Cats' Ringworm And Your Children

Ringworm is fairly common in cats, especially those that are not groomed or looked after well enough. However, even the most cared-for cats can get ringworm because it is so contagious.

However, ringworm is not caused by a worm. Sorry, for telling you how to suck eggs, if you already knew that, but a lot of owners do not.

Ringworm is really a fungus known as dermatophytosis and is extremely infectious for most animals including humans. Cats frequently pass it on to each other whilst rubbing and pass it onto humans during grooming or stroking.

Not just that, but once you have the infection on your hands, you might get ringworm on your body wherever you touch yourself or you may pass it onto someone else, a different cat or your dog.

If you notice the tell-tale catherine-wheel shaped mark on your cat, you should take it to the vet immediately for treatment.

Similarly, if you or your kids pick up the fungus, you must see a GP or dermatologist. You ought to see an improvement in a few days and complete recovery within a week or so, although treatment might continue for a fortnight to make sure complete recovery.

Sometimes, you may not see the ring-like mark, but if your cat or child is itching or scratching in one spot and there are no fleas, assume ringworm. Being a fungus, spores will drop off the host all around the house and may even get blown around in the aircon system. This could easily infect each living thing in the house, so it is nasty.

Therefore, if you think that something is wrong, but you cannot explain it, suspect ringworm, be on the look out for the signs and see to it as soon as it reveals itself.

When you have your cat on your lap, check it for symptoms of ringworm. These are very often on the head, where it has nuzzled another cat.

Look around the eyes, the ears and on the paws for bald spots, the ring mark or merely red, flakey dry skin. The cat might lick it or scratch the spot often and there may be dandruff.

The first thing to do is don gloves and search the cat for fleas. If you do not see a large infestation of fleas, your cat almost certainly has ringworm so get it to the vet as soon as possible.

In the meanwhile, isolate it from your children and do not touch the patch, although it might already be too late.

The treatment for ringworm in cats is quite simple. It usually involves bathing your cat every other day and applying anti-fungal cream once or two times a day to the infected patches wearing rubber gloves.

Applying the cream is not a problem, but a lot of cats actually hate being washed, so this could be a problem. If your cat hates water, place it in a pillow case and fasten it at its throat with an old flea collar. This should prevent the cat from clawing you and running away.

A similar treatment should be undergone by every member of the family, but you will just exchange your regular soap and shampoo for an anti-fungal one for a fortnight.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a number of subjects, but is now involved with feline distemper vaccination. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Distemper Vaccines