- Joined
- Oct 11, 2011
- Messages
- 6,139
So my cat had some allergies that got really out of control when I took him home and had to get put on steroids for a little while until they got sorted out (which they are, thank goodness - it was just a food allergy and it was no big deal to just switch back his food). So his immune system was suppressed from the steroids and he ended up with a ringworm infection. Which I didn't notice for a while because the main symptom of his allergies was him scratching himself, so I thought it was more of that - but then his skin started looking super weird and I was like "gee, that seems abnormal, I'll take him back to the vet." So. Ringworm.
He's been getting the oral medication and the ointment put on him both two times a day since thursday. Poor dude! I've confined him to a bathroom because I don't want it spreading to me or my husband or - god forbid - the dog. The whole house except the bathrooms has hardwood floors and lots of cloth bits between furniture and blankets and whatnot, and I have washed EVERYTHING but apparently only bleach is super-effective at destroying the spores of the ringworm varieties that cats and dogs get? So I have no idea if my cleaning actually has done much good, since I can't very well bleach my hardwood floors or the chairs. I have bought an antifungal rinse for the laundry, and we have a vacuum with a hepa filter (I don't even know what that means but the internet assures me it's important) so I vacuumed everything down a few times and now vacuum the bathroom the cat is in every day. Poor little guy doesn't understand why he's stuck in there. I feel so bad for him, but I don't want him scattering fungal spores all over the whole house.
Anyway, all of the stories I found through google of people's cats having ringworm were like "it's horrible, I have ONE MILLION ringworm spots on me, all my other pets have ringworm, my spouse/children have ringworm, and this has been going on for months!" So. Um. I am hoping that this is a case of the extreme examples floating to the top of the google search results??? Someone reassure me please! Have any of you had ringworm on a pet before and how did you deal with it?
He's been getting the oral medication and the ointment put on him both two times a day since thursday. Poor dude! I've confined him to a bathroom because I don't want it spreading to me or my husband or - god forbid - the dog. The whole house except the bathrooms has hardwood floors and lots of cloth bits between furniture and blankets and whatnot, and I have washed EVERYTHING but apparently only bleach is super-effective at destroying the spores of the ringworm varieties that cats and dogs get? So I have no idea if my cleaning actually has done much good, since I can't very well bleach my hardwood floors or the chairs. I have bought an antifungal rinse for the laundry, and we have a vacuum with a hepa filter (I don't even know what that means but the internet assures me it's important) so I vacuumed everything down a few times and now vacuum the bathroom the cat is in every day. Poor little guy doesn't understand why he's stuck in there. I feel so bad for him, but I don't want him scattering fungal spores all over the whole house.
Anyway, all of the stories I found through google of people's cats having ringworm were like "it's horrible, I have ONE MILLION ringworm spots on me, all my other pets have ringworm, my spouse/children have ringworm, and this has been going on for months!" So. Um. I am hoping that this is a case of the extreme examples floating to the top of the google search results??? Someone reassure me please! Have any of you had ringworm on a pet before and how did you deal with it?