Ringworm (microsporia) in cats: symptomatology and treatment methods

Microsporia in cats is the most common fungal disease of the hair and skin surface. The widespread popularity of ringworm is not accidental - this disease is transmitted from the animal to man. Infection is carried out through hygiene products, infected household items and directly through contact with the cat.

Most often microsporia is affected by stray dogs and cats. Therefore, you should be extremely careful when dealing with street animals. The causative agents of this disease are extremely resistant to the external environment - they can exist for several years. Also, lichen is transmitted by rodents. Abundance of dirt, unsatisfactory hygienic conditions, weakened immune system and microcracks on the skin - all these factors only contribute to the development of this ailment.

Often there is microsporia in cats living at home (isolated from contact with homeless animals). The thing is that with shoes a man brings mud into the house, dangerous fungi that cause lichen. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly observe the rules for keeping pets, carefully monitoring their hygiene, regularly visiting a veterinarian, and doing antifungal vaccination.

Symptomatics

The incubation period lasts from 2 days to 3 months. The hairless cats on the skin appear rounded gray spots (at the initial stage of development they are small, at the start of the stage they become larger). These spots are constantly flaky, covered with scaly crusts, they feel greasy to the touch.

First, the ears, muzzle, limbs and tail are affected. It is necessary to know that microsporia in cats can be observed in several forms (deep, atypical and superficial). The most dangerous and at the same time easy to diagnose - a deep form (sick young kittens and weakened cats).

The superficial form is not always noticeable, especially in long-haired animals. At the site of the lesion, the coat becomes brittle and rare, the cat constantly experiences itching, so it can comb the areas to the blood, infecting the inside.

Atypical form is manifested by the formation on the skin areas of hairless spots. Similar stains outwardly resemble abrasions or abrasions, in connection with this, setting the right diagnosis at the first stages of infection is difficult.

Diagnostics

In veterinary clinics, ringworm is diagnosed by several methods: microscopic, cultural and luminescent. Under the ultraviolet rays, all affected areas acquire an emerald green glow. But the luminescent method does not give complete certainty, for a more accurate study it is necessary to take a scraping from the skin surface and the coat of a sick cat.

You need to know that the black cats can not shine under the lamp. As a consequence, other additional studies are being prescribed. If the diagnosis is confirmed, the veterinarian is obliged to notify the SES (sanitary-epidemiological station) about this.

Patients with stray cats are subject to destruction. Treatment of microsporia in dogs in nurseries or at home is strictly prohibited. Dogs, unlike cats, are isolated and treated under the strict supervision of a veterinarian.

Microsporia in cats: treatment

Treatment of ringworm in cats should be carried out at the earliest stage of its development, without letting the disease cause irreparable harm to health. The owner of an infected animal or veterinarian should always wear gloves when handling affected areas. First, the affected areas must be wiped with a soap solution.

Then smear stains with salicylic alcohol or ointment, often prescribed aerosols "Zoomikol" and "Kubatol", as well as the drug "Iodoform." In severe cases, antifungal antibiotics may be prescribed. Independently to be engaged in treatment of the pupil it is impossible, you only will aggravate a situation. Before assigning the necessary course of drugs, the doctor must be convinced of the presence of this particular disease.

Microsporia in cats, isolated from the street, is treated quite quickly and simply, literally within two weeks the spots pass and the animal recovers. For the prevention of ringworm, it is necessary to regularly disinfect the room where the animal lives and annually vaccinate your pet, then no troubles will affect it.