Help! We have ringworm!

Fisher's Mom

Fisher's Mom

Mother Superior
OK, so I went to my mom's house for a week with a couple of my boys. While there, I noticed a few of her cats were losing hair in little spots. She said it was a skin infection from the 3 baby kittens she had taken in and bottle fed a few weeks earlier. OK, so I come home and then I notice I have this horrible looking thing on my leg, which I think must be the strep infection Mom said her dog and cats had. So I start putting antibiotics on it and taking antibiotics. But it doesn't get better. Then I notice Fisher and Seb have gotten a couple of little spots that are clearly ringworm! Argh! I have Lotrimin cream, which I am putting on everyone's spots 3 times a day. Anybody have any experience with this? Any suggestions for other treatments? (I remember getting it a couple of times as a kid - mom has always brought home stray cats - but I don't really remember much about it.)
 
Go to the drug store an speak to the druggiest as I believe it the medicine required is an over the counter item. It basically is a spray foam that freezes it. Now I have never had ring worm but used to hunt for snakes with some buddies. We took our girl friends along one time and they never got off the gravel road while we waded in nasty smelling water catching snakes. All 3 girls came down with serious cases of ring worm which none of us got. At any rate my girl friends mother was a nurse and brought home this spray and it was gone in about a week or so. It also never returned as far as I know.
 
OK, thanks Joe. I will talk to the pharmacist. I know this isn't like a huge deal but with the size of my family, I am anxious to not have everyone else get it!
 
How is ringworm treated?

Ringworm can be treated topically (with external applications) or systemically (for example, with oral medications):
Topical treatment: When fungus affects the skin of the body or the groin, many antifungal creams can clear the condition in two weeks or so. Examples of such preparations include those that contain clotrimazole (Cruex cream, Desenex cream, Lotrimin cream, lotion, and solution), miconazole (Monistat-Derm cream), ketoconazole (Nizoral cream), and terbinafine (Lamisil cream and solution). These treatments are effective for many cases of foot fungus as well.
Systemic treatment: Some fungus infections do not respond well to external applications. Examples include scalp fungus and fungus of the nails. To penetrate these areas, oral medications are necessary.

http://www.medicinenet.com/ringworm/page3.htm
 
Yuck. I thought only people with weak immune systems could get ringworm. You may need to treat the house, too. It's actually a fungus with spores. And that's how it's spread.
 
JoeV said:
White , red wine, rice or cider?:hide:
Click to expand...

:yum: ya goofy!

I'd also advise disinfecting any surfaces you can with a bleach solution, running the vac well, spraying surfaces like sofas etc, with a disinfectant spray (Lysol).. this is pretty much common sense for anything of this nature.
 
Thanks, y'all. The vinegar tip wasn't one I'd heard before but then as I was searching around the net for natural cures, it came up a lot! So I am daubing my 2 spots, Fisher's 2 spots and Seb's 3 spots with vinegar and then applying the Lotrimin. I also found a lot of references to using clear nail polish! This kind of rings a bell in my head, like I've heard it before. Plus, it should keep those spots from spreading to other places. So I'm experimenting by using the nail polish on one of mine, too.

Yeah, I've been changing our sheets everyday and washing all the sheets and towels in hot water everyday, too. Man, I hate this!!! I hope it goes away really soon.
 
Sass Muffin said:
:yum: ya goofy!

I'd also advise disinfecting any surfaces you can with a bleach solution, running the vac well, spraying surfaces like sofas etc, with a disinfectant spray (Lysol).. this is pretty much common sense for anything of this nature.
Click to expand...
Yes, the lysol is being used liberally and both of the sofa slipcovers are in the wash as we speak. This reminds me of the awful time when, as a new foster parent, I got a sibling group of 3 beautiful little girls, who turned out to all have head lice! That was a nightmare of shampooing, combing, spraying and laundering. It still makes me itch remembering it!
 
Thanks, Joe. I really need to remind myself that it's not a big deal. (There is one on my leg that looks disgusting, but the kids only have very tiny little spots that aren't bothering them at all.)
 
This brings back memories of ringworm as a child, we had them painted with some purple stuff.
 
Yes, I have some Gentian violet, which is great for babies with thrush. I know it works for all kinds of fungal, but does it work any better than the creams and vinegar that aren't that brilliant purple color that stains everything it touches?
 
Fisher's Mom said:
Yes, I have some Gentian violet, which is great for babies with thrush. I know it works for all kinds of fungal, but does it work any better than the creams and vinegar that aren't that brilliant purple color that stains everything it touches?
Click to expand...

I'd use any or all of them Terry. It wouldn't hurt.
Bathe the spots with plain vinegar, then either use the GV or the anti-fungal cream you have.
It's really nothing to get all excited about.
I would NOT use clear nail polish. There is a theory that it surrounds and seals in the areas, however, I think it would be a bit irritating and too harsh on open areas.
 
Going back to the animals that have the ringworm... they need to be treated as well. I had to put a cat down that had severe ringworm because it was indicative of a failing immune system which turned out to be FIV. In little kittens it can be especially bad.

I remember having ringworm on my hand as a child and it was not a big deal but did get treated promptly and covered to prevent further transferrance of the fungus. Topical anti-fungal cream did the trick within a week. Don't remember there being a huge cleaning frenzy for it. Unlike when my niece got scabies!!!! That really was a hassle!

Good luck with it all Terry.
 
Bilby said:
Going back to the animals that have the ringworm... they need to be treated as well. I had to put a cat down that had severe ringworm because it was indicative of a failing immune system which turned out to be FIV. In little kittens it can be especially bad.
.
Click to expand...

Excellent point, Bilby!

Terry, I sympathize with your plight, and I hope you get rid of it soon! Also hope that your Mom is taking care of those kittens!

Lee
 
I used to get that off and on when I was a child and my dad would put an antifungal cream on it and cover it with a bandage three times a day until gone.

My children and grandchildren got it and it seems like it took forever for it to clear up. We used a cream and a shampoo that had been prescribed by a doctor.

As for any animals that have the ringworm, they can be taken to the vet and dipped in lime. It takes three applications of the lime dip to rid the animal of the problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top