Ringworm

[OlennasWimple]

Help!

A good friend has just got a rescue kitten that now turns out to have ringworm. I'm going to stay with her at the weekend and I've been reading up about ringworm in advance - and I'm scared!

The advice seems to be to completely bleach the house and get rid of everything that the cat has been in contact with (including food bowls and toys). Is this right?? She mostly has hard floors (wooden boards and tiles) so hopefully this makes it easier than if everywhere had carpets

The other concern is that we have a cat ourselves - do I need to basically wear a hazmat suit while I'm there to avoid bringing the spores back with me and infecting our household?

Any practical tips I can share with my friend?

There are a lot of different strains of ringworm. Some are really persistent and some just seem to clear up on their own and aren't particularly contagious. Ringworm is only a major problem in rescue centres and catteries as it does spread so easily.

I think a hazmat suit would be taking it too far. But certainly it would be idea to take your shoes off at the door and maybe take slippers or crocs or something that you can bring back at the end of your visiting and put in the washing machine. It would also be an idea to change clothes when you come home and wash what you've been wearing. The chances are, even if you don't do that, it will still be fine, but it's better to be careful.

Even if your cats do get it it's easily treatable and doesn't particularly bother the cat. Tablets and/or a cream and it should just go away. So it's not worth panicking about.

For your friend then yes, bleaching surfaces and washing cat beds on a hot wash would be a good idea, but hopefully it will be sorted out without too much trouble.

Phew! Thanks for the reassurance. Good idea about slippers - I tend to take mine anyway, but will make sure they go in the wash on return.

I guess hand sanitizer stuff is useless because it's fungal? So it's all about the bleach...

Well I wouldn't dream of bleaching my hands. You could of course use latex gloves when you're there.

I caught ringworm from a stray cat. My doctor prescribed me with medication and the ringworm disappeared shortly after. Just make sure you wash clothes that come into contact with the infected cat and you should be OK. My cat was fine when I had it.

Sorry, poorly worded post - I wasn't proposing to bleach my hands, more commenting that anti-bac stuff is no good, it has to be anti-fungal

Mercurial - did you just stroke the stray cat a few times? Ie it is really that infectious?

I was doing voluntary work with stray cats I spent a lot of time with them. I did wear latex gloves all the time. I got it on my back. I took my cat to the vets to check her out but she was fine.

I had a rescue kitten who was riddled with ringworm and it was hellish - bathing it every few days (I had no skin left on my arms!) for weeks.
I was very strict about wearing gloves to handle it and it was kept in a separate room. I used a steam mop daily and a lot of bleach (normally I'm all for eco friendly!)
My other cats did not get infected.

Your friend should keep the kitten in a separate area. I'd change my clothes and hot wash them as soon as you leave (I added clorox to the wash).
As I was so worried about catching it (I'm a teacher and don't want to be responsible for an outbreak!) I bathed every few days in Betadine wash which is antifungal.
Dettol aerosol is also antifungal if you want to spray shoes etc.
This may sound over dramatic but it was traumatic and you should take every precaution.

I added clorox to the wash

Dumb question - if you put bleach in the washing machine, doesn't it make your clothes a different colour?

Sorry Olenna it's a special 'clorox for clothes' I'm not in the UK so you may not be able to get it rhere.
Or you can make up a paste if boric acid and add that instead - it's very antifungal.
I know far too much about this!!!!!