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Old 10-03-2010, 02:23 PM
 
Location: Austin
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I just got a new 6 month old foster kitten 36 hours ago and two hours ago I saw her scratching a bald area, quarter size, round, grey, irritated patch behind her ear. She also has irritated bumps up to the ear tip. We have another foster 7 month old kitten and our golden retriever dog. We are taking her to the rescue's vet tomorrow, but from what I've read online and on citi-data, ringworm is very contagious to other pets and humans along with being a difficult infection to treat. In her short time here, the 6 month old foster kitten has already been everywhere in our apartment and touched/rubbed against the other foster cat and our dog.

For those of you who have had experience with this, do I need to ask the vet for pretreatment for the other foster cat and my dog? I have no personal experience with ringworm and don't even know what to ask the vet when I go tomorrow. I am really concerned with the ringworm spreading to my dog and other foster.

Help!
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Old 10-03-2010, 04:53 PM
 
Location: In the north country fair
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Aside from giving your home and animals a scrubdown, there is not much you can do. I suggest cleaning the heck out of everything and using bleach and hot water whenever possible, except, of course, on your other pets, who should just be bathed with soap and warm water.

However, it may not be ringworm. It could also be sarcoptic mange, which is also contagious but very easily treatable. I had some strays who had sarcoptic mange and it sounded exactly as you described, especially when you mention the scabby characteristics on the ears.

Until you can get kit to the vet, I would quarantine her in a separate area (probably the bathroom) and proceed to clean as much as possible. Don't stress out too much, as that really isn't going to help matters. You don't know yet that it is ringworm, so don't freak out abut it being ringworm until you actually know that it is. Moreover, the vet will know exactly what to do, just give them as much info--including the fact that you have other pets--as you can.

I have a feeling it is mange and not ringworm, which would be much more difficult to treat. Just clean everything as well as you can and get to the vet as soon as possible for treatment.
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Old 10-03-2010, 05:02 PM
 
Location: Austin
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Thank you so much, StarlaJane, for your response. I will report back after meeting with the vet what she has.
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Old 10-03-2010, 06:01 PM
 
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Our cats had severe ringworm when we rescued them. We verified that it was ringworm with the vet, quarantined them from our other two cats, and made sure to wash our hands thoroughly after handling them. My husband and I never got it, and only one of our other cats did (he was diabetic).

We treated them with a terrible-smelling sulfur dip. None of us enjoyed that! But the ringworm was gone in a few weeks. Second the recommendation to thoroughly clean everything you can. My house smelled like bleach for weeks! LOL
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Old 10-03-2010, 06:22 PM
 
Location: Austin
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Thank you, emeraldmaiden. Sounds like we have fun times ahead, NOT. On top of the possible ringworm/mange, the kitten also has severe diarrhea. I just found out that all the cats that were living with this kitten, prior to coming to my home, have come down with some kind of intestinal bug. I've been fostering for a couple of years and most of the foster animals have had some kind of health issue that needed attention, however this is the first time the health problems could spread to the other animals in the house or even us.
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Old 10-04-2010, 12:16 PM
 
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Aw, poor little thing. See what the vet has to say; maybe, since it's still a kitten, you could offer a little yogurt for the tummy troubles. I wouldn't do that with an adult cat, but your foster is still young enough that it might help.

Our two were 4-5 weeks old when we rescued them. They were starving; bones sticking out all over the place. Comet still has a patch of thin fur under her chin where the ringworm was most severe, but they are healthy, happy, and active cats. They are seven years old now, but it seems like yesterday when we got them.
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Old 10-04-2010, 05:46 PM
 
Location: In the north country fair
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Quote:
Originally Posted by texan2yankee View Post
Thank you, emeraldmaiden. Sounds like we have fun times ahead, NOT. On top of the possible ringworm/mange, the kitten also has severe diarrhea. I just found out that all the cats that were living with this kitten, prior to coming to my home, have come down with some kind of intestinal bug. I've been fostering for a couple of years and most of the foster animals have had some kind of health issue that needed attention, however this is the first time the health problems could spread to the other animals in the house or even us.
When I adopted my kit, she had coccydia. I had the same reaction as you--all I could think of were all the areas that she had touched. I took her back to the shelter, who treated her, then to my vet, who did a fecal and said that she still had it and would have it until her immune system was able to stave it off, which it eventually did (after about 8 months). I stopped stressing about the sanitation factor and, honestly, her coccidia never had any negative effect on me or the dog. Your kit could have coccidia or, as you said, a bug, stress, etc. The vet should be able to tell you based on a basic fecal, which they will do anyway as part of the general exam. In the meantime, canned pumpkin or lactose-free plain yogurt will help to restore the natural balance of kit's digestive system regardless of what he/she has. It might be a good idea to make sure that kit doesn't get dehydrated, which actually is life-threatening.

Of course, ringworm is different, and you have every reason to be concerned. But it is manageable and never as horrible as it is made out to be. It is not life threatening and really is more an unsightly, pain-in-the-ass. I've treated it in horses and, yes, it does suck to get rid of it (bleach is extremely helpful) but it is treatable and does eventually go away. I am still hoping that it is sarcoptic mange, which is much easier to treat. FYI, both are contagious to humans although I have treated animals with both and never gotten it (and I really wasn't that careful).

Good luck at the vet's office, and keep us posted.
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Old 10-04-2010, 08:37 PM
 
Location: Austin
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We got back from the vet a couple of hours ago. He did the wood's light test on the area and it was neg for ringworm but he said the bald area looked like ringworm to him. He did a culture to make sure and gave me pills and topical treatment in the meantime. The good news is he said our dog is very unlikely to get ringworm because he's a healthy adult animal. He also gave me pills for our other foster kitten to pre-treat for ringworm. The new kitten also has ear mites, an eye infection and diarrhea so she got lots of other meds, too. We treated her tonight and she was so sweet considering we poked her eyes, ears, mouth and skin. Even the vet said she was a sweetheart. She will get well and make someone a lucky person.

Thank you for your help and reasurrance, Ladies. I really appreciated it.
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Old 10-04-2010, 10:56 PM
 
Location: In the north country fair
4,928 posts, read 10,593,273 times
Reputation: 7662
Quote:
Originally Posted by texan2yankee View Post
We got back from the vet a couple of hours ago. He did the wood's light test on the area and it was neg for ringworm but he said the bald area looked like ringworm to him. He did a culture to make sure and gave me pills and topical treatment in the meantime. The good news is he said our dog is very unlikely to get ringworm because he's a healthy adult animal. He also gave me pills for our other foster kitten to pre-treat for ringworm. The new kitten also has ear mites, an eye infection and diarrhea so she got lots of other meds, too. We treated her tonight and she was so sweet considering we poked her eyes, ears, mouth and skin. Even the vet said she was a sweetheart. She will get well and make someone a lucky person.

Thank you for your help and reasurrance, Ladies. I really appreciated it.
Oh, poor kitty! Sounds like you all made the most of your vet visit Did he get a definite result from the culture or are you still waiting?
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Old 10-05-2010, 03:55 AM
 
Location: Austin
15,573 posts, read 10,279,647 times
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I'm up at this ungodly hour because the other foster kitten has been throwing up and having watery diarrhea all night and letting me know it by coming right to my bedside to show me. Two kitties with an upset tummy.... Guess I will have to take in stool samples to see what is going on instead of just treating with the anti-diarrhea med. What ever this bug is that the new kitten brought to my house, it sure infected the other kitten quickly.

We don't know if it is ringworm yet for sure. The culture takes 10 days.

Six medicines for one little kitten and one for the other kitten and counting...
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