Cat condition as bas as headlice
Poor old Poppy’s face, ears and feet were covered with small hairless areas.
It’s a bit like Christmas every day at the pet hospital lately, because it’s always a surprise to see what’s inside the cardboard boxes that arrive. And there have been lots of children accompanying mum and dad, which is always fun. Pets are such a huge uplifting happy thing, for children especially. They are either a bit apprehensive or all smiles, as we carefully open the box to check out their new family addition.
I didn’t know what was going on and didn’t know what to expect when Poppy’s owner arrived with one such cardboard box. She placed it on the bench top and shrunk back towards the door with a look of terror. I carefully opened the box and peered inside. Sitting quietly and nervously in the dark depths of the box was little Poppy.
Poor old Poppy’s face, ears and feet were covered with small hairless areas. Not the sort of look that encourages cuddling, that’s for sure, but she is still a cute little ginger tabby kitten.
Over the years, I have had people lift various items of clothing to show me marks on their skin or damage inflicted by their pets. It can be a bit scary, but, luckily, Poppy’s mum just wanted to show me her children’s (Renee and Ian) circular red marks on their arms and neck.
Unfortunately, I knew straight away what the problem was, but first I needed to make sure. So, I took little Poppy with me to the dark room and checked her out under a special lamp, which confirmed my first thought, as this problem shines bright green. Cool eh?
Poppy had a common skin condition that is on a par with head lice for inciting fear in the hearts of parents. Ringworm.
There are still lots of young kittens around because of the long warm summer and we have been seeing more cases of ringworm in the past week. So, let’s get rid of a few myths and confusion about this common disease.
Q: Why don’t worm tablets treat it?
A: Because ringworm is a fungal skin infection and not a worm as its name implies.
It has nothing to do with worms.
Fact: The skin lesions are generally only seen in children and young animals less than 18 months of age. This is because the body will eventually mount an immune response to it and repel it from the skin. This immune response means that once you have had it, you are unlikely to get it again.
Adults, even if they haven’t previously had skin lesions, will usually have an immune response as the ringworm fungus is present in the environment and on most adult cats’ coats as a normal inhabitant. So mum and dad don’t usually get any little marks on their arms or neck.
Interestingly, kittens usually show signs of it after a week in their new home away from mum. The possible reason is that the grooming they receive from their mother made it difficult for the fungus to grow.
This is also a nightmare for adoption agencies or breeders, because the kitten may appear fine and even be negative under a special lamp, but after a week in a new home, the fungus starts to grow and the skin changes become obvious. Then the new owner may blame the agency or breeder, but really no-one is at fault at all.
Ringworm is far less common in puppies and is often seen as raised grey oval areas around the muzzle, which is totally unlike the lesions seen in cats and people.
Ringworm is contagious and often all the litter will be affected. It is also very easily transmitted to people, either directly via contact with the kitten or contact with the bedding or sleeping areas etc. But the good news is that it is super simple to treat both in people and pets.
Treatment of Poppy was straightforward and very effective. Half a tablet a day and within seven days Poppy was beginning to look a lot more appealing.
Renne and Ian got some ointment from the pharmacy and they too looked a lot better next time I saw them.
So, there is nothing scary about ringworm, nor is it a worm of any kind and it is easy to treat.
Have a fun week, from all the crew at Andersons.