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Back From the Vet. Stupid Pet Owner or RINGWORM?!

Tue, 2009-11-10 17:40 — Robin Olson

Sam and I have a running joke. Often, we'll be watching mind-numbing tv shows about "real" life murder mysteries. Nine times out of ten, the narrator says; "We'll never really know for sure..." This is after we spent an HOUR of our time watching and wondering how the story will end. To hear it's "we'll never really know" not only defeats the entire purpose of watching the show in the first place, it also pisses me off good!

If I'm going to waste my time in front of the TV, I need RESOLUTION (pardon the pun).

So my dear Spencer and I went to visit Dr. Larry. I was fully prepared for him to give me shit about ripping out my own cat's fur, that I'm a stupid pet owner and it's nothing to worry about-other than being stupid makes me worry. I just wasn't careful enough removing Spencer's mats and "baldness happens."

just over 13 lbs.jpg

Dr Larry didn't let me down. After a few minutes pretending he was calling the "authorities" to report me for abusing my cat, he sat down to take a good look.

bald spot 11.9.09_sm.jpg

The two, nearly symmetrical bald patches don't have any crusting or oozing. They're both about 2 x 3 inches. The skin is pink. Spencer doesn't seem to be itchy. Dr. Larry turned off the lights. We weren't alone so there was no hope for a makeout session. Dang! Oh, he was just using the Wood's Lamp to check for...oh shit...RINGWORM!

The smile on my face weakened into a razor straight line. I kept thinking; Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! NOT RINGWORM!!!!!!

I looked while Dr. Larry was talking. He saw some slightly reflective scaly areas that were tiny. One of the bald spots had a slight pale white edge to it.

Well? Was it RINGWORM?

"We can't really be sure right now."

SHIT! It's like watching 48 Hrs! Change the channel! Change the channel!

With no better programming available, I was stuck in an answerless void. Dr. Larry removed a few of Spencer's hairs and placed them into a vial with some goop in it (that is a technical term; goop). The test for ringworm takes 2-3 WEEKS. Meanwhile, there is nothing else to be done. We decided to run a full blood panel to rule out hypothyroid (even if it's rare in most cats, I've already had one cat who had it and Dr. Larry knows my cats get weird stuff-it's almost a rule). Plus, Spencer is due for a dental in January AND we can also check his BUN because now that we know he's a purebred Weegie (well, sort of), we're going to watchout for polycystic kidney disease, too. See? I'm smart! I know stuff! I spent $220 on the Vet visit. Wait? Is that smart? Not so sure.

Spencer did not care to have his blood drawn, as usual, but this time Super Deb showed me she still had all her fingers attached to her hand, after the blood draw was finished. The only injury was to the towel they restrained Spencer with. It had to be put down due to it being ripped to shreds.

So am I a stupid pet owner?

We'll never really know for sure...

CICH Content Categories: 
Blood Tests
Cute Photo
Dictionary of New Terms
Disease
Dr. Larry
Grooming
Spencer
Stupid Pet Owners
Super Deb
Vets
Cat Hair
One I Hold in High Regard
Claws

Comments

Tue, 2013-04-02 02:19 — A. Elizabeth (not verified)

I know this post is old, but I was wondering if you ever figured out what caused Spencer's bald patches.  My longhaired cat (who looks a lot like Spencer!) started getting these spots on his throat last summer.  They've healed up and then reappeared three times now.  In November, the vet checked him and thought the collar part of his harness was causing the loss, but I didn't use his harness all winter, and the hairloss started up again despite that.   I was thinking it might be ringworm or some type of yeast or fungus, so I will take him in and ask for a test.  The weird thing is that the skin that the fur falls out of barely looks irritated at all, and he doesn't seem to be scratching or over-grooming.  I recently trimmed his long neck fur short (I know, poor kitty looks silly), in case it was getting caught and pulled out when he squeezes behind and under furniture (he has two broken whiskers from doing this).  I also washed his throat with Allermyl today.

Tue, 2013-04-02 09:19 — Robin Olson

It's completely embarrassing what happened to Spencer. I was trying to get mats off his fur and I RIPPED his fur OUT. Yes, me. Stupid-me. So I gave him the bald patches. With your cat, yes do a DTM culture. Sadly it takes about 10 days before you get a result. Do you have other cats? Do they have any bald spots on their face or a heavy crud on the top, base of their tail? DO YOU have any dry, circular patches of skin? All of this may be ringworm. It could also be flea bite dermatitis. ONE flea can cause the cat to scratch off his fur, so make sure your cat does not have fleas. You can use a prophylactic dose of Revolution if your cat isn't already treated for fleas. Go back to the Vet and have them reassess the situation. Cats can suffer from alopecia but this doesn't sound like that-though your vet will have a better opinion than I. Good luck!
Sun, 2013-12-08 00:15 — Chao (not verified)

At first he had scabs around that part of skin. Then the scab falls and I can see his pink bald skin... Exactly the same as your picture above... I'm 100% percent sure it is ringworm. Because he's ringworm on his ear has just got better. And the bald spot is too round like a ring. I don't know why but evey kitten that came to my family catches ringworm... My sister's one kitten and my two kittens (we live in different cities). What did I do? I went to the vet and ask her to prescribe me the same kind of medicine that she gave me when my first kitten got ringworm. And she did that for me :)

Wed, 2014-02-26 23:01 — Catnonymouse (not verified)

Was it ringworm? Was Spenser's test positive?

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