Ringworm

[missy]

One of my boys was limping from arthritis and the vet recommended Duralactin (available online) and it has significantly improved his mobility. He's 12 and has arthritis in his hips and lower spine. What I especially like about Duralactin is that it comes in a chewable treat. One of my other cats also has a bit of arthritis in his lower spine but he can't be tempted to eat any type of treat so I grate the Duralactin over his food and he takes it that way.

Duralactin feline fatty + fatty soft chews. Cheapest I've found is at allivet.com

Thank you Matata. I ordered it and appreciate you sharing it with me.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

missy - i did think of you last night when the board was off line
i hope today is a good day in NJ for you both and the kitties
how is darling Fred ?

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Thank you Daisy. I appreciate your good wishes and continued support more than words can express.

your welcome missy
i just wish this situation would hurry up and clear up
its becoming unbelievable unfare on your family - i think it was after about the first week

 

[missy]

Good morning. It's Lime Sulfur Dip Tuesday.

missy - i did think of you last night when the board was off line
i hope today is a good day in NJ for you both and the kitties
how is darling Fred ?

Hi Daisy, thank you. I started giving Fred Gabapentin again a few days ago and he is getting off the couch in the AM to eat instead of me having to bring him the food on the couch. But he is staring ahead into space most of the day. He purrs on the couch between us at night but other than that and sleeping he just stares straight ahead all day. Blankly. His RW areas are very slow to clear and all his white hair is coming in brown but that seems to be the case with the white hair on all the cats. Elaine said it comes in brown for a long time. And his areas are regrowing but very very slowly. Just baby hairs on his chest and tummy and part of his legs and face but more hair growing on part of his legs and front paws. He looks pretty bad but compared to what he did look like he looks better. It's the staring straight ahead catatonically that is upsetting.

We bathed Fred and Bobby and Oliver (he had to be bathed as he had diarrhea for the 2 days prior and spot cleaning isn't enough if you kwim) yesterday and Oliver does not like being bathed. Fred meowed the whole time but took it like a champ compared to Ollie. Bobby did OK but is very unhappy with the water. They do not like water on their bodies. We finished the 16 oz Malaseb Shampoo yesterday and I have another on the way.

your welcome missy
i just wish this situation would hurry up and clear up
its becoming unbelievable unfare on your family - i think it was after about the first week

Thanks for the lovely Daisy painting. One of my favorite flowers. And it is feeling like I am feeling much of the time. Yes it was surreal from the day of diagnosis through all of it. Week 11 I believe. This AM we skipped Tommy's Itrafungol and skipped Ollie again (3rd day off Itrafungol for Ollie) but administered it to Bobby. I hope we aren't making a mistake but I hate giving it to Tommy since I do not see any specific areas on him despite overall hair thinning and Tommy just runs away and hides he hates it so much. So today I decided no Itrafungol for Tommy. Still giving it to Bobby because I am concerned about those dark hair loss areas on his face. Though the hair on his body is growing in very nicely knock wood.

Today is Lime Sulfur Dip Tuesday. All the cats are participating. Though I question if Tommy and Oliver need to be put through that. I just don't want to take a chance and have them relapse and I am already nervous about skipping their Itrafungol. I know there is no black and white with this protocol and just trying to do the best we can and make the smartest decisions we can. Risk vs Reward if you kwim. Tommy is too skinny and has lost too much weight.

Oliver gets his Rabies shot today but I have to talk to them about his loose BMs. I don't want to aggravate his little body further. I have a feeling the vet will insist on him getting his Rabies vaccination today though despite his GI upset.


How are you doing @Daisys and Diamonds? How is Melanie doing? Keeping you in my thoughts and hoping all is going well.

Thank you for your continued support and good wishes.

Sharing a photo of yesterday morning after we cleaned and disinfected the house and bathed the cats and were heading out for a nice ride. It's very peaceful and calming listening to and smelling the sea.

 

[missy]

Hot off the presses Oliver photos from a moment ago. Right now he is trying to steal my soup. Little monster.

Playing his favorite game on the iPad.
He is stained from the L-S dip last week despite his shampoo yesterday. It really stains the white hair.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Hot off the presses Oliver photos from a moment ago. Right now he is trying to steal my soup. Little monster.

Playing his favorite game on the iPad.
He is stained from the L-S dip last week despite his shampoo yesterday. It really stains the white hair.

tickle your tummy
tickle your tummy

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

that's a beautuful picture of NJ
mind you i think every picture of NJ including traffic on the turnpike and oil refineries are beautiful!

Hadn't talked to Mel for a few days but Gary felt a bit more energetic and we took the Lexus out for a spin
first time in months
started with a broooooooom first tr y, good car !
lots of bird poop on it because we are very bad and the garage is full of moving boxes and our driveway has tall trees
went out to the beach first time in months and months and we usually go to the beach at least once a week

its the bright that hurts Gary's eyes we normally take the Isuzu because the road is real bumpy and sandy by the river mouth
had lunch at a nice cafe then went to a car wash - got the most expensive one !!
when i was a wee girl my city had one car wash on the other side of town and it was a big family occasion, we probably got icecreams
back in the days when girls would dry your car off with towels

Tibby has been allowed back inside for breakfast and cuddles
so far no spraying
he gives the best cuddles

he sends one to all of you

 

[distracts]

OMG BABY

LOOK AT THAT MISCHEVIOUS LITTLE FACE

Hugo loves to do a similar pose

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Missy, I know it doesn't feel the big victory it is, because it is creeping up very slowly, but You ARE beating the RW!! A real champ!! Kudos to you guys for your marathon! Many people don't realize just how exhausting this is and important it is to be diligent. If YOU THINK IT IS OK to fade out the itrafungol, then it is definitely the right thing to do. You know your kitties best. Hugs to you and a big fat kick in the b*tt for ringworm!!!

 

[mrs-b]

@missy -

I've been folllowing your thread, tho not commenting. Just trying to be supportive 'out in the ether', if you know what I mean. But I just wanted to comment on this, as a person whose dogs used to take rabies vaccinations very hard.

Rabies vaccine is tough on a lot of dogs' and cats' bodies. I really wouldn't recommend it with all the other things your cats are on. There is zero chance of them encountering rabies in their current lifestyle, so it's a pointless vaccine for them right now. Your cats' livers and kidneys are already trying to process so much stuff with all their treatments - it would be smart to leave the rabies to some other time. Sometimes as an animal owner you just have to say - vets be damned.

Thinking of you and Greg and your beautiful cats and rooting for you hard to win battle after battle till the war is won. Much love to you all. <3

 

[SandyinAnaheim]

Hi @missy I've been meaning to post for the last week but my house has been hit with the flu and I still have a FULL schedule. I reviewed the Itrafungol literature last week and wanted to comment that anorexia, drooling, diarrhea, lethargy and vomiting are the most common side effects of this medication. Cats with impaired liver function or heart disease should be closely monitored during treatment. However, the literature also states that in testing for toxicity, the side effects of 5x recommended dosage was reversible. So I think that once you get the babies (especially Fred) off of this stuff, they should slowly return to normal. I wouldn't be thinking of anything drastic until this crap is completely out of their systems and you can assess them after recovery. I agree with feeding them pumpkin if they will eat it, I recommend that for dogs (anal gland issues) with insufficient fiber in their diets, as the vast majority of kibble is deficient in fiber.

I would strongly recommend that you not give them the rabies vaccine. Their immune systems are low right now and the risk from over-vaccinating is NOT worth it in light of the fact that your kitties are indoors and not exposed to any rabies risks. Their are studies out there that prove that the rabies vaccine is good for life in animals. However, since animals are considered property like a mug or a chair, the powers that be have determined that over-vaccinating animals is a great revenue stream and have local governments enforce these ridiculous requirements. You will note that over-vaccinations are not required for children...they're not property....but that's a conversation for another day.

I think the next thing you should be thinking of now that they are at the tail end of their treatment is regaining weight. To that end, perhaps you might want to think about supplementing their diet with a calorie dense supplement like Nutri-Cal. This product has been around for a LONG TIME and is typically used for sick animals or pets that are not eating well to try to maintain their weight. I don't know what you feed your kitties, but if they will eat some real food, I would strongly recommend adding it to their diet. Good choices are chicken, turkey, beef, fish, sardines, anything they particularly like. If you're feeding cat food found in a grocery store, I would recommend taking a really good look at the ingredient list and make sure the proteins are in their whole form and not a meal.

I'm still keeping up as best I can even if I'm not posting.

 

[doberman]

@missy

This NJ resident has 4 cats and a dog. It's so hard to see them in pain. I bathe my cats in Cats n Mites shampoo. They're all shelter cats, and Ninja had a terrible mite infestation when I got him. His ears were all malformed since the cartilage is destroyed with constant scratching. I also like the Seresto collar and between that and the shampoo he's mite free.

 

[missy]

@SandyinAnaheim @mrs-b I have had ongoing issues with this local vet. Back in July the office demanded I have the 3 adults vaccinated for Rabies before they would do L-S dips on them in July. So I had no choice. I was dead against it. The vet was like it's the LAW. OMG. My cats are never outside. They are house kitties. But I had to have them treated for the RW so I had to get Fred and Bobby and Tommy vaccinated. As for Oliver he was too young at that time but now she is insisting he has to be vaccinated. I argued with staff today and they said they would relay my message to the vet. I have no idea what is happening as they are still there getting dipped and drying. She might have vaccinated Oliver against our wishes. We are really in a pickle out here. There are no local vets here that are stellar IMO (I brought the cats to 4 different local vets this summer) but this one does LS dips so we chose them. Believe me after this ordeal I will not be returning there except for emergencies.

@SandyinAnaheim I am sorry everyone got the flu and hope you are all feeling much better!
Thanks for checking in with me here. Very kind of you and I so appreciate all the info you are sharing with me. Very helpful.
Please no worries re posting and keeping up. I appreciate your support and company here whenever you have the time and energy. No pressure.

Fred has not been getting the ITrafungol but for the first 6 days in July. He did not tolerate it and stopped eating and vomited every time so we decided no Itrafungol for Fred. He has only been getting LS dips. The others have been getting the med since end of July but we didn't give Ollie the med for the past 3 days and we skipped Tommy's Itrafungol today. I read all the literature and we felt we made the best choices but I just don't know.

@mrs-b thanks very much. I so appreciate your support and good wishes.

 

[missy]

Thanks @Daisys and Diamonds and @kipari and @doberman appreciate your good wishes.

@distracts thanks and awwwwwww. Precious.

 

[missy]

Good morning.

The kitties did OK with L-S dips yesterday. This was their 11th and 12th or 12th and 13th. Oliver is one ahead of them since he was diagnosed first days before the others.

No rabies shot for Oliver woohoo. The staff didn't say much when we picked them up just that Oliver didn't get his vaccination for rabies so that is good. Greg said he would have been shocked if the vet went against us on that but I am shocked at very little these days. Relieved she listened to us though.

We have appts for L-S dips next week.Not sure when we will be done with this. No new spots seen on any of them.

Fred is not doing well. He can no longer jump up on the couch and had lots of trouble getting up the 2 stairs to go from the Living Room to Dining room to get into the kitchen this AM. It is heartbreaking to see him stumble and not even be able to go up a stair or 2. He has quality time with us though where he hangs with us on the couch and purrs. But I don't know how much time he has left. He just stares straight ahead with no expression and I do not think he knows where he is much of the time.

After L-S yesterday here he is hanging out with us on the couch. We have to pick him up and put him on the couch as when he tries to jump up he doesn't even get halfway anymore. Poor baby. He was purring up a storm so happy to be home with us last night.



As were the others.

Tommy lounging about in the kitchen after I fed them.





and sweet Bobby. Who knew what a good boy Bobby is? Not us. We used to call him Psycho kitty cause he would go from purring one moment to scratching you the next. No more. He is a really good boy. He lets us give him the foul tasting Itrafungol without much struggle and he doesn't try (usually) running away. I wonder how much of that is the Itrafungol changing his personality. I want my cats back with their normal spitfire personalities.



And little (not so little) Oliver this AM trying to eat my soup. Umm no way little baby. This is for me. LOL


An in action (blurry, sorry) photo.

The Flagyl I ordered is arriving today and we will start giving it to Oliver I guess. I am not excited about giving him yet another med but his BMs are too loose. I didn't realize it til I saw the email about the order being overnighted that my sister wrote it for the diarrhea dose though and I think it would be better to treat him at the Giardia dose just in case. Does anyone have any thoughts about that? I don't know what to do. I cannot call my sister today because it is Yom Kippur so the holiest day of the Jewish New Year and she is observing and is in temple all day. I guess I could wait a day to start Oliver on the med but I will see how he does today. We did not give him Itrafungol this AM and also skipped Tommy's dose. Bobby only got half his dose because he started choking so will give him the other half later.

 

[arkieb1]

Do you have a toy that Fred likes you can wave near his face that he has to see and not hear? Is it possibly his vision has been impacted during this whole process?

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

my heart breaks for dear Fred
just spend as much quality time as you can with him, if he's eatting its good

 

[MJ_Mac]

@missy, I’m not sure what the dosage for metronidazole (Flagyl) is for cats. I know my poodles are different than your kitties but metronidazole works like a dream for diarrhea and giardia. My little 4 lb dog had giardia when we got her. Metronidazole was one med prescribed. It’s a medication that is actually in my first aid kit for all 3 of my girls (they all have poodle gut as we call it). When we give it to her now she gets 25mg twice daily. My 7 lb and 11 lb dogs get 50mg twice daily. I had a fuzzy migraine brain one day and accidentally gave the little one a double dose too soon. I called the after hours vet clinic as I was worried about an overdose. The vet said it was a well tolerated medication and the extra would not we an issue short term. I don’t know if this helpful as my situation is applicable to dogs but I thought I would share.

 

[missy]

Do you have a toy that Fred likes you can wave near his face that he has to see and not hear? Is it possibly his vision has been impacted during this whole process?

Hi arkieb, thanks for your thoughts. Fred's vision is OK. He does not have cataracts that I can visualize and he can see. I think it is his arthritis limiting his mobility and I also think perhaps senility is at play here as well. He is 17 years old.

my heart breaks for dear Fred
just spend as much quality time as you can with him, if he's eatting its good

Thanks Daisy, That is just what we are doing. I am having as much trouble getting Bobby and Tommy to eat now. Maybe more difficult than getting Fred to eat at the moment. I am spending lots of time each day enticing them to eat. We are taking it one day at a time and one hour at a time. Still. Spending time with them and comforting them as best we can. Today we gave Tommy the Itraconazole (we skipped his dose Tues and Wed) and continued with Bobby's (didn't skip any doses for Bobby) Itraconazole. We have discontinued Oliver's med for now. I think/hope once we stop the Itraconazole for good Bobby's appetite will return. I hope. As for Tommy he has other issues that are affecting his appetite but we need to nip RW in the proverbial bud before we can start re evaluating and treating Tommy for his thyroid issues.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

sending kitty cat hugs across the oceans to New Jersey for you all dear missy

 

[missy]

@missy, I’m not sure what the dosage for metronidazole (Flagyl) is for cats. I know my poodles are different than your kitties but metronidazole works like a dream for diarrhea and giardia. My little 4 lb dog had giardia when we got her. Metronidazole was one med prescribed. It’s a medication that is actually in my first aid kit for all 3 of my girls (they all have poodle gut as we call it). When we give it to her now she gets 25mg twice daily. My 7 lb and 11 lb dogs get 50mg twice daily. I had a fuzzy migraine brain one day and accidentally gave the little one a double dose too soon. I called the after hours vet clinic as I was worried about an overdose. The vet said it was a well tolerated medication and the extra would not we an issue short term. I don’t know if this helpful as my situation is applicable to dogs but I thought I would share.

Hi @Poodles4me, how are you? My sister prescribed a liquid that I think is 30 mg/ml or something like that. My sister prescribed that at 1 ml twice daily I think. I also got the capsules (but they are huge so probably cannot use those) that are 25 mg and I have 100 capsules. I was reading about the Giardia dose and I think it is (based on body weight and Ollie is about 6lbs) 75 mg/ day or twice per day. I don't remember the dose now. I will have to talk with my sister to see what her thoughts are. She prescribed it at too low a dose for Giardia but I would rather just be safe than sorry and give him the Giardia dose if you kwim. If we are giving him Flagyl anyway.

Glad it works so well for your dogs.Thanks so much for chiming in and sharing your experience with me. Hope you are well.

 

[missy]

sending kitty cat hugs across the oceans to New Jersey for you all dear missy

Thank you sweet Daisy and sending you and Gary and Melanie lots of healing hugs and good thoughts too. XO

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Thank you sweet Daisy and sending you and Gary and Melanie lots of healing hugs and good thoughts too. XO

better days have to be just around the corner
im sure you are like us and feed up with the poop life is sending our way of late
i bet the kitties feel that way !

 

[missy]

LOL OK have to share a little levity and a brief respite from this ordeal. As usual in the mornings we first wake up and I feed the adult cats (takes a long time to coax them to eat) and Greg feeds Oliver. Then we administer all meds to the cats. Then finally we get back into bed (still dark out as it is about 4:30 AM when we are done with the feeding and meds) and have our coffee and breakfast. And I also am posting on PS around that time as well. I am a multi-tasker and need to be one to get everything accomplished these days. Greg surreptitiously snapped a photo of Oliver and me. While I was posting on PS. Please excuse the crazy bun on top of my head. Ollie keeps playing with my hair so I had to put it up quickly and obviously didn't use a mirror or anything.




And yes that is a camera you might notice up above the window. We put it there initially to keep an eye (haha eye) on Oliver when he was quarantined with his herpetic eye ulcer and we had to rush home once as he got the cone off his neck. He is very mischievous indeed. Anyway we still have it there to make sure he is OK when we are not at home.


Anyway just sharing that Oliver is now a PSer. He likes posting with me. We like to train them young.


OK off to make the donuts umm I mean clean the house. Sigh.

 

[missy]

In honor of super cat Saturday here is our dear darling Fred. He is so weak and I do not know how much time he has left but we are making the best of the time we have with him. He is purring up a storm hanging out on the couch with us. Pics from last night.







Back to giving everyone (but Fred) Itrafungol again. Just for a short while and we will re evaluate how they are doing on it. We never discontinued Bobby but Tommy had a few days break (2) and Oliver about a week break.

 

[distracts]

Fred is so sweet. I hope he pulls through... is he still not taking his arthritis medication? Was he on steroids before? Because I think that would be enough so that he wouldn’t want to move at all. Poor baby. He looks better in general in these pictures though than from the ones a while ago.

 

[missy]

Fred is so sweet. I hope he pulls through... is he still not taking his arthritis medication? Was he on steroids before? Because I think that would be enough so that he wouldn’t want to move at all. Poor baby. He looks better in general in these pictures though than from the ones a while ago.

Thanks Distracts. He was on steroids for his arthritis and asthma before RW gate and what we did was discontinue the steroids but we put him on Gabapentin to help his arthritis. Which I am still giving him now. I am waiting for the product Duralactin that @Matata recommended for arthritis. It has not yet arrived but hopefully soon and we hope that will help relieve some of his arthritic inflammation and pain.

He has hair regrowing in all areas but still lots of black crust coming up on his tummy and some on his face. Greg cleans both those areas every day and removes the crusts and yet they still keep coming. Greg feels it is not RW but the aftermath. I hope he is right. One of my concerns is that he is still contagious and if he is still contagious the others won't get better as both Tommy and Bobby interact with Fred daily. Fred just sits there but Tommy and Bobby sniff him and touch him and all that stuff cats love to do.

I wonder if any of them miss Francesca. In the beginning when she first died I felt Tommy was looking for her and even Bobby was out of sorts. Fred was unaffected as far as we can tell. But now I don't think they think about her. Last night Fred went to the fire in the fireplace and it was so bittersweet. Francesca was the only one who used to lay right in front of the fire without moving soaking up the heat. To the point where we had to move her further back or she would bake herself. It was sweet and touching and now whenever I put the fire on I feel pangs of sadness remembering how she loved the fireplace so.

Fred just 2 years ago in bed with us. He was so youthful.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Thanks Distracts. He was on steroids for his arthritis and asthma before RW gate and what we did was discontinue the steroids but we put him on Gabapentin to help his arthritis. Which I am still giving him now. I am waiting for the product Duralactin that @Matata recommended for arthritis. It has not yet arrived but hopefully soon and we hope that will help relieve some of his arthritic inflammation and pain.

He has hair regrowing in all areas but still lots of black crust coming up on his tummy and some on his face. Greg cleans both those areas every day and removes the crusts and yet they still keep coming. Greg feels it is not RW but the aftermath. I hope he is right. One of my concerns is that he is still contagious and if he is still contagious the others won't get better as both Tommy and Bobby interact with Fred daily. Fred just sits there but Tommy and Bobby sniff him and touch him and all that stuff cats love to do.

I wonder if any of them miss Francesca. In the beginning when she first died I felt Tommy was looking for her and even Bobby was out of sorts. Fred was unaffected as far as we can tell. But now I don't think they think about her. Last night Fred went to the fire in the fireplace and it was so bittersweet. Francesca was the only one who used to lay right in front of the fire without moving soaking up the heat. To the point where we had to move her further back or she would bake herself. It was sweet and touching and now whenever I put the fire on I feel pangs of sadness remembering how she loved the fireplace so.

Fred just 2 years ago in bed with us. He was so youthful.

Fred is a gorgouse soul

i guess cats are like people - well they are people to us
i don't think the pain of lossing one ever goes away but in time you can look back and remember the good times and just be happy at the memory and not be sad
i wounder if the cats miss NYC ? and wounder about going home
i often wounder if Borris misses living in Wellington and all the places she used to go but i think she loves the window sills in this house too much to ever want to go back

 

[missy]

Fred is a gorgouse soul

i guess cats are like people - well they are people to us
i don't think the pain of lossing one ever goes away but in time you can look back and remember the good times and just be happy at the memory and not be sad
i wounder if the cats miss NYC ? and wounder about going home
i often wounder if Borris misses living in Wellington and all the places she used to go but i think she loves the window sills in this house too much to ever want to go back

Truth be told I think animals (generally) are better than people. What can I say? There are some fantastic people yes and I am privileged and honored to have many wonderful people in my life. But in general I prefer animals to most people. What I can say without hesitation is our cats are our family so in that regard family is family and no one is more important than our loved ones.

I do not think the cats miss NYC. They love it here at the beach, More space to run around the house (we have a bigger home at the beach and more wide open spaces here too) and they have lots of birds to look at as well as other cats outdoors (the ferals) and the sea which I think they enjoy watching and listening to the sounds of the ocean waves roaring.

As for Boris, of course I cannot speak for him, but I would guess wherever you are is home to Boris. I don't think it matters as long as you are there with him.

Thanks for your kind words about Fred. He is a gorgeous soul. These days his beauty is on the inside and not on the outside as much as it used to be but when I look at him all I see is my gorgeous boy.

 

[missy]

Speaking of gorgeous, here is our gorgeous Oliver this early AM. He woke me at 2:30 AM and then kept trying to get me out of bed by hitting my face with his soft paws. I must break him of that habit and he won this AM because finally I got out of bed at 3AM as I couldn't take it any more. But how can I be mad at this face?