Best way to treat ringworm in cats/dogs/humans?

Question

My brother called me a few weeks ago from work and asked me to go and rescue a kitten that he had seen in an alley,so I did. It had sparse-looking hair,but I figured it was because of fleas and malnutrition. Anyway,it ended up at MY house ( darn brother.) I took it to the vet and she diagnosed ringworm and put it on ketoconanzole. She said to use athlete's foot or yeast infection cream if any of my other animals would get it. Well,I have it, my Chihuahua has it and another of my cats has it and I suppose more will get it.I have spent 4150.00 on athlete's foot meds plus the vet bill. I have heard that Listerine works. Does it?  Any other treatments that will work fast? I am also wiping stuff down with bleach.

I have never had an animal with ringworm,or I would have kept the kitty completely isolated.

Any help would be appreciated.

Sara · Accepted Answer

Listerine might help, and it certainly wouldn't hurt.  Using bleach is a good idea but be careful as some dogs can have very bad reactions to it.  I would also talk to your doctor about maybe getting something stronger for you.  Ringworm is a fungus and any medications that kill fungus will help.  I would also recommend putting yourself and your other animals (the dog for sure, the cat if you can) on an omega 3-6-9 oil supplement.  It will give you and them skin support to help the spots heal faster.  You can  give the dog a regular human dose and with small dogs and cats, you can cut the tip of the capsule off and squirt it right on their food.
Beyond that, it'll just take time.  Kudos for rescuing a kitten and I hope things clear up for you.

•Poppy• · Answer

My experience with ringworm is that it usually eventually goes away. It's no fun and it's tough, but don't give up.

Whatever you do, do NOT bandage it and do your best not to scratch. It will thrive in a dark, moist environment so a band-aid will just cause it to worsen (a lesson learned the hard way) and scratching can cause it to scar (another lesson learned the hard way).

I had the best luck with the Lotrimin that comes as a spray. It's sort of a dry spray, and I thought it worked better than the cream; I've also heard that the cream isn't ideal because it has more moisture in it, though I'm not sure if that's true. Your doctor can also give you an oral medication if you think it has gotten that bad.

As for the animals, unless it's severe we just used the OTC stuff. The cream worked a little better than the spray because it seemed to stay put. It can take awhile to clear, so don't get discouraged. Though I would isolate as best you can so you don't re-infect the areas that you've cleaned. This is something that can stick around even after your current pets are cleared but it doesn't always affect new pets so it can be hard to tell.

As for home remedies? I've heard baking soda works well as it draws out moisture. The dryer, the better.

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Best way to treat ringworm in cats/dogs/humans?

2 Answers