Has anyone else treated ringworm?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-07-2005
Has anyone else treated ringworm?
11
Tue, 07-05-2005 - 10:00pm

I'm just wondering how many weeks it usually takes to get rid of it, and how you know the cat is ringworm-free? I honestly can't remember how long I treated Bad Annie 7 years ago. It's breaking my heart to keep Kieran quarantined. If he hears me, he cries and cries. I've started talking to him, rather than always going in, so he doesn't think I respond to his beck and call. (who am I kidding. I don't own this house. The cats just let me live here and pay the bills.)

Wednesday, 7/6, will be the 2-week mark for Kieran's treatment. I know I'm not done yet. I'm just trying to figure out how much farther I have to go.

** Noelle

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 07-06-2005 - 6:37am

It can sometimes take up to a month - many times the treatment is 1 month or more.

Cat =^..^=
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-07-2003
Wed, 07-06-2005 - 11:18am

This may sound like a strange idea, but didn't you say that you could see the ringworm under the black light at the vet? From what I remember reading, only some species of ringworm glow under black light. Now, (forgive my ignorance if this is a dumb idea), couldn't you go out to a store and pick up a black light bulb (very inexpensive), and check him yourself every couple of weeks? Then you could know for sure if the ringworm is completely gone.

Just an thought... I realize things are rarely that simple... Cat? Is this a plausible idea?




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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 07-06-2005 - 12:39pm

Pumpkin had a spot of ringworm on her head when she came to live here.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-07-2005
Wed, 07-06-2005 - 12:45pm

That could work. I was concerned that Bad Annie might have had it a few days ago. I had my mom check on her during the day, and take my dad's blacklight with her.

** Noelle

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 07-06-2005 - 1:58pm
Unfortunately, you won't always see ringworm under a black light.
Cat =^..^=
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-07-2003
Wed, 07-06-2005 - 2:04pm
I just thought, since this type WAS seen under a black light in her vet's office, that she'd continue to see it until it was gone. *shrug*.



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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-07-2005
Thu, 07-07-2005 - 1:24am

Yes, my vet said that not all ringworm types glow under blacklight. She was saying that, as she shown a blacklight on it, just in case. This one DID glow. (either that, or Kieran is part Alien, rather than cat.) The glow illuminated spots on his face that hadn't come up in lesions yet, as well as the 2 lesions that HAD already appeared.

I just wondered how you tell it's gone. It's hard to tell if the 2 lesions I can see, are going away. They're not getting bigger. He's not been scratching them recently, and he's not scratching incessantly anywhere else. These are all things I'll be asking the vet on Monday. I just thought I'd check here, for other people's experiences. After all, Monday is a long ways away still!

** Noelle

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-07-2003
Thu, 07-07-2005 - 12:53pm

I read that one way to tell the lesions are healing is to tug on the fur at the outer edges. If it doesn't come out easily, then the spot is not spreading. If the fur DOES come out, then the lesion is growing. I've also read though that you should keep treating for another couple of weeks even after the lesions are gone, because the fungus could still be residing in the skin. Of course, the only 100% positive way to determine if the ringworm is cured is by a fur culture.

What a pain in the butt this ringworm is!




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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-07-2005
Thu, 07-07-2005 - 1:30pm

Ugh, I can see it now..."here Kieran! Come let Mommy pull on your fur!" The lesion I can see, is on the corner of his little mouth. The others that I could only see via blacklight, are in his eyebrow area and on his little nose.

Tonight is ringworm bath night. I'm planning on wearing a sweatshirt this time, as makeshift arm protection.

** Noelle

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Thu, 07-07-2005 - 6:56pm

I haven't heard that, but luckily I haven't had to deal with ringworm much.


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