Cat ringworm refers to a skin disease of cats. The most common areas are on the face, trunk, limbs and tail. Round or oval ringworm spots appear, covered with gray scales, and the coat color becomes rough. , the hair on the ringworm area falls off, breaks or falls off in bunches. So what should you do if your cat has a skin disease? Common skin diseases in cats!

Cats

Cat skin diseases mainly include:

1) Bacterial skin diseases: mainly bacterial infections;

2) Fungal skin diseases: caused by skin fungal infections; skin fungi survive for a long time in nature and have strong resistance. In dry environments Can survive for more than 1 year. There are also some fungi that have an affinity for soil and can grow and reproduce in the soil and survive for a long time.

3) Ectoparasitic skin diseases: caused by fleas, scabies, demodex, ear mites, lice, ticks, etc.;

4) Metabolic skin diseases: hormones Sexual skin diseases; allergic skin diseases;

5) Immune abnormality skin diseases: skin diseases related to nutrition, etc.

Among them, fungal skin diseases account for more than 80% of cases, and more than 98% of pathogenic cat fungal skin diseases are caused by Microsporum canis, which is a kind of fungal skin disease in dogs, cats, A disease that humans can be infected by all three, commonly known as fungal infection, or "ringworm." Human dermatologists often misdiagnose allergic dermatitis caused by cat hair, causing many owners to give up their cats.

Fungal skin disease

The main way of transmission of skin fungi is contact infection, which can be through pollutants in the cat’s sleeping area and contaminated combs, Brushes, bedding and other vectors are responsible for the infection. This disease can occur all year round, and the incidence is generally higher in hot and humid climates. Cats that have recovered from fungal diseases are resistant to reinfection with the same fungus, but the resistance will disappear after a few months to a year. The fungus is a zoonotic skin disease, and children and women are more susceptible to it.

Symptoms

After cats suffer from fungal skin infections, they mostly occur on the head, ears, limbs, toes, and trunk. The skin of the affected area becomes hairless, with ring-shaped scaly spots appearing, and damaged hair roots remaining. Sometimes the affected area is completely hairless. In severe cases, erythema or scab may form. When hair begins to grow in the middle of a ringworm patch, hair loss continues around it. The affected area is itchy, and when some cats are scratched and secondary bacterial infection occurs, the oozing may be severe, and the affected skin may be red, swollen, and eroded, and in severe cases may become suppurative. The development of dermatomycosis generally spreads from the middle to the surrounding areas. If not treated in time, it will become chronic and have a long course.

After the above symptoms appear, take the cat to the veterinary hospital for examination.

Treatment

1. Local treatment: topical drug treatment

It is recommended to shave the whole body of long-haired cats, and shave the whole body of short-haired cats. The lesions should beAll hair within six centimeters in diameter should be shaved. Special care should be taken not to injure the skin when shaving to avoid the spread of lesions.

For external use, it is recommended to use Xingmaijing and Xingfengjing. If it is yeast, ketoconazole should be chosen.

Before applying the medicine, it is better to wash the local skin with sulfur soap, and then apply the medicine. Use a cotton swab dipped in alcohol to wipe away the skin flakes and hard scabs in the sick area, and then apply topical antiseptic drugs 2 to 3 times a day. The area of ​​application extends 6 cm in diameter outside the sick area, including the surrounding seemingly healthy skin. , so that the drug can directly penetrate the skin of the affected area.

In addition, take the medicine according to the instructions, especially the frequency of use must comply with the instructions.

TIPS: Do not use daxonine cream on cats (the effect of the drug is not obvious, slowing down the treatment and causing expansion), clotrimazole (cats can easily cause drug poisoning and blindness after licking it).

2. Systemic treatment: If there is still no significant improvement after 2 to 4 weeks of local treatment, it is recommended to switch to oral drug treatment.

When giving medicine to cats, basically follow the principles of giving medicine to babies. Be sure to control the weight ratio, and generally there will be no problems.

1) Griseofulvin

Greosofulvin tablets 30 mg/kg body weight, once a day for 3-4 weeks can inhibit the development of deep hairy root fungi. . However, it may be toxic to cats, especially Persian cats, Himalayan cats, Siamese cats and Abyssinian cats, and cats with post-infectious immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV, feline AIDS) take griseofulvin The side effects are more serious and should be avoided; griseofulvin is teratogenic and should be avoided in pregnant female cats. In addition, cats taking griseofulvin should avoid direct exposure to sunlight, which may cause photosensitivity.

Kits can only be fed griseofulvin after they are four weeks old, but they must be given at the lowest dose (5-10/day) and pay attention to possible toxicity.

During griseofulvin treatment, add 4 ml of vegetable oil to cat food every day to promote the absorption of griseofulvin.

2) Traditional Chinese medicine: Smilax smilax qian; Fangfeng qian; Shuanghua - qian; Lulu - qian; Licorice - qian and a half.

3. Care:

1) Sunshine

Boqi.com reminds everyone that many people think that ultraviolet rays in sunlight can kill mold. This statement is not true. That’s right, but you must consider it if you use it on cats, because to kill bacteria with ultraviolet rays, you need to be exposed to the sun for a long time. Cats themselves do not have sweat glands and rely entirely on the mucous membranes of their mouth and tongue and the soles of their feet to dissipate heat. Long-term exposure may cause It can cause heatstroke and sunburn; if there is a window sill at home that can receive a period of sunshine every day, arrange a resting place for the cat there. The cat can look at the scenery outside and bask in the sun. It is important to keep dry.

2) Bath

It is best for infected cats to use special shampoo or sulfur soap for a long time. It is recommended to use it once every 1 to 3 days. Special shampoo andSulfur is quite safe for kittens.