What to do if your cat has ringworm. Cat ringworm can be transmitted to humans. Pay attention to disinfection.

Jan 06,2024
12Min

Nowadays, more and more families have pets, and more and more friends have cats. Nowadays, people pay more and more attention to their health. They also attach great importance to the health of cats. So if you encounter someone at home What should you do if your cat suddenly develops ringworm? Let’s follow the editor of Chongqing.com to find out.

There are two types of fungi that infect cats, namely Microsporum canis and Trichophyton mentagrophytes. 98% of them are Microsporum canis. As the disease evolves, it becomes an irritating dry round macule (ringworm).

Generally, griseofulvin can be taken, 50 mg per kilogram of body weight, 2-3 times a day, for at least 34 weeks. Other external applications of clotrimazole ointment, compound benzoic acid ointment, sulfur ointment, 2% miconazole nitrate hydrophilic ointment and tinea purifier can be applied to the affected area. During the treatment period, add 4 ml of vegetable oil to the cat's food every day to promote the absorption of oral drugs. Topical corticosteroid treatment can also be used.

Because cat ringworm can be transmitted to humans, please pay attention to disinfection. Mimi owners should take oral multivitamins for prophylaxis.

Note: Do not use daxonine cream on breasts. The effect is very bad and it is easy to spread!! ​​​​​​

About cat ringworm:

1. Griseofulvin should be used with caution, especially in kittens under one year old, because all fungicidal oral drugs are very harmful to the liver and will cause liver dysfunction in cats in the future, leaving the root cause of the disease. If the cat does not have large areas of cat ringworm all over the body, do not take griseofulvin or other fungicidal oral drugs easily. Even if the cat suffers from severe tinea felis all over the body, when taking griseofulvin, it should be mashed or ground into powder, mixed with cooking oil and fed, and it is best to feed it one day and one day at a time. Even so, It should not be taken for more than 2 weeks.

2. The recovery of a cat after suffering from cat ringworm has a lot to do with the cat’s own constitution. It turns out that cats with good physical condition have a short recovery period, while cats with poor physical condition have a long recovery time, and it may be very long (more than 2 months or more). But no matter what, treatment must persist and be patient. Never abandon your cat just because he has tinea felis, which causes extensive hair loss and makes him look ugly. Tinea feline is definitely not a fatal disease and fundamentally has little impact on the cat’s health, so you must be patient.

3. After a cat suffers from tinea felis, in addition to topical use of drugs such as clotrimazole, it is very important to supplement nutrition and get more sun. During this period, the nutrition of cat food should be strengthened, (for example, the French royal cat food should be used), and the cat should be given animal vitamin supplement "Bamibao" (or children's products such as Children's Sancun and Xiaoshierkang). Crush vitamin pills and mix them in canned cat food, the effect is the same, take one pill a day). Supplementary medicine can be taken for a longer period of time, 3, 4 months or half a year. Even after the cat's ringworm is cured, the cat can continue to be fed to enhance its physical fitness.Also let your cat get as much sun as possible.

4. The environment at home should be disinfected frequently, especially the nests and mats where cats often sleep. Spray them with pet environmental disinfectant diluted as required every day. The floors and furniture at home should be sprayed with diluted pet environmental disinfectant every other day or two. Wiping with disinfectant can effectively prevent the spread of cat ringworm.

5. Large areas of hair loss that have appeared on cats are of course the characteristics of severe cat ringworm. In addition to applying topical drugs such as clotrimazole to these areas, attention must also be paid to the timely detection of new infections in other parts of the cat’s body. Cat ringworm develops. The method is to apply medicine to the cat every day, follow the fur, and touch the cat's skin carefully from head to tail with both hands. If your hands touch hard small bumps or small protrusions, turn over the fur. Come and take a look, you can find a small piece of scab and a small amount of dandruff next to it, which is new cat ringworm. Don't forget to apply medicine to these areas. If these areas also develop into large-scale hair loss , treatment is even more difficult. Everyone knows that the earlier it is discovered, the easier it is to treat.

Cat ringworm develops very quickly on cats. Often, one area will heal and then grow another. Therefore, when applying the medicine, you should apply the medicine around the sick area to prevent it from spreading. It is also necessary to cut off all the hair. Also, letting him spend more time in the sun will be good for his skin.

Treatment of ringworm in cats:

First clean the area with ringworm and wipe off the skin flakes. It is also best to wipe off the hard scabs, but do not rub them hard. If they are broken, it will not be good. Then cut off the hair on the area where the ringworm occurs. This will allow the medicine to penetrate into the skin more directly and prevent the fungus from spreading.

Then apply the medicine to the area slightly larger than the ringworm area, which can prevent the spread and inhibit the small amount of fungi that may have spread to the surrounding area.

If you insist on applying the medicine every day, you will have good results in 2 weeks, and you will be completely healed in less than a month!

It should also be noted that humid, high temperature, and unventilated environments can easily breed fungi. It is better to keep the environment dry and ventilated. The other thing is that Mimi's utensils need to be disinfected frequently.

There are two main types of medicines used: clotrimazole ointment and ringworm solution. The former is a paste that is applied to the diseased area to isolate oxygen and is very effective in completely killing fungi. The latter is specifically for animals and works well.

Can cat ringworm and other dermatophytes be transmitted to humans?

Dermatophytosis is a problem that every dog ​​parent and cat mother will encounter. So will children’s dermatophytosis infect us? Let me explain in detail.

It is now found that there are 5 kinds of fungi that can cause skin diseases in dogs and cats, including Microsporum canis, Microsporum gypseum, Trichomonas mentagrophytes, Microsporum audouin and Microsporum mutans, among which Microsporum canis Mold is the most common, followed by stoneMicrosporum ointment.

First let’s talk about Microsporum caninum. 70% of ringworm in dogs and cats is caused by this fungus. It mainly forms round-like scabs on the skin. Although it is called Microsporum caninum, it can also infect cats and cats, and it is completely It can occur year round. Microsporum canis mainly causes tinea capitis in humans. Microsporum gypseum lives in the soil and humans are also susceptible to it. The disease is relatively acute and the damage is severe. Sometimes it causes large-scale lesions on the skin. It is easy for secondary bacterial infection to occur and local exudative suppuration to develop. Chronic symptoms can last for months or even years. Microsporum auduanensis and Trichomonas mentagrophysalis are generally transmitted from humans to dogs and cats. The possibility of dogs and cats transmitting to humans is very small. The former mainly causes tinea capitis in children, and the latter is the main pathogenic bacteria of athlete's foot in the United States.

So how is the fungus transmitted? It is mainly through direct contact. In addition, contact with contaminated utensils, combs, scissors, mats, etc. can also cause indirect infection. However, fungi are not the same as bacterial viruses after all, and are not highly contagious. Generally, infection occurs when the body's resistance and immunity decline, such as taking a large amount of hormones and suffering from some immune diseases. In addition, malnutrition, frailty, or exposure to hot and humid climates may also lead to infection. Therefore, as long as your immunity is normal and you pay attention to hygiene and hygiene, there is nothing to worry about as long as your children are careful not to come into close contact with the fungus if they get the fungus. It is worth noting that when dermatophytosis is cured, it becomes resistant to reinfection by the same dermatophyte, which can last for one year or half a year, and some cats can last up to 2 years. In addition, some fungal diseases are self-limiting and can recover on their own without treatment.

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