Ringworm Sucks!
Our poor litter of kittens have ringworm. They are in quarantine in their room (our master bath). One of them, the one we call Noah, has it really bad. It's all over his head and face. Noah's face is yellow from his first lime sulfur dip. Runtz is the one with the big patch on his front leg. All of the cats will have to be treated with four Lime Sulfur dips over the next week. Oh. My. Gosh. They STANK! They truly smell like rotten egg farts! They will also be taking oral meds daily. We can't even really play with them and love on them because the smell gets all over us. And, of course we don't want to catch the ringworm as humans can catch it too. SO hoping this clears up fast! We're not sure if it's because they're sick with the ringworm or because they're covered in the lime sulfur but Cleo is refusing to nurse. This is very unusual for her as she has been -up to this point- an extremely attentive and protective mama. She has even started growling and hissing at them when they come near her. She has also stopped bathing them. I've seen momma cats reject their kittens before and I'm really hoping she's not doing that.
So some fun facts on ringworm... Ringworm has nothing to do with worms. It's actually a fungus that thrives on the skin. With the cats, the hair falls out, usually in a circular pattern and their skin can look scaly or scabby. The vet told us it would be okay to use a topical antifungal cream on the cats' ringworm. There are a lot of home remedies out there. If there's something you want to try, I strongly encourage you to research it first. A popular remedy for ringworm in humans is dabbing tea tree oil onto the spot with a cotton swab. However, tea tree oil can be toxic to cats if ingested. Don't try putting this on your cat, especially if it's in a place where they can lick at it.
