I have a 5 week old kitten with SEVERE case of ring worm needs treatment ASAP!?

gosh, on the kitties behalf thank u for giving it a good home. i wish i had an answer, but im gonna star ur question, and hopefully others will too so the right person can help! make sure u post this under the Cats section too. there are some very knowledgable people.

good luck and God Bless!

Firstly allow me to state that I am not a veterinary doctor. I have a colleague who is, and he has advised me, and I post his comments –

"Ringworm" is the common name for the skin infection caused by a special group of fungi; it is not caused by a worm at all. The fungi feed upon the dead cells of skin and hair causing, in people, a classic round, red lesion with a ring of scale around the edges and normal recovering skin in the center. Because the ring of irritated, itchy skin looked like a worm, the infection was erroneously named. The fungi responsible are called "dermatophytes," meaning "plants that live on the skin" thus the more correct term for ringworm is "dermatophytosis." The characteristic "ring" appearance is primarily a human phenomenon. In animals, ringworm frequently looks like a dry, grey, scaly patch but can also mimic any other skin lesion and have any appearance.

Ringworm is contagious to people; however, some people are at greater risk than others. The fungus takes advantage of skin belonging to those with reduced immune capacity. This puts young animals and children, elderly people and pets, those who are HIV+, people on chemotherapy or taking medication after tranfusion or organ transplant and highly stressed people and animals at high risk. In some cases, it is know for sure that dermatophyte fungi are present while in other cases it is only highly suspicious. Lesions on animal skin are rarely the classic ring-shaped as in people (in fact, in animals, lesions are often not even itchy) thus some testing is usually necessary.

There are primarily two medications being used to treat ringworm: Griseofulvin and Itraconazole (brand name "Sporonox"). Veterinary dermatologists disagree as to which is better. Both medications are relatively expensive, must be given with food, and have significant potential to cause birth defects in pregnant pets.

Treatment with either medication typically is continued for 1-2 months and should not be discontinued until the pet cultures negative. Stopping when the pet simply looks well visually frequently leads to recurrence of the disease.

With reference to your question about the lime sulphur dip -It is best to put an e-collar (it looks like a funnel) on your cat to keep it from licking itself while the lime sulphur dip dries, which usually takes about 3 hours. If the cat does ingest some of the dip solution, it is not fatal, but can lead to vomiting.

You do not state what medicated shampoo you are using, and so you would be advised to enquire how to apply it etc from your vet.

Whenever handling medications for animals – and for people other than yourself – you would be advised to wear protective (Rubber or plastic) gloves.

I add a link that contains details about this subject

http://www.newmanveterinary.com/

Facts%20About%20Ringworm.html

Hope this helps

matador 89