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Ringworm is fairly widespread in cats, particularly those that are not groomed or looked after well enough. However, even the most cared-for cats can get ringworm because it is so infectious.

However, ringworm is not caused by a worm. Sorry, for telling you how to suck eggs, if you already knew that, but a great deal of people do not.

Ringworm is really a fungus called dermatophytosis and is extremely contagious for most animals including humans. Cats often pass it on to every other whilst rubbing and pass it onto humans during grooming or stroking.

Not only that, but once you have the infection on your hands, you might get ringworm on your body wherever you touch yourself or you may pass it onto someone else, a different cat or your dog.

If you spot the tell-tale catherine-wheel shaped mark on your cat, you must take it to the vet immediately for treatment.

Likewise, if you or your kids pick up the fungus, you should see a physician or dermatologist. You ought to see an improvement in a couple days and complete recovery within a week or so, although treatment may continue for a fortnight to ensure complete recovery.

Sometimes, you might not see the ring-like mark, but if your cat or child is itching or scratching in one spot and there are no fleas, assume ringworm. Being a fungus, spores will drop off the host all around the house and might even become blown around in the aircon system. This could easily infect every living thing in the house, so it is nasty.

Therefore, if you think that something is wrong, but you cannot explain it, suspect ringworm, be on the look out for the signs and see to it as soon as it reveals itself.

Whilst you have your cat on your lap, inspect it for signs of ringworm. These are very often on the head, where it has nuzzled another cat.

Look around the eyes, the ears and on the paws for bald spots, the ring mark or merely red, flakey dry skin. The cat might lick it or scratch the spot frequently and there may be dandruff.

The first thing to do is put on gloves and inspect the cat for fleas. If you do not see a heavy infestation of fleas, your cat almost certainly has ringworm so get it to the vet as soon as you can.

In the meanwhile, isolate it from your children and do not touch the area, although it might already be too late.

The treatment for ringworm in cats is fairly simple. It normally involves washing your cat every other day and applying anti-fungal cream once or two times a day to the infected areas wearing rubber gloves.

Applying the cream is not difficult, but a large number of cats actually hate being bathed, so this could be a problem. If your cat hates water, place it in a pillow case and fasten it at its throat with an old flea collar. This should stop the cat from clawing you and running away.

A comparable treatment must be undergone by each member of the family, but you will just exchange your regular soap and shampoo for an anti-fungal one for a fortnight.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on several subjects, but is now concerned with feline distemper vaccination. If you want to know more, please visit our site at Distemper Vaccines

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on several subjects, but is now concerned with feline distemper vaccination. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Distemper Vaccines

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