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Ringworm is one of the most common form of skin diseases in animals. These disease is especially existent among cats. Also long hair cats like Persian cats are more prone to ringworm attacks then normal cats. Ringworms is caused by several different microscopic organisms belonging to a group called “dermatophytes”. These family of fungus leave on the outer side of the human skin called the hypodermis. These Dermphytes can cause ringworms in several parts of the body include scalp,body,nails and feet. These ringworm causing fungi thrive on places which remain warm and moist. Hence places like groin ,feet and underarm are more prone to a rinworm attack than other places of the body.also normally Ringworm tends to enter the body through a break in the skin, such as a scratch, cut, or broken skin due to eczema.
Causes of Ringworms: Ringworm is a kind of infection which is caused by a fungi that thrives in the dead superficial layers of the
skin. although its name is ringworm however it does not have any connection what so ever with worms. The scientific name of ringworm is dermatophytosis and the fungi which cause the disease is called
dermatophytes. there are more than 40 different species of dermatophytes and each causes infection to a particular kind of host. The ringworm who have host in the form of cats are called dermatophyte microsporum canis. Other form of ringworm that can infect cats is trichophyton mentagrophytes and M gypseum, M fulvum and T terrestre
Diagnosis of Ringworms in Cats
Simply by looking at the cat it is very difficult to diagnose whether it is suffering from ringworm or not. This is because the appearance of ringworms in cats is very variable. What is needed to be done is doing a diagnostic test to confirm the presence of M canis or other dermatophytes.
1.
Ultraviolet woods lamp: If you examine a cat in a dark room using ultraviolet woods lamp you can see infected hairs with florescent colors.it is considered that this fluoresce is caused by a metabolite produced by M canis .however this is not full proof as some extraneous substances may cause a similar fluorescence.
2. The best and the most reliable method of ringworm determination is by using fungal culture.
here the cat hairs and skin is collected and is incubated in a laboratory.
Microscopic examination of suspect hairs can provide a very rapid positive diagnosis. The observer looks for fungal elements and spores associated with hairs. Interpretation can be difficult and it is best performed by an experienced mycologist. It is not possible to determine which species of dermatophyte is involved using this method alone. A negative result is unreliable and may only mean that the sample of hairs examined was not representative and did not include infected hairs.
Culture enables precise identification of the species of dermatophyte involved, but because dermatophytes are slow growing it may take several weeks for laboratories to report a result
Treatment of Ringworm: The most common form of treatment of ringworm in cats is by using the tropical shampoo theory. This method is specially effective in the case long haired pets. The procedure first involves clipping down some of the hair in order to make the shampoo wash more effective. Then the pet is washed with tropical shampoo. These shampoos will also remove infected hairs that can be source of infection to people in there vicinity.
Another method is using specific anti fungal creames. These are specifically used in areas which have sparse growth or they have small discrete lesions |
