{"id":3043,"date":"2014-10-15T21:07:37","date_gmt":"2014-10-15T21:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.animalhealthfoundation.net\/blog\/?p=3043"},"modified":"2014-10-15T21:07:37","modified_gmt":"2014-10-15T21:07:37","slug":"ringworm-symptoms-and-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.animalhealthfoundation.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/ringworm-symptoms-and-treatment\/","title":{"rendered":"Ringworm: Symptoms and treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ringworm is a zoonotic skin infection that affects cats, dogs and other mammals, including humans, who can contract it from their pets, writes veterinarian Ruan Bester. Ringworm can be confused with other problems, so a veterinary exam and diagnostics are necessary to properly identify the infection. Treatment options range from allowing smaller lesions to resolve on their own to using oral antifungal medications.<\/span> Macau Daily Times (Macau)<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

In the past few months I have been dealing quite a lot with Ringworm. Its has been on my staff, on the clients and a lot of Macau pets. So I thought its a good topic cover this week.
\nPet ringworm\u00a0is a fungal infection\u00a0that can affect both cats and dogs as well as other small animals.\u00a0The most common cause of ringworm is the\u00a0infection\u00a0with\u00a0Microsporum canis, Microsporum gypseum\u00a0or\u00a0Trichophyton mentagrophytes.
\nRingworm is highly contagious to both humans and pets and is transmitted through spores that infect the skin and hair, objects and the soil. The spores can live in the environment for a ling time, waiting for another host, so complete cleaning of the pet\u2019s environment must go together with the treatment.
\nRingworm has symptoms\u00a0very similar to other skin conditions, so diagnosis by a competent veterinarian before starting any treatment is compulsory.<\/p>\n

Symptoms of Pet Ringworm<\/strong>
\n\u2013 Hair loss in circular\u00a0areas mostly on the head but often on the legs, feet or tail, which is the single symptom that is specific to ringworm
\n\u2013 Small papules surrounding the area that has no hair
\n\u2013 The skin is scaly and inflamed inside these areas
\n\u2013 Acne on the chin
\n\u2013 Dandruff
\nDiagnosis of Ringworm
\nAs the visible\u00a0symptoms\u00a0of ringworm are difficult to differentiate from the\u00a0symptoms\u00a0of other conditions, once the veterinarian suspects your pet is affected by it, he will need to perform more tests.
\nA black light lamp, Wood\u2019s lamp, is sometimes used. The ringworm fungi are fluorescent under this light. However, this test is not 100% accurate, as some species of ringworm fungi do not glow under the lamp. Also, healthy animals can have fluorescent fungi on their coat and not have the\u00a0infection.
\nThe most effective method is a fungal culture that your local veterinarian can easily perform.<\/p>\n

Pet Ringworm Treatment Options<\/strong>
\nRingworm is highly contagious to pets as well as to humans. Having an infected pet will involve not only treatment of the respective pet but also preventative care for all the pets in the household and thorough cleaning of the environment.
\nYour options include topical or oral treatment:
\n1)\u00a0Small, isolated lesions can heal without treatment in up to 4 months (but the pet will be contagious during that period of time).
\n2) Topical treatment involves clipping the hair around the lesions as close to the skin as possible. You will need to be extremely careful as the smallest injury will help the\u00a0infection\u00a0spread further. The most common topical solutions are Miconazole cream, Clotopic cream, 1% chlorhexidine ointment or dips in lime sulfur or antiseptics.
\n3) Antifungal shampoos like Malaseb, Mediderm are recommended in order to keep the spreading of the spores under control.
\n4) Vaccines for ringworm are available, but they can only be administered accompanied by treatment.
\n\u2013 Systemic treatment involves several oral medications. A older oral medication for ringworm is Griseofulvin, as it is administered together with food.
\n\u2013 This medication will be accompanied by regular blood tests, to watch\u00a0for side effects (bone marrow suppression).
\n\u2013 Itraconazole and Ketoconazole are other options. If your pet is pregnant, you should notify your veterinarian when discussing treatment of ringworm, as some medications can interfere with pregnancy.<\/p>\n

When having an infected pet, you should be cautious about always wearing gloves and washing your hands thoroughly after having touched the pet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ringworm is a zoonotic skin infection that affects cats, dogs and other mammals, including humans, who can contract it from their pets, writes veterinarian Ruan Bester. Ringworm can be confused with other problems, so a veterinary exam and diagnostics are necessary to properly identify the infection. Treatment options range from allowing smaller lesions to resolve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-medical-issues"],"yoast_head":"\nRingworm: Symptoms and treatment | The Animal Health Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.animalhealthfoundation.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/ringworm-symptoms-and-treatment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ringworm: Symptoms and treatment | The Animal Health Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ringworm is a zoonotic skin infection that affects cats, dogs and other mammals, including humans, who can contract it from their pets, writes veterinarian Ruan Bester. 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