I certainly wouldn't want anyone to be terrified of it either It can be difficult to eradicate, particularly so in multi-cat households. The households, admittedly, that I have in mind (or rather those that I'm referring to) have been breeders for whom the implications are simply enormous, particularly if they have a litter or two at the time a cat or cats - in their home are diagnosed with it. You have to inform the governing body, treat every cat, repeated tests for months and then yet more repeated tests to check every cat is clear - more than once. It's horrendously expensive and no kittens may be sold until clearance is gained. It can be a horrible vicious circle, trying to eradicate it.

But equally, I have seen ringworm cleared up very easily and swiftly, particularly with only one or two cats in the home.

We had 6 cats at the time, 5 plus my mum's who was staying, two dogs and an assortment of small furry animals

I appreciate if breeding and selling kittens, other things may need to be considered. We were doing neither, so no pressure from anyone.

 

Bathing with antifungal shampoo should be alternate days or three times a week. Treatment with Lime Sulfur is twice weekly.
Oral medication is a viable alternative using Griseofulvin or Itraconazole anti-fungals. The medication has to be given for several weeks though.

bathing with antifungla shampoo is done every 2nd day

lime sulphur is an old fashioned treatment and hardly ever used anymore, it was never that eefective anyway, in my experience

and the itraconazole is daily oral, for one week on one week off, for a minimum of 6 weeks, though they need to be tested again at the end of treatment, sometimes you have to carry on with the treatment for another few weeks or a month

griesofulvin is not that great for cats, it has a lot of side effects, none of them that good

mostly nowadays vets go for intraconazole oral treatment in conjunction with the antifungal shampoo

 

We had 6 cats at the time, 5 plus my mum's who was staying, two dogs and an assortment of small furry animals

I appreciate if breeding and selling kittens, other things may need to be considered. We were doing neither, so no pressure from anyone.

i had no pressure either, neither did my mother, rescuing is hardly pressure, and no i definitely wouldnt have my own cat put down just because of ringworm, but if i was the OP i dont know i would open my doors to a cat with ringworm, its a very big commitment and risk, and yes in breeding households the impact is far further reaching

 

The best and the very WORST of all this is that this poor probably hasn't got ringworm at all and has as mentioned, just a bit of a reaction to the flea drops

 

We had 6 cats at the time, 5 plus my mum's who was staying, two dogs and an assortment of small furry animals

I appreciate if breeding and selling kittens, other things may need to be considered. We were doing neither, so no pressure from anyone.

Well, there you go... I hope that gives the OP some confidence As a breeder, I naturally view the prospect of ringworm with dread. But if I owned a handful of pet cats or was considering taking on a cat with ringworm I'd honestly consider it nothing more than a minor inconvenience, needing a bit of money and time spent on treatment. Nothing more or less than you'd do for any other feline ills.

 

but if i was the OP i dont know i would open my doors to a cat with ringworm, its a very big commitment and risk, and yes in breeding households the impact is far further reaching

I am paranoid about ringworm, which is only one of the things your cats can pick up by bringing in unknown, stray and feral cats. I for one, would think very very carefully before I made this commitment. It may seem harsh and unfair, but is exposing my incumbent cats to disease and infection fair?
I do agree that PTS for a cat with ringworm seems OTT, though. However, possibly the RSPCA facility does not have isolation facilities or these are currently in use?
Also it is possible the SPCA person just said that to emotionally blackmail you into taking the cat? Sometimes, people are just people, and you can get real numpties at times answering the phone.

 

Well, there you go... I hope that gives the OP some confidence As a breeder, I naturally view the prospect of ringworm with dread. But if I owned a handful of pet cats or was considering taking on a cat with ringworm I'd honestly consider it nothing more than a minor inconvenience, needing a bit of money and time spent on treatment. Nothing more or less than you'd do for any other feline ills.

i could cope if my own cats got ringworm, i dont think though that i would take on a stray cat knowing it had ringworm, i would need to think that risk through very well indeed. even with only 4 or 5 pet cats to bathe every 2nd day for 8 weeks or so, thats a lot of work on top of the cleaning and washing bedding routine, plus a lot of cats just arent the same after that much treatment. it can really change the pesonality of a cat to be bathed every other day for 8 weeks and a get a big syringe full of horrible medicine every other day for 8 weeks. it suppose it makes or breaks some cats.

 

I am paranoid about ringworm, which is only one of the things your cats can pick up by bringing in unknown, stray and feral cats. I for one, would think very very carefully before I made this commitment. It may seem harsh and unfair, but is exposing my incumbent cats to disease and infection fair?
I do agree that PTS for a cat with ringworm seems OTT, though. However, possibly the RSPCA facility does not have isolation facilities or these are currently in use?
Also it is possible the SPCA person just said that to emotionally blackmail you into taking the cat? Sometimes, people are just people, and you can get real numpties at times answering the phone.

you work in rescue, you know enough to have a healthy level of paranoia. lol

even when cats are kept in isolation in shelters ringowrm still spreads. the vet doing his rounds doesnt change clothes or wash his hair between isolation section and the general population, and neither can the workers. isolation sections in shelters work far better for bacterial and viral infection that it does for ring worm

 

Slightly off topic but what people don't seem to realise is that the RSPCA isn't one big happy family. It consist of a well funded head office and local franchises that struggle to meet their day to day running costs

I am aware of that and it still doesn't excuse or explain pts for a cat with ringworm.

 

as someone who had seven persians [and one of them pregnant] with ringworm some years ago I can honestly say that geting it again is my worst nightmare. It took considerale money and hard work to get rid of it. The poor cats were stressed as they had to be shaved and kept in one room until it cleared. My vet still praises us as we were clear within six months. Hope this poor cat doesn't have it. Find the attitude of the RSPCA hard to understand though as it is relatively common within rescues and they must have isolation areas.

 

then why dont you volunteer at your local rescue to be a ringowrm bather that will come in every day and bathe the cats with ringowrm? or voulunteer to foster ringowrm infected cats in your home. because thats what they really need. the money is often their for the oral treatments but they lack foster homes for ringworm infected cats, and they lack the manpower to come in daily to bathe infected animals that they keep quarantined in shelters

its easy to pick the rspca apart for making harsh decisions like this, i could do the same too. but i would only do that if i was willing to put my money where my mouth is and volunteer my time and/or my home to treat animals like this. volunteers (willing to do ringworm bathing) and fosterhomes willing to take ringowrm cats are very thin on the ground, that is just the reality. it has nothing to do with not giving up.

I already foster animals.. I am also a failed foster parent thanks.
As I have stated somewhere previously I no longer have cats and will not have cats unless my personal circumstances change.. I am a single family unit and seen As I have a son that has regular visit With CAMH's And am awaiting test for ADHD ADD and Autism and work and have another son to consider have many pets at home and am available to foster dogs and small furries, I do not have enough time in my day to also go to the RSPCA and help them with their cats.. They are very wealthy charity and I am sure they pay there staff to do this exact job..

 

I'm not saying it does but some people seem to think that the local shelters are well funded

Fair enough, but it begs the question, if an RSPCA branch can't afford to treat a cat with a common enough condition like ringworm, what can they afford to treat

What else gets pts for no good reason

Not asking YOU personally, thinking aloud

 

Oops ignore this post! I thought my last post had dissapeared so re-wrote it...but now it has re-appeared!

 

as someone who had seven persians [and one of them pregnant] with ringworm some years ago I can honestly say that geting it again is my worst nightmare. It took considerale money and hard work to get rid of it. The poor cats were stressed as they had to be shaved and kept in one room until it cleared. My vet still praises us as we were clear within six months. Hope this poor cat doesn't have it. Find the attitude of the RSPCA hard to understand though as it is relatively common within rescues and they must have isolation areas.

your experience of it ties very much in with mine, lots of money, lots of hard work, stressed to the hilt cats, and a vet that shakes your hand if you are free of it 6 months later. so many people think this is an easy thing to deal with, it really isnt at all.

 

I'm not saying it does but some people seem to think that the local shelters are well funded

I know they are not but the big big question is why not ??
considering it was reported that a commemorative stone ornament outside new headquarters cost £6000 then one wonders how the rest of the donating public's cash is spent -certainly not on the local shelters

 

Thank you everyone for your responses, it has been really valuable to hear a variety of opinions.

I can understand both sides of the argument, as it is kind of wrong to not treat an animal that is treatable, however the other animals in care have to be considered, plus cost etc.

Unfortunately I do have other pets who could catch the disease, including my Mum's 2 dogs who live next door. I don't think I could forgive myself if any of our existing pets caught it, or even worse my Mum's pets.

Other than this it does seem she is in good health...prior to discovering the patch the RSPCA called me to say she is looking much better and starting to put on weight.

I will just have to hope for now that she tests negative for ringworm, in which case there would be no need to worry about what may or may not be done.

I should hear earliest Friday, latest next wednesday so fingers crossed! I will update you all with the outcome.

Thanks again : )

if this helps any, while i will admit that i wouldnt knowingly rehome a cat with ringworm as i have cats of my own, if its just your mums dogs you're worried about, well treating dogs is generally a LOT easier than cats. bathing them i mean, and medicating them. but you would have to factor in the cost of the treatment, big dogs = lots of bottles of intraconazole and lots of bottles of the antifungal shampoo

you mention you have other pets, i dont know about rabbits and the like, but if you have other cats be very wary

 

your experience of it ties very much in with mine, lots of money, lots of hard work, stressed to the hilt cats, and a vet that shakes your hand if you are free of it 6 months later. so many people think this is an easy thing to deal with, it really isnt at all.

I don't think anyone in their right mind would want to catch it but if you own pets you run risks -if you breed those risks become an even greater problem but noone forces you to breed and besides there are more serious ailments for example FIP which is deadly and untreatable

 

All species with skin /and or fur can contract it although there are different types of ringworm some affaecting rodents etc more than the dog/cat ones

 

I don't think anyone in their right mind would want to catch it but if you own pets you run risks -if you breed those risks become an even greater problem but noone forces you to breed and besides there are more serious ailments for example FIP which is deadly and untreatable

who mentioned breeding? not me. the treatment for ringowrm is just as horrible and stressful for pet cats as it is for breeding cats. i wouldnt knowingly bring a cat with ringworm into my home whether i had breeding cats or pet cats. and just because fip is worse it doesnt make ringworm ok.
i wouldnt run the risk of infecting my cats by bringing a cat with ringworm into my house. that doesnt mean that it is deadly or comparable to fip.

 

Cazzer mentioned a pregnant queen -I don't know if it was a rescue queen or not but my point wasn't directed at anyone in partycular but in general it is obvious if you breed you will have big problems with ringworm especially as some treatments cannot be given to pregnant cats
but as i said no one would want to contract it

 

In the case of our local shelter, nothing. They closed due to lack of funds while someone in an air conditioned head office looked out of his window at artwork

That is terrible..

I think all conditions are seen as serious... some are how ever easier to deal with..
I dont think anyone would purposely put their pets at risk that love them.. But we can take precautions to lower risks..

 

Has the treatment regime changed for treating ringworm in cats? We were only offered cream to treat areas of hair loss and this worked extremely well

Hair loss was minimal, a couple of small areas around face. We never shaved either of the cats or bathed them! Neither did we isolate them, as no point.

 

In the case of our local shelter, nothing. They closed due to lack of funds while someone in an air conditioned head office looked out of his window at artwork

Maybe they did not do enough fund raising or did not have enough local volunteers. Many people talk about rescue, not so many do anything to help on a practical level.

 

Maybe they did not do enough fund raising or did not have enough local volunteers. Many people talk about rescue, not so many do anything to help on a practical level.

I picked up a sponsor form the other day for a sponsored dog walk.. Im a nit gutted I can't do it..

Its a walk over 5 miles.. Bobby my ex foster puppy is too young.. Bridget would waste away.. Maizie would love it.. But not sure my back would enjoy 5 miles walk..

Its to raise funds for our local shelter.. I went there to see if they had any meece.. they didn't I was gutted but its a good thing our branch didn't have that many small animals on offer..

Although the cat section was full.. Each cat pen is sponsored by a company or person.. I think this is a great idea..

 

That is a great idea MoM....