Ringworm cats

on_my_oe

Our little guest did a good job of hiding ringworm :rolleyes:

The cat bedding, toys etc are all in the washing machine... But some of the websites say to throw out the cat tree furniture - we've got four! Can I not just spray it a lot with a spray of some sort (dettol??)

Kovu

Ringworm is a fungus, I'd hazard a guess that any powder or spray for athletes foot or similar would kill any spores that might be harboring in the material. I don't know how effective it is on cats but we use iodine on cattle with it.

Fungal powder and iodine spray to doubly make sure the spores are killed until they're dead?

(It's also transmissible to humans so mind yourself)

Nody

Well I'm sorry to say this now but the normal set up if you're fostering is:

1) Quarantine in separate room from day 1
2) Vet visit for standard health check with poop samples from 3 days to check for worms and do a FIV/FeLV etc. checks
3) Get confirmation of worms (every single bloody time it feels like)
4) Start treatment
5) Spend the next couple of weeks cleaning the room and changing litter every day after using strongest possible cleaners on the toilet itself (rotating two toilets) and cursing about worms
6) Thank the gods when you can finally get your foster to meet the rest of the crew (worst case I had took almost 2 months and 3 different medicines)

The worms are VERY resistant so we're not talking about a once over cleaning (you'll also need to check your own cat if they caught it) but something you'd need to clean multiple times and hope it will be enough to kill it if lucky (normal cleaners would not be strong enough). It is possible depending on the infection level but I'd strongly recommend using your strongest cleaners several times over (think bleach) on the relevant areas and ideally steam cleaning everything to ensure it's killed.

pawrick

Quarantine the cat to an area without carpets if possible. Anything cat hairs can stick to should be removed as the spores will stick to the hairs and can spread that way.
Friend who fosters cats had an outbreak which took about 6 months to be totally free of. She didn't quarantine her infected cats first and of course it spread. Eventually she had to tear up her carpets. One of the others who helped her then invected her own cats from it but she was much stricter and it didn't reoccur once treated. Alot of bleach and cleaning though. I don't envy you.

Steam clean the cat trees and leave out in direct sun light to help kill the sores if any on it.

MartyMcFly84

Well I'm sorry to say this now but the normal set up if you're fostering is:

1) Quarantine in separate room from day 1
2) Vet visit for standard health check with poop samples from 3 days to check for worms and do a FIV/FeLV etc. checks
3) Get confirmation of worms (every single bloody time it feels like)
4) Start treatment
5) Spend the next couple of weeks cleaning the room and changing litter every day after using strongest possible cleaners on the toilet itself (rotating two toilets) and cursing about worms
6) Thank the gods when you can finally get your foster to meet the rest of the crew (worst case I had took almost 2 months and 3 different medicines)

The worms are VERY resistant so we're not talking about a once over cleaning (you'll also need to check your own cat if they caught it) but something you'd need to clean multiple times and hope it will be enough to kill it if lucky (normal cleaners would not be strong enough). It is possible depending on the infection level but I'd strongly recommend using your strongest cleaners several times over (think bleach) on the relevant areas and ideally steam cleaning everything to ensure it's killed.

Ring Worm is a fungal skin infection. There are no actual worms, it is just the name. Tinea Corpus is the technical name when it is on the body. Anti fungal treatment is the way to go.

on_my_oe

Ahhh shoot

We the quarantine bit for 8 days, and then let the kitten mingle after the vet cleared him.

Our cats bedding is in a boil wash now along with any cat toys washable, our bedding is at the dry cleaners, and all the towels are on the line. Other toys and bowls have been washed twice over with a third session going through the dishwasher now. OH is going to vacuum the carpets tonight, and I've hot washed the downstairs floors. The kitten didn't make it as far as the beds (shut up in his room for sleeping) and only made it upstairs twice, but he did have a few rambles over the sofa. The sofa can't be washed so that'll need to be a vacuum only situation (and it's only six months old so throwing it out isn't an option).

thegreatgonzo

Nody wrote: »

Well I'm sorry to say this now but the normal set up if you're fostering is:

1) Quarantine in separate room from day 1
2) Vet visit for standard health check with poop samples from 3 days to check for worms and do a FIV/FeLV etc. checks
3) Get confirmation of worms (every single bloody time it feels like)
4) Start treatment
5) Spend the next couple of weeks cleaning the room and changing litter every day after using strongest possible cleaners on the toilet itself (rotating two toilets) and cursing about worms
6) Thank the gods when you can finally get your foster to meet the rest of the crew (worst case I had took almost 2 months and 3 different medicines)

The worms are VERY resistant so we're not talking about a once over cleaning (you'll also need to check your own cat if they caught it) but something you'd need to clean multiple times and hope it will be enough to kill it if lucky (normal cleaners would not be strong enough). It is possible depending on the infection level but I'd strongly recommend using your strongest cleaners several times over (think bleach) on the relevant areas and ideally steam cleaning everything to ensure it's killed.

Ringworm is actually a misnomer, as it's a fungal infection. We use a thing called a wood's lamp to identify it on skin which only takes a second.