# large ringworm on cat neck? Plz Help :(



## allyally (Apr 28, 2004)

i am like 98.7% positive this is a ringworm by doing some googling and using my black light only to find a huge neon glowing circle. it started out with redness and his hair started to fall out. its on his neck behind his ear. then it started to get larged and i had took him to the vet, she ruled out ear mites because of scratching. Now i am kind of upset that she did not go ahead and check for ringworm because she is a highly recommended vet at an animal hospital in my local town.

since then, around 12 days ago, I've applied 1.5 tubes of Tritop topical ointment and started to see some approvement but then got worse.

i called the vet again and she recommended a leave on conditioner, ResiCHLOR, and i've used it twice since lastnight and it seemed to make it worse. It has actually made it larger i think and small specks of black dirt like around part of the outer ring. 

ok, i am kind of freaking out, i did some searches on the forum for ringworm but couldnt find anything soon enough so i thought i would post. I would sooo appreciate if anyone could give me some good advice. i had already made an appt with the vet next wednesday b/c of work schedule but i am taking off monday and taking him first thing. my question is, i wondered if there was anything i could do until then to ease the comfort, and should i go ahead and start washing all bedding, sheets, stuff in the environment.....

also, i wondered if there was a cheaper route i could ask for at the vet since i think its obvious this is ringworm. i know there needs to be a correct diagnosis, but sometimes vets here like to take you the more expensive route. 

Sorry for such a long post but i need help! i think googling it has made me more upset because it was saying how i would have to burn infected material that he may have prolonged contact with and lots more.

Thanksss to anyone with some good advice :?


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

I don't know much about ringworm, but I sifted through some threads that were picked up by searching the forum and here are some of the more informative ones:

http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t ... t=ringworm
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t ... t=ringworm
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t ... t=ringworm
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t ... t=ringworm
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t ... t=ringworm
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t ... t=ringworm
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t ... t=ringworm


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

HI there.
I have been very alarmed as well and had a horrible view of what the future was going to be like for me when I had found out that one of my rescued (foster) kittens had ringworm. Then the other two that were in a completely different room started showing the signs. And they were in the same room with my cats...except that they were in a very large kitty house...but still that was so scary for me! 
The first kitten had had it for quiete a while before the other two started experiencing the symptoms (I had trapped all of them from my feral colony)
I just want to tell you that I despaired but it was no need for that. 
In 6 weeks - more or less - it went away. With or without medicine. If the spot is larger you might want to administer medication to help the immune system fight the fungus.
Here is what I did with my kitties. I had Dakota - the first one that had it - in the bathroom - changed his beeding (towels, kitty binkies) every day - put them in a bag and closed it tightly. When I added enough to make a decent load I washed in clorox. The bathroom is the perfect place for them to be because I was able to clean the floor every day with water and a little bit of clorox - you don't want the fumes of the chemicals to affect the kitties. I washed my hands religiously. Some people advised me to wear a smock and shoes to have only in that room. I didn't go that far. I vaccuumed the house a little more than usual - which was a little bit obsessive but it worked. My own cats never got the fungus.
No matter what I will do the bacteria stays in the house for two years but I am not worried about that. 
I did have a little round spot on my face - but it went a way in a week or two. I think I got in the beginning when I was kissing on the kitty. I thought that all he had was a bite on the head. It was the first time I had experienced this as well. It was very scary but it turned out not to be that big of a deal in my case.
I did buy the type of medication that you apply when you have athletes foot. I didn't put it on but a few times. I think I just became immunune to the fungus. Andrew never got anything .
One other important thing is to keep the temperature as low as possible - just so you and the kitty won't get sick - because remember that fungi like warm, wet environments.
Let us know how your kitty is doing..
Oh, one of the other two kittens got a really bad spot right on top of his eyebrow and by scracthing it he got the raw skin underneath exposed!, not having enough layers of skin in that area. While I was on vacation the lady that took care of them for me administered them grifeofulvin orally. 
And the last thing - I do assume that there are different types of ringoworm. With the kind that my kitties had I was able to pull it off, and get the clear, healthy, hairless skin underneath. From what I have been reading shaving is not recommended because it spreads it. S what I did was pull gently - and it came off right away - little patches of infected skin that I flushed right away. Afterwards that area was completely healed - no more scaling ocurred and the hair grew back nicely. 
Dakota has now been completely healed for quiete a while and is living happilly after with his forever family that adopted him as soon as he got well!
The other two are 99.9% free of ringworm. I will start finding them a home as soon as I tame them some more


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## allyally (Apr 28, 2004)

Thanks for the forum posts, i read through almost all of them and i was glad because i came across this picture to give you all an idea of how large it is. 

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~cloudj/images/ringworm1.jpg

It isn't quite that size yet but it doesn't like much getting there. I am taking him to the vet tomorrow and also this evening i am going to change all my bed sheets because he likes to sleep with me sometimes and vaccuum everywhere i can. I am not as freaked out about him as i am the environment after reading it could stay in the environment for 2 years. And i certainly don't want them! I am fairskinned as well and read on one of those forums that they are more suspectible to getting them.

Ioana, How much clorox do you suggest using with the water to clean the bathroom? Thanks for the advice, that gives me some ideas how to manage for now. 

I have still been applying the topical ointment on the area b/c for the most part, but he needs to get the whole area shaved to see how far it may need to be applied. 

Also, he has been scratching at it with his back paw and then licks it. What effects could this have on him to digest some of the infected area and hair?

Thanks guys and if anyone else has any recommendations on whether or not i should get him clipped if the vet does infact diagnose it as roundworm.. i read that the treatment is better for the lesion and i am not sure if he doesn't have anymore on him since he is such a large cat and long haired) I hate to keep asking but i want to be prepared at the vet tomorrow for any suggestions or questions, and you guys are such great help!


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## Tagster (Oct 19, 2005)

I had a horrible bout with ringworm in August when I adopted my kitten. He had lesions on his tail, ear, and back feet. Here's what I recommend:

As far as the bleach solution for cleaning 1 part bleach to 10 parts water works best to kill the fungus and make sure to vent the area well. Also vacuuming is important. 

My kitty stayed sequestered in the bathroom and I picked up all the rugs and bought a cheapo bed for him for the time being. Wash ALL of the linens (whites and lights with bleach if possible) and throroughtly disinfect the area. It is contagious to your other animals.

I also got ringworm. It has an incubation period of 10-14 days (humans and animals), so if you were infected it will take 10-14 days to show a symptom. Handwashing after contact is a must, and antibacterial soap should be used.

Kitty was on topical ointment and the oral antibiotic "griseofulcin" or some long confusing name really seemed to kick it's butt off of my kitty. I did use gloves or q-tip as to not spread the infection when putting on the topical. 

The main thing to remeber is PATIENCE!!! It may seem as if this will never go away, but it will, it just takes some time. Good luck and I know how horrible this all is. I was beside myself and two months later, I'm still a little schitzy about it. Hang in there and feel free to send me a Private Message if you need someone to talk to. I know I did!!!


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## Crazy Cat (Oct 18, 2005)

Ugg I hate ringworm. My horses used to get it in the spring because of the wet conditions with snow melting in Michigan..

Everyone has given great tips, but I wanted to add with the bleach to make sure you mix up a new batch at least every 24 hours. The bleach "dies" off after being exposed to the air, and after 24 hours the disinfection rate goes down to about nothing.


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## allyally (Apr 28, 2004)

i took off work today so i could take my sugar pie to the vet. I call around 9 am and they are closed for the whole day!!! That sucks i needed the money at work but also needed to get him to the vet asap, so now i won't get him in until wednesday morning. 

:roll:


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## emrldsky (Aug 31, 2004)

Good luck on getting your kitty vet help for his ringworm. You posted a picture that I took of my Scotty (the web.ics.purdue.edu image) and if it's even half that size they'll probably give you a topical ointment and an oral (gruselfuven or however the darn stuff is spelled). If you can't pill your cat, ask for the suspension.


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## allyally (Apr 28, 2004)

*(Update on Sugar Pie)*

Well i took him to the vet and thank God, it is not a ringworm on his neck. It is for sure a "hot spot" and it isn't spreading. In order for it to heal better, they needed to give him a Depo (steroid) shot, however those shots can cause sugar to go higher if the cat is diabetic it could cause problems. I have been wanting to get his bloodwork done anyway and everything is NORMAL. A few white blood cells showing but that is probably where the hot spot is so inflamed. 

However, in order to take blood, i had to have him sedated. First they were trying to hold him down and it got so bad that he pee'd everywhere.. and was throwing a hissy fit. I don't blame him though, i guess i would do that too. So i told them to definately stop because it was causing him so much trauma. Then i decided to have him sedated to get the bloodwork. Everything turned out WAY better than i expected! 

Now he is O U T. He is so sedated, when i carried him home it was like a little baby on his back, having to hold his head and neck up. She said it would probably take a good 12 hours for him to get all of the sedation medicine out of his body. 

His weight today was 20.0 pounds! 

Thanks guys for your help and advice, thankfully i won't have to use it because it wasn't a ringworm!!


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## The Cat Whisperer (Jul 23, 2005)

*Re: (Update on Sugar Pie)*



allyally said:


> i am like 98.7% positive this is a ringworm





allyally said:


> Well i took him to the vet and thank God, it is not a ringworm on his neck. ...............
> Thanks guys for your help and advice, thankfully i won't have to use it because it wasn't a ringworm!!


I am sure from all your reading you realize it is a fungus and not a worm right? I was just wondering becuase of how you wrote it above "a ringworm."


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## allyally (Apr 28, 2004)

yes i was aware that it wasn't actually a worm :lol: 

i guess because i was referring to it as 'a' ringworm it looked as if i meant an actual worm. i was positive that is what it was, maybe i was setting myself up for a worse case scenerio because i was freaking out because of how it is contagious to us and the environment we live.

Thankfully he is okay.  i have taken advantage of his sedation, i clipped his nails and gave him a good brushing. Usually he is resistant to both.


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