# Ringworm Treatment Questions



## Dragoness (Sep 7, 2008)

Apparently my dog has ringworm and we had no idea. He has had it a while. I discovered a patch of ringworm on my HUSBAND and when i went searching for the source I discovered it was our dogs face. You can't see it unless you pull the fur back. So I called the vet and they are booked this week and the vet is out of town next week, I cannot use another vet because to be honest every other vet in town charges double what he does and I simply don't have the money. So for now I am treating it on my own and if its not clearing up by the time Dr. K is back I will take Chevy in, he will be going in for neutering and his rabies shots in a week and a half anyway. 

Anyway, Chevy has 3 with a possible 4th spot on his face. One is nickle size, the others are much smaller. I feel stupid because I didn't know, but honestly you can't tell unless you pull the fur back and had I not seen it on my husband I would never have known until it got much worse. So this is the treatment plan I have devised for treating Chevy and disinfecting our home, please tell me if this sounds reasonable and effective. Oh I am ordering special shampoo to bathe him with but they don't have it locally. 



I bought lotrimin and some dog "hot spot" medicine which is intended for treating skin irritations and claims to kill ringworm as well but I'm not taking any chances which is why I got lotrimin. 

So anyone familliar with ringworm treatment please tell me if my treatment plan for the dog and the house makes sense. 

1. Benedene and lotrimin on the dog twice a day as well as baths every few days (and bleaching the tub afterward) 

2. I am tossing his bedding and will replace it when he is all cleared up. I will be bleaching out his crate. 

3. Lysol everyday on both couches (he's not allowed on them but does it anyway) the lysol does kill ringworm. (We think the dog probably infected the couch and thats where hubby got it, hubby sleeps there since I have a little one co-sleeping with me in bed right now)

4. Mopping hard floors with bleach solution every day

4. Lysol and frequent vaccuming on the only rug we have downstairs, he doesn't go upstairs. 

Will this get rid of it? I have only ever treated ringworm on a person before and didn't disinfect ANYTHING (I didn't know any better at the time and assumed it could only live on a live host) and still the infection cleared up and did not return. 

We also arent touching poor Chevy much and if we do we have to scrub down. All towels are being washed daily rather than 2 uses and all bedding being changed 2-3 times a week rather than weekly. All laundry that can't be bleached is having apple cider vinegar added to it and dried on high twice to get it hot enough to kill the fungus.


Yes I KNOW he needs to go to the vet so please don't make me feel any worse than I already do, but the fact is that the vet is out of town all next week and Chevy has an appt the week of the 16th anyway. Also Chevy is approx 6 1/2 months old which is why he doesn't have his rabies shot yet, they don;t do them till 6 months in California and he was supposed to be neutered last month but a family emergency made a delay necessary so i decided to do neutering and rabies all in one visit. He is also having his vaccinations repeated )we think) since the rescue operation we got him from has been less than forth-coming about his vaccinations and wont even return phone calls or emails and it now seems he had ringworm when we got him so we are now unsure how well he was being cared for.


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

Lotrimin does have and indication listed for treatment of ringworm and a cursory look at a few vet sites states its use in dogs. The rest of your disinfection plan sounds good.


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## Dragoness (Sep 7, 2008)

I sure hope the disinfection plans works because I am going nuts over here. My husband already has "cooties" (thats our pet name for ringworm, lol) and every single itch I have has me freaking out inspecting the site for the telltale rash. Uggg! I got ringworm when i was pregnant with my second child. I developed a rash of pregnancy called PUPPP (its nasty) and in the last few weeks of pregnancy I was dogsitting my landlady's dog. I did see some bare spots on her but thought nothing of it. Within hours of birth the PUPPP was gone and it was then that I realized that I still had a rash, but what was left was a lot of rings, i think I have like 15 rings in all, uggg. Because I was itching so bad from the PUPPP and the fact that the pregnancy lowered my immune response I easily contracted ringworm. As soon as I realized what it was I used lotrimin and it was gone within 2 days. I never washed everything else other than normal washing because I didn't know and no one else ever got ringworm, not the pets or the kids, just me. For some reason the ringworm with Chevy and hubby has me freaked out, the last thing I need is the whole household passing around fungi!


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## DobManiac (Aug 12, 2007)

Well you’re doing way more than I did when Dusk had ringworm a couple of years ago. But I would like to add a couple of things. You mentioned you have a kid. Keep in mind that ringworm generally passes easily to those with a low immune system, such as the very young or very old. Also try to take him to the vet before it clears up. They will do a culture. That way you can find out what type of ringworm you’re dealing with. That might help you figure out how your dog got infected.


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## Dragoness (Sep 7, 2008)

Well I actually have 3 kids and the youngest one developed a patch of it last night. Not only does he have the lower immune system anyway (because he is youngest) but he has also been sick, so i bet that explains why. I inspectedmy middle child head to toe and will do the same with my oldest when she gets home but she has been inspecting her self till now. 

I have gone through a 7.00 can of lysol in less than 24 hours, this should be nice and expensive 

A lot of people are suggesting I use Gentian Violet on the dog, any info on that?


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Gentian Violet is a good anti-fungal. But it does stain, so be careful. You don't want your carpet and furniture turning purple! 

Your disinfecting regime sounds impressive. I got ringworm from one of my cats, and I just put on some Neosporin Anti-fungal on me and on her, and waited for our immune systems to catch up. I don't have the patience for more than that, so I'm glad it worked, LOL.


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## Dragoness (Sep 7, 2008)

LMAO you have no idea how little patience I have for cleaning, I am the worst housekeeper ever. Ok not ever, but I hate cleaning and do it only because I have to. As for things turning purple... well i do have 3 kids so I have things of many colors already  but yea, he will rub it off on whatever he can, he hates the medicine on him. So far I have managed to keep up on the lysol and laundry, but bleaching the floors has not really happened and even if it had you would never know since my kids can mess up far faster than I can clean up The lesions on him do seem to be improving but sadly mine and the hubby's paranoia is worse! We keep inspecting each others itchy spots and so far thats all it has been, an itch, no ringworm. He did have one very oddly ringwormish spot on his arm, but the idential burn in his shirt confirmed that it is a welding burn. I am making him treat it because its an open wound in very close proximity to his actual spot of ringworm. So far just him and the one child who has been sick (lowered immune respone) has gotten it and both are very mild cases. I think this is an instance where a bit of OCD might do me some good (on keeping things sanitary enough to prevent re-infection.) Ok thats not fair, I can think of a lot of things a touch of OCD would help me with and most of them involve housework...but thats another story.


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