Question:
Now that my son's scalp ringworm has infected me as well, I am growing heartsick over what to do from this point. I do not understand how the cats can appear to be fine and still be able to transmit ringworm. If the infection comes from contact with shedded spores, and those spores are not infected, as evident by their lack of external symptoms, then what gives?!

I am considering given an oral med. to all three cats, if I can get my vet's approval, but I have no way of shampooing them [esp. the one that becomes demonic if she even hears the water come on] or isolating them from the environment during their oral treatment. And I do not have the hundreds of dollars to do the two or three follow-up lab culture tests for each cat to make sure they are clean.

I read that once you start an oral med. and topical treatment plan with a child, he is no longer contagious. Does this also apply to cats?

I feel like I am running out of options and we love these cats very much!

Answer:
The problem with ringworm is that it can infect the environment. You can treat the cats, but you have to treat anywhere they've been too. It's a BIG hassle. Some will say anything you can't bleach, burn. I'm not sure if there are any newer sprays that will get ringworm spores - I don't think Dettol does, maybe someone else knows.

We used to take cats from a shelter, and one day ended up with ringworm kittens. I let the shelter know, obviously. We next took animals from there probably a YEAR later and they came down with ringworm. I told the shelter again and she said she didn't think it came from there, she'd treated the animals. Her vet hadn't told her she needs to completely disinfect the shelter. I don't know how many animals/people got ringworm (and maybe continue to??) because of this. Ringworm is a huge hassle.

Good luck, it's a real PITA, but if you can disinfect the environment, this should solve your problem of reinfection after treatment.

Answer:
You should deffinately be washing all sheets and towels daily. Vaccuum everything daily (if you can) and bleach all that can handle it.

Answer:
If the infection comes from contact with shedded spores, and those spores are not infected, as evident by their lack of external symptoms, then what gives?!
From what I understand, all shedded spore are infective. Once there is no infection, there are no more spores. If you have spores, you have infection.

Like it was said above, if the cats were on the couch, and you can't clean it with bleach or something that will kill the spores (talk to your vet and doc about what you can use) those spores in the fibres of the couch can live for a LONG time, after everyone is cured, so that is why it is so hard to get rid of.

Also, athletes food is a fungus in the same family as ringworm. ONly 3.3 percent of all ringworm cases come from the cats, and you are more likely to catch it from a playground or a public pool.

In a multi-cat household, treament for ringworm should go from 8 to 12 weeks, minimum.

Aparently sunlight also kills ringworm, so if you can, bring everything out in the sun for a few days!

When vacuming, change the bag each day. If it's a bagless model, soak all the removable parts (the cup area for the dirt, etc) with a 1:10 bleach/water solution.

Also, some cats can have ringworm and show no symptoms whatsoever.

ONe thing I just found out is that ringworm will show up under black light. Go to a hardware store or the pet store (aquarium section) and get a black light (fluorecent tubing kind, not the lightbulb kind, as it is not the real thing). At night with all the lights off, turn on the black light and look for the ringworm on surfaces. Carry a bottle of 1:10 bleach/water with a sprayer, and spray all surfaces that you can, and wipe down with a clean papertowel. Throw out the trash bag with the paper towels right away when you are done.

Answer:
Our vet closely examined all three cats and she said that unless there's an exterior infection [and all three look very healthy and clean], they are no longer considered to be contagious, even though systemically, they may be carriers. She said that even attempting to do a culture on their fur would be a waste of money and futile because there's no infected fur to culture. Her recommendation was to clean the environment as much as possible, and to take all the standard precautions that come into play re: scalp ringworm.

I keep thinking that the cats might pick up something from the environment and carry it in their fur without infection, making a culture possible, but she thought it was not likely and without a sign, which area of fur would she culture from?

My son's original ringworm infection on his trunk came from the original infection on one of our cats, but he may have easily transferred it to the scalp, or picked it up elsewhere. We were also very quick to respond and to notice early ringworm on the cat and we did a 10-week isolation with an 8-week topical treatment, along with massive bleach cleanings, so the idea of an infected environment at this point isn't likely.

Well, at least my son's ringworm is getting better, and my dermatologist thinks I may have seborrheic dermatitis vs. ringworm; time will tell. At least I am not experiencing any classic symptoms, and we're continuing our rigid assault on ringworm!

I want to thank everyone here for helping as best you can. It was very much appreciated. You read so many things on the web that it can be difficult to get a grip on the realities of something.

Answer:
Wait wait wait!! Here is more info that may help you with your fight against ringworm (and holistically, too):
http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/ringworm.html

I also have to check with the lady I work with, as her son's dog got ringworm and transferred it to her granddaughter, but they are treating it with the dog holistically, using high quality foods with essential oil supplements, one of which I know is grapefruit seed extract (which is like nature's wonder drug). She is away today and I will ask her as soon as she gets back (tomorrow I hope). I'm sure that the same essential oils can be added to your cat's food! In the meantime, here's a link on it: http://www.pureliquidgold.com/

I will repost as soon as I have more information for you! Good luck in your fight until then!

Melissa

Answer:
Ok, I got it!
Hi Melissa:

The products we used for Cole and Zak are:

Natural Wormer by Holistic Blend. Capsules you can sprinkle on food.
California Natural Essential Fatty Acids oil – smells like garlic and the animals love it!
Grapefruit seed extract – liquid. Can be used in their water, sprayed (diluted) on their coats and the specific lesions; and sprayed on bedding, kennels, carpets, etc. to curb the spread of the ringworm spores.

Tail Blazer stores will have all these products.
Cole and Zak are dogs who got ringworm, and Zak is the likely one who spread it to Heather's granddaughter. Not sure what they're treating the granddaughter with, but I'm sure it was a prescription.

Hope that helps. Do you have a Tailblazers store near you?? Any holistic pet supply store shold be able to get the 1st two things and the GSE as well. If not on the GSE, a health food store (human) should have it.

Good luck!!
Melissa

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