# Ringworm



## cleo&osiris (Apr 7, 2009)

I need advice from someone who has successfully eradicated ringworm from their cats and home. I have been dealing with this for over a year now. I have spend hundreds of dollars treating my cats. I kept them in isolation for 12 weeks during one round of treatment while trying to clean my home. Apparently I did not clean well enough as the ringworm is back in full force. Two of my children have gotten it and I believe I may have a spot now. Honestly, I cannot afford to spend the huge amount of money on the internal meds (itraconazole) the vet prescribed a second time. What did I do wrong? Why can't I get rid of this?

I fear I may have to give up the cats completely. This is not something I desire to do, and even if I did, I don't know who would want to take cats infected with ringworm. I have a small baby who I fear will catch it as well and although it's not a life-threatening disease, it is a major inconvenience not to mention I would have to treat him with medications that I would not feel comfortable exposing such a young child to.

Please, any suggestions, advice is desperately needed! Thank you so much.

Julie


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Julie, perhaps Mitts & Tess will see this and be able to help you. I think she, and another member, have successfully treated ringworm and could give you some tips. I understand that must be frustrating, but I've never dealt with it. 
I just wanted to welcome you and help keep this topic bumped so members can see it.


*I did want to comment about diet playing a part in an animal's health. I know horses can develop a fungus called "rain rot" and it is usually linked to a poor diet, starvation, lowered immune system and/or a lack of certain vitamins and minerals. Bathing, careful grooming and a balanced diet are usually able to clear these issues right up.
So, I don't know if a cat's diet could help with ringworm (_which is really a fungus and not an actual worm_) but it may be worth investigating.

Best of luck,
heidi


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

I know it’s a pain to deal with when you’re in the process of eradicating it from your household. The reason it has reappeared is because of a compromised immune system. First off Id make sure your cats are on a good quality wet food to build its immune system to fight if off.

You can topically treat the ringworm by applying athlete’s foot cream to your cats and humans. You can buy the generic brand if it has terabinafine in it. There is no difference in quality of the cream. I buy the generic Walgreen’s brand. Apply twice a day for the week supplimented with the weekly ringworm baths and conditioner.

Once a week give your kitties a bath of Malaseb Shampoo followed by leave in conditioner of ResiZOLE conditioner. Apply the conditioner throughly all over the cat esp in the erupted areas. I would hold them in a towel for 10 minutes after I applied it so it would sink in and start drying. I bought mine on line since it was cheaper than the vet. I think it was KV vet.

I had a runt kitten it just wouldn’t let go off. It lost all it hair on its head and it felt and looked like elephant skin. Micky Vousard (dog chef of America) recommended to me to use colloidal Silver on it. Within two days it had cleared up and started to have hair growing back. I applied the colloidal silver twice a day with a gauze pad and gave it a drop internally. Id brush off the flakes of dead skin with a very soft kitten brush. The results were amazing. You can buy colloidal silver at any health food or vitamin store.

Optional is giving your kittens or cat Maitake-DMG liquid vitamins. To help boost immune systems. They are expensive though.

When washing clothes or rugs or towel I put in a few TBLS of bleach in the washing machine to help kill the ringworm.

Luckily ringworm is a nuscience but not life threatening. My sister was talking to a vet tech from our zoo that took home kittens with ringworm born on the zoo property. She & her dogs proceeded to get the ringworm too. My sister and her traded ringworm stories laughing about it. I know its not funny when you are going thru it but it will be afterward plus the knowledge you helped your kitties and gave them a good healthy life. This is something easily overcome. It would be sad to think you felt you had to give up your kitties because of this. I know having a companion animal isnt free of expense. But to those of us who love all animals we are willing to find answers and go to bat for our animals and fosters its an easy fix. I hope this works for you.


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## cleo&osiris (Apr 7, 2009)

Thank you mitts & tess for all of your very helpful advice. I have already started applying the athlete's foot cream, but was only doing it once per day. I will up it to twice. I will also look for the shampoo & conditioner you mentioned. One thing I am unclear about is whether the cats should be kept in isolation while attempting to "sanitize" the rest of the house. The previous vet who attempted to help us deal with this issue (who also told me that euthanizing them was a very valid option!) had us keep the cats in isolation for 3 months during daily treatment of internal itraconazole ($100/month). This was not an ideal setup for anyone, including the cats. I was told it was necessary to do this so the spores around our house did not re-infect the cats during their treatment. The idea that I have to fully eliminate every spore that may be floating around my home seems next to impossible. I've read that you need to sanitize hard surfaces with a 1:10 bleach solution, but what about surfaces that can't be bleached such as furniture, area rugs, carpeting? What about every little nook and cranny in the basement that the cats may have scurried into? There is just no way of feasibly cleaning every square inch of my home... I have already attempted this once and apparently I failed. So, I guess that is a two parter question... 1) do they need to be isolated and 2) do I really need to "sanitize" every inch of my home? Also, how long should I do the cream/shampoo/conditioner/colloidal silver regimen? I know you are supposed to treat it even after the hair regrows, but exactly how long is long enough?

Thank you in advance for further answering my questions. You have already been incredibly helpful. I was so disgusted with the vet who told me I should put them to sleep, I cried all day at the thought and how she made it seem impossible to get rid of this. Of course having a pet comes with costs, it's just that we do have a pretty fixed budget and another $500-600 dollars trying to clear this up with no guarantees just isn't financially smart for our family. My kids got ringworm before we started this treatment. Now I have it after spending all that money and time and effort and it's just very disheartening. But we do love the cats and want them to stick around!

Thanks again,
Julie


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Julie it makes me angry that a vet would say put down a cat that has ringworm. I would consider finding a new vet. She doesnt value an animals life like you do. 

Ive even put the cream on more than 2 times a day figuring it cant hurt! My vet told me to treat with the shampo and conditioner, cream on for 8 weeks and then she felt my kitens could be given a clean bill of health to adopt out. Beleive me that was a long 8 weeks!

If it is convienent to issolate them it would make it easier to get rid of the ringworm as best you can in your house. But once their immune system is OK it wouldnt matter if they came in contact with it. My two adult cats never got it from the 12 kittens with it. I cleaned as best I could and that is all you can do. I mopped my floors with a biodegradable all purpose cleaner and then a tiny bit of bleach & water solution but that may not be possible for you. I scrubed down my cat tree with soapy bleach water and then took the hose to rinse it off. I dont know if this helped cuz by the end of this they never got it again anyway.

The itraconazole ($100/month) wow, what an expense! My sister who helped me with the kittens got ringworm and had to go get a perscription (she passed it on to her senior. cat.) But she has a way compromised immune system from Lypus. For the rest of us, using the cream did the trick. Sunlight is suppose to help get rid of it too.

If you live in a warm part of the country it is in the soil, sandboxes, etc. It will always be present. Ive always said it is a right of passage in the south for a child to get ringworm. :wink


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