Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: carl (billy and baggys dad) on May 01, 2007, 08:08:18 AM
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Hullo folks
does anyone know what ringworm would look like in cats? Bilbo has three small bald patches on his hind leg, but the skin beneath is perfect, no blemishes at all. I'm baffled. How long does it take for ringworm to cause a bald patch? These have appeared since Sunday.
We're off to the vets tonight providing I can get an appointment.
Ta very much :thanks:
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Hiya carl.
You do need to go to the vet but i dont know if its ringworm. When fraser had it his skin was all dry and flakey and looked greyish rather than healthy and pink. Also his was on his head and shoulder area so had probably been rubbing against something that had it.
Hope the vet can shed more light, often its pretty conclusive under a woods lamp if it is ringworm.
Lynn X
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Thanks very much Lynn :)
I called them yesterday, and the nurse said not to worry if the skin below was ok - he may have caught his foot or been fighting. I'd rather be sure though, so I'll take him in.
Any ideas what else it might be?
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Not sure carl, if the skin looks very normal and healthy i wander if the nurse is right and he has just caught and pulled the hair out (are there any fences / barbed wire he might go through. or perhaps hes been sparring with his brother :evillaugh:
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I hope so!
Does ringworm etc always present as red/flaky/raised skin? Sorry to ask so many questions! :thanks:
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Does ringworm etc always present as red/flaky/raised skin?
Not always. occcasionally it can look like a normal bald spot.
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certainly in frasers case where his was all grey and nasty but he'd had it for quite a long time, so presumably the skin changes do get worse the longer they have it. (this was just before i took him on) He got rid of it long before me and dh got rid of ours :evillaugh:
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Thanks Lynn and Ela, much appreciated.
I'm hoping its not ringworm because isn't it a pain to treat and get rid of? Don't you have to burn your home and belongings to eradicate it? :-[
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Don't you have to burn your home and belongings to eradicate it?
Over the years I have cared for a number of cats with ringworm but have never been infected myself nor has it ever passed on to any other cats. You have to be very careful because of the spores. I always wore an overall and used gloves and put them in the washer immediately after each use.
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LOL carl, no i didnt burn anything, hubby and me had to treat our own skin infected areas with an antifungal cream and fraser had tablets. but i believe there may be different types of cat treatments now.
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That sounds very easy Lynn. I don't understand as a colleague had to shave her persian cats to get rid of it which was a real worry. btw they all recovered well from the ordeal and her eldest is 14 today which she is very proud of as Persians don't have the same life span as my lovely mogs
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yep i think it depends on the hair, the worst bit of frasers what on the baldish patch in front of their ears if you follow that and abit round his neck n shoulders. so easier to treat even if i had used the cream or solutions i guess than persians.
Fraser was on "griseofulvin" tablets but those really need to be handled with care ie gloves and your meant to wear a mask i think plus no way if you are pregnant or have liver probs so its a pretty harsh drug. He had his about 9 years ago now so i daresay as with everything there will be different types of things out on the market.
heres a link to the compendium data sheets
http://www.noahcompendium.co.uk/Compendium/Overview/search.asp?search=griseofulvin (check contraindications for do's and donts)
(oh if you click on the bit at the bottom about malaseb as well it says there is no need to clip cats :evillaugh: but maybe dont tell your mate that :innocent:
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a colleague had to shave her persian cats to get rid of it
:( :Crazy:
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Your not suposed to handle griseofulvin if your respect your abilities to reproduce! Its such a nasty drug, it does something to bone i think? Or teeth, wish my brain would work.
Putting vaseline on the area affected helps to stop it spreading, you can also treat with Canestan cream, much nice than the griseo
Lynn, Program is now used as part of ringworm treatment, along with something topical such as canestan or malaseb baths.
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Your not suposed to handle griseofulvin if your respect your abilities to reproduce! Its such a nasty drug, it does something to bone i think? Or teeth, wish my brain would work.
I know it can effect cats teeth and make them almost yellow
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Thank you brain :rofl:
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yeah i know its not a very nice drug, was good for its purpose though ;D It also got rid of his far quicker than canestan did for us. Malaseb is pretty good altho bathing cats isnt always that easy :evillaugh:
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Carl did the vet scan Bilbo with a UV light .... ring worm glows yellow-green under UV.
When Foxy had ringworm a few years ago she was prescribed Program (Lufenuron) oral flea treament (it must be the oral one) and this cleared up the ringworm no trouble.
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i didnt know about program doing it until you and mm said..much better than the grisiofulvin.
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Just back from the vets now. The vet had a good look at Billys leg, and said it doesn't look like ringworm at all, but looks like he'd caught it on something. He did say that if it hasn't started to heal within five days to take him back to have another look.
Thanks for all the advice everyone :)
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glad to hear it, altho they can get it absolutely anywhere i think back legs are less common places to get it. Hopefully it is missing fur and you'll not need to go back to vets.
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Lynn this might be of interest: http://www.showcatsonline.com/program_and_ringworm.htm
Carl: Glad to hear it's not ring worm :)
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and said it doesn't look like ringworm at all,
Did the vet use the Woods lamp?
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No, not at all Ela. He seemed fairly certain it wasn't ringworm though.
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Fingers crossed it sorts itself out.
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Kocka had one small patch of this and the vet used a special light. Because i couldnt get tablets into her I was given some liquid to paint on the patch and it cleared up very quickly.
I never caught it and took no special precautions at all. She ver had it again.
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I was tols ringworm was self limiting in that it would disappear after a few weeks with no treatment.
Can't remember who told me - think it was someone from another rescue.
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I was tols ringworm was self limiting in that it would disappear after a few weeks with no treatment.
I understand that the ringworm will resolve spontaneously after many weeks. However I would rather air on the side of caution as it is very contagious to humans especially children who can also pass it on to thier pets. Once diagnosed it is best to keep the pet penned as the spores can live in carpets etc for many months.
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i believe perhaps it can but there are many times where it wouldnt and just "take hold"
there are 3 or 4 different fungi types that can cause ringworm so perhaps its dependent on which strain thats the cause as to whether it goes on its own ir not, i'm sure that the microsporum canis is the most common one. Also after fraser having it i learned that some cats can also be carriers of it even though they dont show any signs or symptoms.
I got rid of mine on my arm fairly easily but hubbys patch on the back of his shoulder seemed to take the best part of a year with continued canestan use, i even put tincture of iodine on it. It did seem to go initially but left a faint red mark on the skin which used to sometimes look more active than other times (was never bigger than a 50p coin). Fraser i was convinced was one of those carriers as the main area where he had it seemed sparser in hair and would sometimes look abit "moth eaten" altho he never had full blown break outs.
He hasnt actually looked like he's had any reacurrence for a long time now though & dh not had any signs for years either but it certainly seemed a lingering one. I never had reacurring problems nor did any of the other animals get it (mind you i didnt have them at that point :evillaugh:).
In cattle it obviously spreads like wild fire and is very common, normally they all get treated but any that seem weaker or are ill often have it worse.
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That's what the vet said - if it WAS ringworm, it'd more than likely go by itself, although he would prescribe some shampoo to soak the foot in.