I volunteer at a cat shelter, but have only been there for a few month's now, and I have 4 cats that I adopted at home,(from a different shelter, and about 4 years ago!) I know that a couple of our cats at the shelter had gotten ring worm, and they were treated, now I think one of my cats has it on the inside of his ear! I have never had this problem before with my cat's and have never gotten it myself, so could I have picked up it up some how and brought it home to my kitty, and what is usualy prescibed or done for it? ( I did'nt treat the infected cat's I mentioned before the vet did, and I did'nt ask) And do I need to corentine my cat that I think is infected, is it very spreadable? How hard is it to get rid of, and does it cause them any pain? Thanks alot for everybody's time to answer this question for me, I truely appreciate it, and wish I could give ten point's to all!
2007-10-15 10:34:35 · 6 answers · asked by leah j 4 in Pets ➔ Cats
Ringworm is a "zoonotic" infection which means that you can catch it from cats and vice versa. It also means that you can transfer this to your own cats as well. If you've ever handled cats at the shelter that have ringworm you need to be sure to thouroughly scrub down your hands with disinfectant, take a shower and change your clothing before touching your cats.
If you think you may have transfered it to your cats then please get them to your vet ASAP. Here's some information about diagnosis and treatment - http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&cat=1314&articleid=223
2007-10-15 11:11:49 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ringworm is contagious to other animals as well as humans. Some animals/people are more susceptible than others are. If there is a single lesion it is not usually a huge undertaking to deal with. However, if it is wide spread it can potentially be a longer battle.
It would be best for you to find out if the cat in fact has a ringworm infection, so you can treat it properly and get rid of it before it becomes a bigger deal, and so you can alert others at the shelter your working at so they can decide if you should be there while your cat is being treated and so that they can take preventative measures to protect the other cats and themselves.
2007-10-15 10:44:49 · answer #2 · answered by lolipoplili 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can carry spores home on your clothes. Chances are the shelter is covered in spores. If one of your cats has it, chances are, it will spread.
You can take that cat to the vet and have them confirm that it is RW, or you can get some Lamisil cream and treat infected area like it is RW. If it is, it can still spread, but you will still need to treat.
It can live in the environment for 18 months and really cannot be "cleaned" up from the area.
It can be itchy, but causes no lasting problems.
If a cat gets it bad, shaving the coat will make treatment easier.
There are oral antifungals, but those should only be used in extreme cases. as the side effects can be worse than the RW.
We have ahd it at the shelter I work at several times.
2007-10-15 10:41:33 · answer #3 · answered by ARE YOUR NEWFS GELLIN'? 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
my cat had that and the vet gave us some medicine that only took like a week to get rid of it I don' think that they are in any pain when they have it it is just annoying.
2007-10-15 10:39:05 · answer #4 · answered by Kell 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yuo should go to the vet.The veternarian will definately be able to tell if the cat has ringworm.
2007-10-15 10:43:01 · answer #5 · answered by leah27 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
TAKE YOUR CAT TO THE VET.
2007-10-15 11:31:26 · answer #6 · answered by Charley 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋