies first. Then sat and used a rag to apply lime sulfur solution to their faces. I read contrary things regarding the shampooing. One bottle said not to wet them before dipping and the other one said to do it. After tons of research, we decided NOT to wet them prior to dipping. We have dipped them 4 times and I think we're done.

I also applied lotrimin to their "spots" every day. I've read some things that say that it is not completely effective, but nothing I read said that it would hurt them.

I am also using Vibax Laundry additive on my laundry (1T per load in a downy ball) and in my carpet steam cleaner (once a month). I also spritz it on the carpet once a week. It's supposed to kill the fungus AND provide residual protection until you wash it again (clothes or carpeting).

I also used A33-Dry to wipe down my walls, ceiling fan, baseboards, and any hard toys they don't chew on. A33-Dry kills ringworm and also provides residual protection against it. (They use it in hospitals to clean up after HIV contaminated spills...its strong stuff).

Any toy that they chew on, I bleached...even the soft toys. 1 part in 10 is supposed to be strong enough to kill the fungus. I used 1 part in 3...and wore gloves.

I changed my clothes every time I exited the "ringworm" room. I washed my hands every time after I handled the kittens. I wore booties to cover my socks when I was in the room (sold with painting supplies at the hardware store).

When the kittens reached 8 weeks of age, we started them on griseofulvin. I divide their daily dosage into 2 and give it to them along with a meal of wet food with extra fat (butter or corn oil). Fat is necessary for the griseofulvin to be properly absorbed. 

Our ringworm fluoresced under blacklight, so that's how we kept track of their progress.


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## BoscosMum (Apr 29, 2004)

Hi.....I am kinda of a venter by nature....
looking for any input at the same time.
Anyone know of a magical home remedy...PLEASE SHARE! LOL 

Kitten....
Griseofulvin is the oral med
KetoChlor is the shampoo


For the dogs I am using Blu-Kote
Spot washing with the KetoChlor first 

For the people I am using my own tea tree scrub 
mixed with baking soda to form a scrub.
Then I apply Ketoconazole 2% twice daily....
(actually 3 or 4 times daily)

I am washing, vacuuming, and bleaching sheets and 
towels like a mad woman!


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## BoscosMum (Apr 29, 2004)

"OH!!! Please, Tell me where did you find Lime Sulfur?"

I was reading about that online.
I have been to 2 farm supply stores and they have no
idea what I am talking about!

I checked with the animal sections and the gardening sections.


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## BoscosMum (Apr 29, 2004)

Oh and me again.....


What is A33??? I have not heard of that, where can I buy it?

I have been bleaching around the house with Clorox Bleach spray.
The house STINKS! Starting to burn everyones nose. ROFL! 
(not really laughing)


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## My3babies (Sep 27, 2007)

This is where Kitty's Mom bought the A-33 Dry. This is a great product to fight ringworm. Before we got this we were also bleaching everything everyday, afterwards we only had to wipe everything down once a week. It protects for a lot longer, but we decided to do it once a week just to be sure we got everything.

We got the lime sulfur from the vet, but we had to ask for it. We checked every store we could think of and couldn't find it anywhere. You can also order it online. If you don't have one already I would get an e-collar for the kitten. This way you can just pop that on after the dip and you don't have to worry about her ingesting any. Lime Sulfur Dip

I would really suggest getting the laundry additive as well. Running your linens and clothes through the washer won't kill the ringworm. The laundry additive kills it and protects it. It is expensive, but very worth it. If you are vacuuming you need to change the bag or clean the canister each time. If not, you are actually spreading the spores. The best thing is to actually clean the carpets and add the laundry additive to the carpet cleaner. 
Laundry Additive

Hope that helps!

If you have anymore questions feel free to ask. Ringworm is very stressful and we understand how you feel.


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## Kittys Mom (May 7, 2004)

My3babies said:


> I would really suggest getting the laundry additive as well. Running your linens and clothes through the washer won't kill the ringworm. The laundry additive kills it and protects it.


Everything that m3b said was spot on, but I thought I would add. Washing linens and clothes WILL kill the ringworm...but only if you use SUPER hot water. Also when m3b says that the laundry additive "protects it", she means that it has residual effects (up to the next washing or 1 month) which prevent the material from haboring the ringworm spores. You don't need a ton (I bought a whole gallon...but I was afraid I'd run out). You only use 1 T per load of laundry or 1 T in your carpet cleaner.

Do you have an e-collar? I have some extras. We could mail it  to you. Also, I have some extra A-33 Dry, if you want it. I bought a pail of 90 A-33 Dry powder-packs (kind of like the dishwasher detergent gel-packs). Each powder-pack is dissolved into 1 gallon of water before use. We've used about 5 packs so far...so...we probably have a few we could share.

Also, apparently using dandruff shampoo on the people in your house is supposed to help (not sure...but it can't hurt). It has anti-fungal properties. I used it as a body wash too...


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