Ringworm? Not Ringworm. Ringworm?

[seeh2o]

OMG, I'm going nuts. About 6 weeks ago Bowie had a little patch on her hip, I mistakenly thought it was a boo boo. Well, she developed more spots. My vet got what looked like a great skin fur sample and sent it off. She has been on compounded oral meds (for a week and 3 days) for the "ringworm" and I'm giving her Lyme sulfur dips 2x a week. I'm also doing tons of laundry to keep her beds clean and vacuuming.

 

Well, after 3 weeks of incubating the ringworm test comes back negative. Now what? My vet, who I've been corresponding with via email, said to keep up the Lyme sulfur dips. I'm also keeping her on the oral medication. She said she doesn't think it's a staph infection as it isn't presenting that way.

 

To add to this mystery, I have it, too, but not badly enough for me to go to the doctor.

 

Is it possible for the test to be negative and it still be ringworm? I'm soooooo sick of this already, I know it takes a lot of time to get rid of it, but I'd like to see some progress. And, to top it all off, I've come down with one nasty cold, so I'm cranky, too!

 

[BatterseaBrindl]

Picture?

 

And I'd get myself to a doctor if I were you...

[KF_in_Georgia]

It might be possible for it to be a fungal infection but not be ringworm--but I'm not sure. Did their test culture indicate what treatment might be effective?

 

For you: try Nizoral shampoo as a body wash; Lotramin (the athlete's foot treatment) as an ointment. (I used to be a dog groomer, and I got ringworm from a 4-footed client.) Also, you might want to ask the vet for a referral to a veterinary dermatologist for Bowie.

 

My Silver arrived here with a bad rash on one leg. Scrape-tests didn't show anything useful. Dermatologist did punch biopsies, and cultured biopsies revealed ringworm below the surface and a bacterial infection (from chewing it) at the surface. We put her on ketoconazole, and the fungal infection cleared up. But Silver was never contagious: the rash didn't spread to me or to the other dog or even to her other leg.

 

But I hated myself for waiting more than a year to go to the dermatologist. Her regular vet and I tried all kinds of antibiotics and tests (and racked up lots of vet bills), while she was miserable and itching and had to be muzzled to keep her from chewing her leg raw. Went to the dermatologist, and within a month she was on meds that controlled the itching and in two months her leg looked perfectly normal.

Good luck.



You can see the irritation on her front left leg.

[seeh2o]

The weird thing is that it isn't bothering her, she's not itchy, unlike me. I am using the old "wrassler's" cure on mine (diluted bleach) which has already cleared up 2 spots.

 

I'm waiting to hear back from my vet about taking her to a dermatologist. Though the oncologist is the one who did the dermatologist consult and got put her on the

itraconazole and the sulfur dip. My vet had a bottle of the sulfur dip in her office.

 

This is complicated because I am taking her out of state for treatments with this particular oncologist. Oy.

[NeylasMom]

Dermatologists are worth their weight in gold, that's all I have to contribute. Hope you can get it sorted out soon.

[tbhounds]

Sounds like allergies-they can present with skin disease that can have the appearance of ringworm-hair loss in the form of a circle, crusty area (called plaques).

I would seek the ac ice of a derm vet.

[seeh2o]

I got the make of a dermatologist vet in Pasadena from another Greyhound owner. He is supposed to be really great. I'll call on Monday. In the mean time, the oralmeds and sulfur dip seem to be really helping.

 

ETA:

Bowie is undergoing a special treatment for osteo (I can't talk about it, but likely you can figure out what I'm trying not to say) and there was a telemedicine derm consult by her oncologist and a dermatologist at the time of her last "treatment". This was going on before she started the treatments, but neither I nor the oncologist realized it. We thought the boo-boo on her hip was from hitting a bush as she ran past it in the yard. At her second visit is when realized it was getting worse, hence the dermatologist consult.

Edited April 8, 2018 by seeh2o

[seeh2o]

Geez Louise, I hate autocorrect.

 

I got the name of a dermatologist veterinarian in Pasadena from another Greyhound owner. He is supposed to be really great. I'll call on Monday. In the mean time, the oral meds and sulfur dip seem to be really helping.