Does bathing a kitten with ringworm make it worse?

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  • 28 August, 2012 at 1:39 am #52662
    Xenomorph
    Participant

    Mog has ringworm. There’s no doubt about it. He’s got horrible spots where his hair is basically gone, and there’s no doubt the spores are spreading. I’ve been applying Lotrimin to the spots (with gloves on, of course) in an attempt to stop the spreading, but it seems to be making him want to lick those spots more and just spread it around.

    I can’t get him to the vet to get some antifungal shampoo until Saturday morning at the earliest. The poor kitty looks pathetic, and I want desperately to bathe him. I know a simple dial bath won’t do anything to remove the spores, but I’m wondering if it could possibly help. Perhaps it would make the spreading worse? Should I leave him alone until the vet can see him?

    Thanks!

    28 August, 2012 at 5:51 am #746195
    Buttons
    Moderator

    I’ve had so many dealings with rimgworm on kittens you just couldn’t believe.! I never bath my cats though and they were all kittens when they contacted it because it was on their faces i couldn’t use antifungal creams and had no choice but to spend nearly 70 euro on an oral antifungal medication. It did work but it took a month or two to clear properly and the hair to grow back. I think what your better doing istead of a bath is to actually put apple cider vinegar on his coat enough so it reaches the skin Its a natural antibiotic and raises the ph level on the skin making it inhospitable for the fungal infection and will stop or severely hinder its growth! Also add a teaspoon of the apple cider vinegar to his food.

    If you wash him make sure he’s bone dry after and wash the drying towel immediately as Im sure you know rimgworm is highly contagious .

    28 August, 2012 at 1:06 pm #746196
    ecbrown
    Participant

    I don’t think I would bathe him without the antifungal shampoo. Someone here told me (from their experience with shelter cats) that antibacterial soaps (like dial) can make the fungus worse because it kills the good bacteria that keep the fungus in check. We also used oral meds and apple cider vinegar on the cat. But we did dilute the vinegar 3 parts water to one part vinegar. Good luck.

    28 August, 2012 at 3:23 pm #746197
    eyeliner128
    Participant

    It may sound unconventional, but when I was fostering a litter of six 2 month olds with horrible ringworm, I followed this regimen –

    Apple cider vinegar, diluted 1/2 with water, dabbed on the bald spots twice a day, stay on for 5 minutes, rinse off with water. Baths every other day with Ketachlor shampoo (if you don’t have this, you can use a tiny bit of dandruff shampoo instead as long as the kittens are 2 months or older). It honestly works just as well as the prescription shampoo in my experience.

    Their spots were gone and hair grown back completely in less than a month.

    28 August, 2012 at 3:30 pm #746198
    ailuromaniac
    Participant

    Watch out for Selenium sulfide 1% in dandruff shampoos. It is highly toxic to cats.

    28 August, 2012 at 11:52 pm #746199
    Skyron
    Participant

    When Tequila got a spot of ringworm, I treated it with straight iodine – only did it once, and it worked. I found out after that that straight iodine is too strong and can burn a kitty’s skin. For me it worked anyway – as a once off single treatment – was better for me than trying to get Tequila to sit still to have creams & whatnot applied every day.Tequila only had the one spot though – so a tiny scab of dead skin coming off wasn’t a big deal. Obviously if your kitty has many spots, or big areas of fur loss, you might want to dilute the iodine to a 50-50 mix.

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