How to treat a cat for ringworm without going crazy
Confining an active cat to a single room like a bathroom during ringworm treatment leads to destruction and high stress. This makes it nearly impossible to maintain the isolation required to stop the infection from spreading.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1banishing the cat to the bathroom
- 2keeping the cat in a confined space for treatment
- 3Switching from plastic water and food dishes to ceramic, glass, or stainless steel bowls
- 4Cleaning the food and water dish every time the cat is fed
- 5Using a chlorhexidine wash or other treatments prescribed by a veterinarian
- 6Putting a neck harness or brace on the cat for a few days to prevent scratching and allow scabs to heal
- 7Searching online to self-diagnose symptoms
- 8using a little neck brace to prevent the cat from reaching the head area
- 9applying iodine on the scratch to avoid a vet visit
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Then yesterday i noticed this little scab on her head above her eye, but today its looking worse and i did see her itching at it she seems a itchy in that particular spot.”source ↗
“i really dont have the funds to get her checked out but if i need to i will. Shes my angel and i feel so horrible for not catching this sooner”source ↗
“i can’t go to the vet until early October because my dad works all month and my mom doesn’t drive for some reason.”source ↗
“weird scabs / crust on his neck, google said he has mites, looked it up and it doesn’t seem to be the case, as his are orange. I’m sure his ears have mites though.”source ↗
“Can anyone tell me what to do ???? and what this is ??? and home treatments if possible I don’t want to wait for my dad.”source ↗
“She also has a pimple/blackhead problem, but it keeps coming back.”source ↗
“I am lucky he’s never had ringworm before. Ash would tear up the bathroom and destroy it if he had to stay in one place for long!”source ↗
“My cat currently has ringworm so she is banished to bathroom dungeon.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 30Why does my anxious cat scream and panic over closed doors?