Ringworm in cats is diagnosed largely in kittens and younger cats rather than in older adults.
Cat paw ringworm.
Infected areas may look like the hair has been shaved or broken in a circular area with skin looking red and crusty.
Ringworm can be easily identified by a piece of scaly skin on the body that appears itchy and inflamed.
Ringworm can affect all kind of animals including dogs cats cows goats pigs rabbits birds guinea pigs and horses.
It may cause circular lesions on a cat s head ears and forelimbs as well as any other part of the body.
Cats with ringworm can either naturally fight off the fungus the fungus can continue to live on the cat with no symptoms or the skin can become inflamed.
Ringworm can come directly from a cat or from the environment.
Dermatophytosis is the medical term for a fungal infection affecting the skin hair and claws of cats the most common of which is ringworm.
Humans can catch ringworm by touching an infected cat or dog or other animal with ringworm.
A ringworm infection in a person typically occurs after a person has pet an infected or carrier cat but it can also occur after simply handling items that were used by an infected cat.
To recognize and treat ringworm in cats start by looking for symptoms such as patches of hair loss and scaly patches on the face paws or ears.
Immune compromised individuals such as the elderly and very young are more prone to contracting ringworm.
They can manifest behind the ears on the front or back paws and anywhere on the head.
The skin around these lesions is often flaky and bald.
But cats tend to get ringworm more often than dogs do possibly because cats carry the spores for a longer time than dogs do and that enables the infection to take hold.
Learn more about symptoms causes and treatments of ringworm here.
Most environments will have low numbers of dermatophytes particularly in soil but this becomes a problem if an infected animal whether that be a pet pest or native.
Ringworm is highly contagious and can spread to other pets in the home as well as to people.
Visiting a vet is the only way to ascertain the state of the cat s skin and deduce if it is ringworm infection.
Ringworm is transmitted by direct contact with an infected cat or dog s skin or hair.
The symptoms can also indicate other underlying medical conditions that subject the cat to poor health.
Spores are very resistant and can survive more than a year in the right conditions either indoors or outdoors.
Children are more likely to become infected by ringworm from cats and dogs than adults.
