Ringworm in cat (Feline Ringworm)
Common info
Skin fungal disease or ringworm, it can occur in all ages and genders of cats but mostly found in kittens especially after weaning, and also in cats that have long eyelashes such as Persian cats, since long eyelashes can keep the fungi longer.
History
Although eczema in cats is called ringworm but it doesn’t occur from worms or parasites from fungi. There are 40 types of fungi in classes of Trichophyton, and Epidermophyton, which can cause the disease. These fungi are called Dermatophytes, there’s a report from a Mycoses magazine in 2008 that body fungal infections (Tinea corporis), often derived from T. rubrum, M.canis or T. Tonsurans. Fungi from this group like to grow in a warm and moist environment just like any other group and can spread through direct contact with places that have fungi.
Description
Factors that cause the disease are the bruised skin especially from hair blushing, using the same toothbrush and towel with other cats, and let them be in moist areas. It is believed that bathing your cat too many often is harmful because it can damage its skin defense mechanism, the skin will be dry and skin inflammation will follow afterward.
Symptoms
- Skin lesion on head, ears, paws, animal foldable joint
- Circle spot, bald spot
- Hair loss
- Itch
Most common symptoms are itching, spot baldness, and like to rub themselves against the floor which causes bald spots from hair loss and it will keep enlarging, there will be scabs and inflamed afterward, and also dandruff all over the body especially on the face, ears, nails, in some cases, there might be pus stain, the degree of skin inflammation is increased and often spread all over the body.
Treatment and Prevention
There are many treatments for Ringworm in cat such as using antifungal drugs or antifungal shampoo and giving them haircuts during the treatment. Nowadays, there are antifungal vaccines to use alongside the treatment as well.
- Wikipedia | Cat skin disorders
- Pet Web MD | Skin Problems in Cats
- เทพแมว | โรคผิวหนังที่เกิดจากเชื้อรา
- Ernest E. Ward Jr., DVM. 2002. RINGWORM IN DOGS. written by Northpark -Animal Haspital. May 12 2002 : 1-3.
- R. A. Cervantes Olivares. 2003. Ringworm Infection in Dogs and Cats. International Veterinary Information Service (www.ivis.org), Ithaca, New York, USA. 24-Jun-2003 : 1-7.
- The University of Adelaide. 2015. Dermatophytes. [Online]. Available:http://ww.mycology.adelaide.edu.au.
- Yuri. 2012. Fun with microbiology. [Online]. Available:http://thunderhouse4-yuri.blogspot.com. โดย ภาควิชาจุลชีววิทยา คณะสัตวแพทยศาสตร์ จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย
