Ringworm in cats
Ringworm is the common name given to a fungal infection of the superficial layers of the skin and hair or your pet. The name is a little bit misleading as many people think it is an infection caused by a worm. The name comes from the appearance of the lesions in humans: round, red, raised ‘ring; marking the boundary of the inflammation. In animals, the infected areas are not always ring-shaped. The organisms that caused the disease belong to a group of fungi known as dermatophytes, that is why the medical term for the disease is dermatophytosis. Some species of dermatophytes are specific for certain species. They may only infect one species, whereas others can be spread between different species of animals or from animals to humans or from humans to animals. On cats, the most common species and responsible for almost all ringworm infections is Microsporum canis. This species also infects dogs and humans. Occasionally ringworm infections in the cat are caused by Trichophyton mentagrophytes, which can also infect humans (is zoonotic).
How to detect ringworm?
Ringworm is not always easy to detect in cats, the lesions can be mild or even undetectable. Fungi feed on keratin, which is found in the outer layers of the skin, air, and nails. Sometimes the only visible indicator of ringworm in cats is the ‘ash’ scaling deep in the coat. Other cats may have round thickened patches of the skin with hair loss, the ears and face are common areas of infection. Hair loss, also called alopecia, occurs when the spores infect the hair follicle and shaft, resulting in increased fragility of the infected hairs or falling off of the hair in toto. Lesions in cats are normally not itchy. Occasionally infection of the nails, called onychomycosis may occur. Ringworm may sometimes cause a more generalized disease and affect a much larger area of the body. Some cats, especially longhaired breeds such as Persians, can have ringworm without any clinical signs and be asymptomatic carriers. They infect other animals and people, especially in shelters or other multi-cat environments.
Contagious
As said earlier ringworm is contagious and transmission occurs by direct contact with an infected animal or person, by handling contaminated objects or contaminated surfaces. Fungal spores can stay dormant on objects for many months (reported up to 18 months). This does not mean contact with ringworm always results in an infection People and animals with immune system weaknesses (elderly people, young animals or animals with other skin problems) are susceptible to ringworm infections. The incubation period between exposure and development of lesions usually ranges from 7 to 14 days. Some medication, like antibiotics, will create an opportunity for fungal infections to come to full expression.
Ringworm is diagnosed with a special UV light, called Wood’s lamp. The lesions will glow with green fluorescence. However, not all cases show this fluorescence, depending on the species of fungi. Additional diagnostics may therefore be required: a culture of the fungus in a laboratory. The culture results can take up to four weeks, which makes this method not always very useful from a practical view and most vets will initiate treatment against ringworm or other fungal infection whilst the test is still ongoing, in order not to loose time. Confirmation of the infection through a positive test result is important to ensure follow up and surrounding area treatment will be done more seriously.
Treatment
The most common way to treat ringworm in cats is to use a combination of full shave of the coat in long haired pets, regular exposure to Sunshine (careful in Dubai as is often too hot), topical therapy (shampoo, creams, ointments…) and systemic oral therapy (anti-fungal drugs by mouth). It depends on the severity of the lesions, living conditions of the cats, breed, health status and prior medication given etc. which treatment will be favored. For the treatment to be successful, all environmental contamination must be eliminated. If aggressive treatment is used, infected pets stay contagious for about three weeks. If treated appropriately, the cats will recover from a ringworm infection. Although the treatment will be successful, the full coat will take much longer to recover and the baldness and Motty look will take time to grow back.
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