How to Kill Ringworm on a Cat With Home Remedies
Despite its name, ringworm actually isn't caused by a worm or any kind of parasite. It's caused by a fungal infection that is easily transmitted. The spores that cause this infection can be found anywhere that cats, dogs or people can be found, and transmission occurs when a cat comes in contact with anything that might have also been in contact with a ringworm-infected animal, including bedding and grooming equipment.
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Things You'll Need
- Disposable gloves
- Animal clippers (optional)
- Scissors
- Anti-fungal cream containing clotrimazole (brand names are Lotrimin and Mycelex)
Instructions
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Diagnose ringworm in the cat. Ringworm in cats usually resembles a small lesion that doesn't have any hair on it. You can usually find a kind of crust in the center of the infected area. Usually, only a veterinarian can make the proper diagnosis, so before you treat the cat for ringworm, make sure that's what it has.
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Put on disposable gloves. Since you're going to be dealing with a highly infectious fungal infection, you're going to want to make sure that you keep your exposure to the ringworm to a minimum. When treating the infection, always make sure you're wearing your gloves.
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Shave down the fur around the infected area. This works best if you have some grooming clippers, but in the event that you don't, you can use scissors, making sure that you don't cut too close to the skin.
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Thoroughly wash the infected areas. You'll want to make sure that the area is kept clean to prevent secondary infections from setting in.
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Put anti-fungal cream containing clotrimazole on the infected areas. Massage the cream into the area.
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Keep an eye on the cat to make sure that it doesn't lick off the cream. Usually, the cream is bitter enough to keep the cat from working at it, but keep an eye on it.
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Repeat daily for a period of two weeks. If, at the end of two weeks, the ringworm has not improved noticeably, take your pet to your veterinarian and make sure that a proper diagnosis was made.
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Tips & Warnings
If you have tea tree oil on hand, you can put a little tea tree oil on the infected area to help soothe it. Tea tree oil has some very soothing properties.
The same anti-fungal treatment can be used on people who have picked up ringworm from their pets.
You might want to have more than one person handle the ringworm treatment. Some cats do not tolerate being bathed or having sensitive areas touched and might try to bite you. That being the case, one person can restrain the cat while the other applies the lotion.
References
- Photo Credit cat image by Darren Ager from Fotolia.com
