Studies have shown this shampoo to be very effective against ringworm. Cats should be bathed twice weekly. Local topical therapy with ointments and creams is generally not recommended for treatment. From a practical perspective, they are messy, easily groomed off, and tempt clients to try spot therapy instead of aggressive treatment with shampoos and oral medications. In our experience, however, miconazole lotion, applied to the affected areas on the days that the cat is not being bathed, appears to be beneficial.
The cornerstone of treatment for ringworm is systemic therapy with an oral medication. Ideally, these drugs should not be used in kittens less than 8 weeks of age. Drugs that have been shown to be effective include griseofulvin, terbinafine, ketaconazole, and itraconazole.
Itraconazole to be very effective when given at a dose of 10 mg per kg once daily for 6 weeks. Side effects, if they occur, tend to be limited to vomiting and decreased appetite. Itraconazole needs to be prepared by a compounding pharmacy into a form that allows proper dosing. We have the pharmacy prepare a flavored liquid that makes dosing much less objectionable to the cat. Cats receiving treatment for ringworm usually show marked improvement in clinical signs within 2 to 4 weeks of therapy.
Four weeks after beginning treatment, cats should be reexamined. Any infected hairs discovered during the exam should be removed. Infected hairs discovered on the muzzle, face, and ears suggest that the owner is having difficulty or has been hesitant to apply the shampoo to these areas.
A fungal culture should be performed at every recheck. Once a negative culture is obtained, weekly fungal cultures should be performed.
Two consecutive negative fungal cultures indicates successful treatment in single-pet situations. Ringworm spores can persist in the environment for a long time, perhaps 18 to 24 months. The spores are microscopic and can be spread easily by air currents and contaminated dust, and through heating ducts and vents.
To minimize environmental contamination in households where only one single pet cat is infected, the cat or kitten should be kept in a small, easily cleaned room such as a bathroom that does not have carpeting. The cat should be quarantined in this room until it has received oral antifungal medication for two weeks, and a minimum of four medicated baths.
At this point, the cat can be given greater access in the home, ideally in uncarpeted and easily cleaned rooms. Thorough and repeated vacuuming, and wiping of surfaces on a daily basis, should prevent the home from becoming contaminated.
Cat beds and blankets should be washed daily in hot water and bleach. Bathrooms and smooth surfaces can be disinfected with a bleach solution 1 part bleach, 9 parts water. Routine cleaning and disinfecting should continue until the cat is considered cured of ringworm. One veterinary dermatologist with extensive expertise in ringworm recommends the following decontamination protocol:. In multicat households, remove and clean all heating duct and vent plates, and install disposable house dust filters behind the duct plates before replacing them.
This will keep spores out of the heating ducts. Rinse all surfaces well. Some cats remain on them for years, and others can be weaned off after a few months. The primary goal is for your cat to be calm and happy, not to turn them into a zombie or change their personality. There are also shorter-acting medications for cat anxiety that work within one to three hours. These are good for predictable events that do not last very long.
For example, your vet may prescribe something for your cat to take only before fireworks on the Fourth of July or before going to the vet. As long as your cat is on medications, your veterinarian will want to follow up by conducting occasional blood testing to make sure your cat's blood chemicals stay in balance.
If you try behavior modification, it will be up to you to put in the time and effort. As with all illnesses, it is best to start treatment early. You will need to teach your cat some coping skills that can be used in a variety of settings. The goal of behavior modification is to change how your cat feels about a frightening stimulus like thunder. Two methods of behavior modification that may be recommended by your vet are desensitization and counterconditioning.
Ask for help from your veterinarian or a veterinary behaviorist. If behavior modification does not work over the long-term, your veterinarian may want to modify the approach. Desensitization is the repeated, controlled exposure to the stimulus that usually causes a fearful or anxious response. The key is that you expose your cat to the stimulus at a low level so that your cat does not show any signs of fear or stress.
A popular version involves playing a sound that your cat is afraid of at such a low volume that there is no fear or stress. After playing the sound three or four times at a low volume without a reaction, then you can increase the volume very slightly and repeat the process. It is essential that your cat is showing no signs of fear or stress before you increase the volume.
Note that desensitization does not mean exposing the cat to the frightening stimulus repeatedly and expecting their fear to suddenly resolve.
This approach only makes your cat worse. Counterconditioning alters the emotional response to a stimulus from a negative to a positive one. Michigan Avenue, Ste. Phone: Email: metrovetchicago gmail. Skip to main content. Email Us Call Us: Blog Category:. When positive reinforcement a reward is used in training, there is a positive relationship between the behavior and its consequences.
The more the pet does a behavior, the more it gets positive reinforcement. This makes that behavior increase. A negative reinforcement which is mistakenly thought of as punishment by many people is something unpleasant that increases a behavior when it is removed.
For example, some cats find being held in a lap unpleasant. When a cat squirms and escapes from your lap, it is rewarded with being freed from your hold. After several times, the release from restraint will increase the chance that your cat will try to escape again the next time.
Second-order reinforcers are signals that can be used at a distance to let the cat know that a reward is coming. By carefully pairing these with a primary reward such as food or petting , second-order reinforcers can generate the same response as the reward itself, as long as the pairing is repeated occasionally.
For example, a clicker can be associated with a food treat as a reward for coming. By associating the clicker with the food, you can train the cat to come from farther away, and still reward the behavior by using the clicker. However, it is possible to do an excellent job at positive training without using any second-order reinforcers. Clicker training requires frequent practice and excellent timing.
In some situations involving problem behaviors, the incorrect use of a clicker may hinder, rather than help, a behavior modification program. The Premack Principal e states that more desirable behaviors will reinforce less desirable behaviors.
Using this principle, a cat can be trained to perform a behavior by rewarding it with something it wants to do. Extinction is a response that stops when the reward is removed. An example of extinction is ignoring a cat that howls at night for attention. If the owners get up to feed the cat or even in many cases to yell at it , the behavior continues. If they stop feeding the cat or giving it attention, the cat will eventually stop howling during the night because the reward is no longer there.
However, occasional feeding in response to the howling will only reinforce the pattern. The more valuable the original reward, the longer the reward has been given, and the more uncertain the cat is that the reward has been truly removed, the greater the resistance to extinction.
Because there is often an association between getting the reward and the intensity of the behavior, the intensity or frequency of the behavior you are trying to eliminate usually increases at the beginning of extinction. In other words, a behavior you are trying to extinguish often gets worse before it gets better. It is critical that you do not give in. Giving in will only make extinction more difficult.
The cat has learned that, although your threshold has increased, the cat can override it by working harder. Overlearning is the repeated performance of an already learned behavior.
It is frequently used in training for specific events. This aspect can be useful in teaching a cat to overcome a fear or anxiety. Shaping is a learning technique that works well for cats that do not know what response is desired by the trainer.
Shaping works through gradual approximations and allows the cat to be rewarded at first for any behavior that resembles the desired end result. For example, when teaching a cat to come, tossing a food treat in front of the cat when it first takes a step or two in your direction will increase the chance that the cat will come closer.
Then the cat can be given a treat for taking several steps toward you, and finally, only when it comes all the way to you. Avoidance of a problem behavior is essential until you can seek qualified help, particularly in the case of cats that are biting or scratching.
With treatment it may be possible to desensitize the cat to circumstances in which aggressive behavior occurs, but avoidance is the key to minimizing danger. Avoidance does not mean that the cat has control, or that you are giving in to the cat.
Rather, it means that the cat is not being given the chance to reinforce the pattern by acting aggressively. Every time a cat becomes aggressive, it learns that this reaction may help it cope with the situation, thus reinforcing the problem.
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