Caught ringworm from someone’s cat, should I post to Facebook

[catphone]

I’m not sure what I want from this.
There are cats that come and shit in my garden every morning before I can catch them. I sometimes see them in the evening and shoo them away.
I know it isn’t the time of year for gardening but a few weeks ago I moved some shrubs around as they looked better in another place and I was mindful to not touch any cat shit or go near it.
I have now developed ring worm and it’s spread everywhere. I am covered in it, it’s itchy and painful.
I was advised that it’s contracted by animals, I don’t share towels or anything like that and it’s the only way I could’ve caught it.
I’ve finally got cream for it just today but I have a weak immune system and skin conditions already so I don’t what luck I’ll have

Erm, explain to me what vaccination people should have given their cat that would have prevented you from getting ringworm not from a cat??!

Firstly, from your photos, it does not look like Ring Worm.
It’s highly unlikely you got it from scooping cat poo. It normally is skin to skin contact or contaminated sheets/towels. There is also, an interesting comment on Google about how stress is a component with Ring Worm.
As someone who has not only has cats, but works with stray cats and dogs abroad - I have managed to never have Ringworm.

I've had cats for years too and never had ringworm. All my cats have been vaccinated but I'm sure ringworm isn't included.
I'm pretty sure I remember the OP posting before about her hatred for cats so I reckon she'll automatically blame them for whatever she's contracted.

@catphone

You cannot catch ringworm from faeces, it needs to be prolonged contact with infected soil.

You CAN catch ringworm from humans, so any of your friends and family could have given it to you.

I had ringworm once and I think it was from my cycling leggings 😳 the last thing I would’ve done is post it on Facebook. Lotriderm cleared it up a treat. Don’t use eczema cream, it can make it worse.

Your skin issue looks a lot like pitriasoriasis rosea which is itchy as shit, feels like chickenpox, forms first on your torso, chest etc then moves to arms, legs etc. needs treated with steroids. If it is this and you want relief bathe in head and shoulders from hair washing to body. I’ve had this and ringworm (horse person here), the ringworm didn’t itch and I only had one spot.

edited to add that pitriasoriasis rosea starts with a herald patch which is a large circle then smaller ones start. It really sounds like this based on your description.

Why on earth you want to advertise having an infectious condition is beyond me

How?

It's not impossible, but it is really unlikely to have caught ringworm from cats, and especially if you didn't have direct contact with them, and you haven't noticed any cats with bald patches?
Ringworm crops up most years in our bullocks, I have only ever caught it once as a small child as I had a pet calf I hugged and kissed a lot....

We had cats that were regularly around the barns and we have dogs and sheep and poultry that all share rhe same space and the only time my dog ever had RW was after being spayed at the vets. Cats have never picked it up.
And you wouldn't get it from cat feaces, it would be from contact transfer, so if an infected cat rubbed on a surface and then you touched it after.
Honestly it's more likely you caught it from another person. Any kids in your immediate family? That sort of thing spreads easily amongst schoolchildren.

I appreciate the cats are a problem and anti social when they use your garden as a toilet, but complaining on fb group about them is completely pointless. It's not possible to keep them from you'd garden except by keeping them indoors. And very few people who have happy outdoor cats are going to change that because a neighbour doesn't like them roaming, it will do no good and just end up with you on bad terms with your neighbours.

quite.
would you post on Facebook if you had an std - or any other ailment?

@catphone I too as a child looked after a pony with a single patch of ringworm. Never caught it.

If it's spreading , google says 'discoid eczema' is itchy and spreads fast.

Seconded. I was told I had ringworm for 15 years and no amount of cream could shift it until one well informed doctor told me about this. I've just had to learn to live with it.

Ringworm is definitely a fungal infection. I once had it around a bowel operation site after being given (very wrong and stupid) information not to wash or get the wound wet. It's definitely a fungal infection. I don't have any pets and was at least sensible enough not to let Neighbourhood cats roam around my open butt wound. 🙄 You have been wrongly informed.

You're ridiculous and cats rule 😸

It would be astonishingly rare to catch ringworm from soil in winter when you're wearing gloves and generally being sensible about hygiene.

Also, ringworm tends to show up in just one or two patches in a localised area, not all over your body.

I don't doubt you've picked up something odd from somewhere and it might well be fungal but it's not ringworm from cat crap.

Ringworm is pretty common and easily treatable...

Being an unpleasant person unfortunately isn't as easily cured.

Maybe it's the way you've written your question - but reading through the posts, reading the OP's response, then coming across your comment.. has me in stitches 😂😂

Definitely sounds like Pityriasis rosea. Starts on the chest, was there one patch at first before spreading? It usually stops at the neck and doesn’t spread to face or scalp. I had it when I was pregnant and it faded by itself. It’s not contagious

That's not ringworm, OP.

OP, I sympathise!

Can't lie, I've had a good laugh going though some of the comments but honestly you're right to be pissed. I definitely would be. The only thing is you can't do anything about it as you can't control when the cats come and go, so maybe don't waste your energy on it. Is there any other way to get deter the cats? Can you put anything around your plants?

I would like to add, in contrary to some of the comments, I think your gut telling you this is how you contracted it is likely true, because of everything else you've said too. We'll never know for sure but it sounds like you're quite sure and for good reason. It makes sense. So it probably was the cats.

Secondly, your circle is fine. The less people you encounter daily (I'm talking about having a nice small circle of people you trust) the better because who can be arsed with socialising with a bunch of different people every day or even every other day. If all you speak to is your neighbours and family, nothing wrong with it. You don't need a cat.

I JUST remembered, cats are absolutely terrified of cucumbers. Lol. Put one of those near your shrubs and you won't see them again (or they won't come when the mighty cucumber is there). But please don't wave it around at the cats as it does shock them and that's a horrible thing to do. If you just leave it on the ground, they'll decide for themselves that they're scared (rather than a tall human coming at them with something scary).

You have my sympathy OP. We had several neighbourhoods cats pooing in our garden as it is disputed territory and they are fighting over it. I have implemented a humane anti-cat poo system.

• I have put down pieces of flagstones in all my shrub and flower beds. So the plants now grow between the cracks between stones. Cats can’t dig through stone.
• Where-ever there is bare earth- the cracks between stones, under a shrub canopy or tree, I regularly scatter my coffee grounds. Cats don’t like how coffee grounds feel on their paws.
• I have been colonising my garden with cat repelling plants- lavender, rosemary, sage, leopards bane. They’re not poisonous to cats, cats just don’t like the way they smell.

The cats now poo directly on the grass, usually in the same few spots. The frequency has gone way down from 1-2poos a day to once or twice a week.

I can easily see it when I do a cat poo sweep on a morning. I go out and scoop it up using disposable gloves & kitchen roll and put it in the rubbish (can’t flush it or use the garden waste bin per the rules).

I know it’s bit of a hassle, but the only way to avoid the diseases that are carried by cat poo is to get ahead of the cats and assiduously remove poo as fast as it is deposited. In your description, you mentioned being careful not to touch cat poo around your shrubs. It is leaving it there that is causing you the health risks.

I don’t have a cat myself, but I don’t mind them patrolling through my garden as it means I don’t worry about rats or mice :)

Of course not. Not on Facebook. That's only for old people and 'squares'.

Put it on Insta or maybe TikTok in which case you include the cat poo with devil horns or something.

When I saw the photos I thought it was this too.

Edited to add that it starts off with one large circle and then lots of other patches arise, very itchy but not contagious

OP it is highly unlikely you caught ringworm from the soil - that is incredibly rare and even then required prolonged contact with the soil. It will have been skin to skin contact with an infected person or animal.

i had ring worm a couple of years ago- cleared up very quickly with the cream. Never figured out where I caught it - but probably from a family pet. No big deal.

Do it, it'll make a change from the usual Merry Christmas post that seem everywhere today 🤣