Hi everyone,

I haven't been to the forum for quite some time as I'm extremely stressed and saddened by the fact that my one and only cat has contracted a skin disease - micro spora canis, a type of ringworm disease from the place he was groomed at.

This can take weeks or months to clear up and I have to vacuum and clean the house everyday to aid in curing him of it or actually leave him contained in a room but I don't want to do this to him. The other horrible fact I found out is that it never goes away 100%, the fungus will continue to live in him and it's up to his immune system to fight it once his skin clears up.

I'd like to warn anyone of you who are thinking of bringing your cat(s) to a professional groomer

My cat is a strictly indoors only cat and has never been in contact with any other cats/dogs. But he was brought to a grooming salon two weeks back. The vet has also confirmed my suspicion. This disease is usually contracted from improper cleaning of the grooming tools and also through already infected cats and dogs (which are sometimes not visibly seen) who are brought there.

I'm not going to mention the groomer that I went to but if you want to know, please PM me.

I was hoping to bring him to the groomers on a monthly basis as they seemed to provide a good service. But even the vet I spoke to told me that it's a sad fact that the grooming tools are often the ones most neglected by groomers in general. Gah!!!!!!!!

This also means that I won't be able to adopt a new kitten/cat. I don't want another poor animal to have to live with this disease throughout it's life or have to contract it even once. It's a zoological disease and is easily contractable to humans but only through the cat biting or scratching our skin. But the vet has cautioned me to lessen the time spent with my cat, how am I supposed to do this? It's not humanly possible~~!!

Even now, he's looking up at me wondering why my little brothers weren't playing with him like they usually do everyday when they come over. He keeps going near them but they merely pat his head and slowly walk away and he's a bit confused I can't allow them to touch him as it's easily contractable to little kids...

He has to be given two tablets a day, one in the morning and one in the evening until his skin clears up (weeks to months!) and he's going to have to be bathed every two weeks with a medicated shampoo that has to be left on his skin for 10 minutes before wash.

I write this to warn any of you planning to get your cat(s) to the groomers. Always check how they clean their grooming tools, even if the place looks posh/absolutely nice. I made a big mistake and I hope none of you will have to go through this like I did. It's seriously a big disappointment...

So sorry to hear about this missa. I wish your cat a speedy recovery so he can go back to his buddies and play full time.

Thank you for bringing this up and sharing with all of us.

wooz....

i'm so sorry missa.. i wish your cat will recover quickly..

i read a lot about ring worm over the internet as well, and it really freaks me out as well.. cos my cat also used to have it as well... my cat caught ring worm within the first month he came here. of course, other than so called 'professional groomers' i exposed him to outdoor playing... and the doc said ring worm virus can be airborne, or through contact with suferers, or from the soil.. the list of possibilities are endless.

well anyway,ring worm is some kind of a fungus, and fungus, with our type of humidity, (compared to australia) strives. other than medication, i think all of us who's born here developed some kind of immunity to it. that is my own personal theory, otherwise, i'll go crazy. so, i still went on with the medication, groom him myself, (i always prefer to do it myself, its one of our bonding time), i bathed him with medicated shampoo (malaseb) for every three days..
as for hygiene, i did my best to clean my room, only changed my bedsheet more frequently, as i already have to vacum and wipe my room everyday..

one article gave me hope though, i dont remember where did i read it. sometimes ring worm would just go away, just like that. no medication, no whatsoever. and yes, my cat recovers from it. soon than i expected, and i was relieved. my own theory states that, the body needs to build some immunity towards it. even though it will be there forever, its just there, no scaly, itchy, reddish patch. its just there unseen. i mean, how can we escaped from such thing that can be airborne, with our humidity level, and with it being so common?

so don't worry too much, do what you have to do and have faith! do not despair kay...

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Hi missa;

Sorry to hear that your cat was affected by the fungus. I do expereince that too.

Do not worry too much will ya... your cat will recover. Just administer the relevant medicine prescribe by the vet to u.

Good luck and fast recovery to your cat

sorry to hear about your cat and kesian him/her as well. If i were a cat, i'd be totally devastated knowing no one wants to cuddle me anymore. but, i'm sure he'll recover as long as meds are taken accordingly. take care.

Thanks guys~~ Yup, I'm positive he'll get better soon enough. I just bought him some new pillows and stuff and a rubber scratch mat which he seems to enjoy rubbing himself against Doc says that's okay for him to do as it prevents him from scratching himself. I'm just a bit dissapointed with the groomers ~~ was really looking forward to go there again actually... oh well. Yup, he's definitely going to be extra pampered right now Waiting for Ika to reply with regards to the cat spa...

Update on Prince:

Anyways, Prince is still having a bad skin problem that is going from bad to worse but this is part of the healing process, his ear is bleeding, his nose has this weird bump and it's scaly to the touch and the hair is falling out.

There's a loss of hair on the top of his head and all over his body there's flaky skin and of course the microspora canis growing out of his skin and living on his fur. I'm afraid that he'll lose more fur...let's hope not it's really quite bad, I've never seen ringworm up to this stage before.

Never risk taking your cat to a groomers, it's not worth it. I've learned my lesson alright~~

Hi Missa,

I hope Prince recovers soon. It is frustrating when u pamper & have been a good mummy/daddy to your feline baby and 1 visit to the petshop/groomer spoils your hard efford.

Well, from the sound of it u and prince will make it through.

Good luck. I can get you the Spa. when & where can we meet?

perhaps, its bout time speakin thru each n every of our exp(s), we cld list out those good n bad breeders / groomers etc etc so dat we cld on alert, dats wat one of the purpose of havin a forum i think, to b netwerked.. but then gain wiv the proviso dat it doesnt go againt forum policy (do we hev one in ere yet bg? just my 2 rupiah, cheers.

rgds,
kahar abdullah
ps : missa : sorry to hear dat n best wishes.

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Thanks guys~~ Well, talking about Creams, I have to rub cream onto Prince's infected skin like 4 times a day (head and body) and it's not an easy task as I have to keep rubbing it till it gets absorbed by his skin and then I have to wait an additional hour to make sure he doesn't lick it off. Imagine...4 times a day and he's stilll taking his medication twice a day and he has to be bathed twice a week with medicated shampoo.