Ringworm transmitted to cat owners from their cat can be cured in minutes with UVB light

I feel that I need to pass this information on again. This is because I have yet to see this cure for ringworm on people discussed on the Internet. It is probably there but I've not bumped into it. Anyway, I can absolutely confirm that the most efficient way to get rid a ringworm on a cat owner because their cat gave it to them is to use UVB light. 

Ringworm being removed with UVB light. This is in the process of being cured. Photo: MikeB

Here are the same symptoms about 3 days later:

Ringworm transmitted to cat owners from their cat can be cured in minutes with UVB light.

The picture on this page shows ringworm on my left leg after three, 40 second sessions of UVB light on consecutive days. It is not yet cured as you can see but you can also see that it is on the way to being cured. I would expect it to resolve by itself now without further treatment within about seven days.

Here is the same place about a week later:

UVB light cures ringworm in humans who have got it from their cat. Pic: MikeB

You properly know that ringworm itches. After the first session of UVB light the itching stops and the cure commences. In my experience, UVB light cures ringworm much more quickly than antifungal creams. The only problem is that even though there are no other ringworm symptoms visible, I know that it is still there and it will come back perhaps in a year's time. It comes back that infrequently but it invariably returns.

So, all I'm doing is removing the symptoms. I've not yet worked out how to totally cure myself of the disease (please comment if you have the final cure). I was given it by a black, three-legged male cat, Charlie, that I adopted from my mother who was recently deceased at the time. I looked at him in her home and could not leave him. But he had ringworm unbeknownst to me. That was many years ago and I've had this persistent and irritating disease ever since.

But I would strongly recommend UVB light to manage it. It is so efficient and totally painless and the cure starts immediately. You can buy these lights on the Internet and they are quite cheap. Buy a handheld one for ease of use.

My current cat has not got it from me thank God. But I always remove it as soon as it flares up. Perhaps that it why.

Ringworm At Animal Shelter

Ringworm in cats is a bit of a nightmare to be honest. I know a bit about it myself because I got it from my cat. He keeps giving it to me when he rubs my legs before I feed him in the morning. He appears not to have ringworm himself but he must have it somewhere. His veterinarian did not diagnose ringworm in my cat but I think he's got it although you can't see it. Perhaps he has not got it and I got it from somewhere else but it is very transmittable from domestic cat to cat owner.

Photo by Christine Myaskovsky

What got me thinking about the difficulty of dealing with ringworm (and it can be hard to get rid of) is a recent story in the Essex Chronicle in which they report a ringworm outbreak in an RSPCA animal shelter. The shelter is near Braintree. This had to close the shelter down and treat every animal in the shelter causing massive disruption.

As mentioned, perhaps the greatest difficulty in dealing with ringworm is that it is highly contagious. You may well know that it is caused by a fungus and not a worm! The reason why it is called ringworm is because it often causes circular ring-like red blisters on the skin. The skin peels off around the edges of the inflamed skin. The inflamed skin is not always circular like a doughnut. It could be a semicircle or a straight line. When a person's immune system is a bit suppressed it can take hold more easily. Conversely, if a person's immune system is in good shape then it will deal with the infection by itself.

Apparently veterinarians test hair samples of the infected cats and dogs. Ringworm was confirmed in this shelter. We are told in the Essex Chronicle that in general the treatment is a 6 week course of a twice-daily lime sulphur dip. It smells awful apparently and it turns cats and dogs yellow.

Did I mention that ringworm can be hard to get rid of in dogs and cats! I think it is one reason why it's hardly worth dealing with because the course of treatment is almost worse than having ringworm in the first place.

You can't be careful enough when you are trying to get rid of ringworm. Even when a hair sample proves negative you have to bathe everything all over again and then wait a week to retest and to make sure that all the symptoms have gone. It is obviously a struggle and as I said in my opening sentence, a bit of a nightmare.

Ringworm outbreaks are quite rare but not that rare to be honest. I recall a similar outbreak in America in the cat shelter there.

If my cat has ringworm he probably got it from a stray cat when he was living with my mother because I do recall her taking-on a stray cat who used to sleep quite close to my cat (I adopted my cat from my mother's estate after she died about 2 and a half years ago.

Home Treatment for Cat Ringworm

This is how I manage my cat's ringworm. Important: you don't know me and you don't know whether I am good or bad at this sort of thing so please see your veterinarian. I am writing about my home treatment for cat ringworm because I think I know cats well. I believe I would not take risks with my cat's health and my veterinarian agreed that I could treat my cat on an ad hoc (unscheduled) basis. Therefore I would like to write about it. He said that it was difficult to diagnose cat ringworm. The available techniques were not that reliable and in his experience he found it difficult to confirm that a cat had ringworm. It is also difficult to see on a cat most times. Your vet may have different ideas. My vet is good, though.

Ringworm on a person it is very easy to see (see picture). But on a cat there is, of course, hair in the way and secondly the ringworm does not form the same kind of obvious rings as seen on people in my experience. You might know that ringworm can be transmitted from cat to person (zoonotic) and that it is not a worm but a fungus.

I actually saw the ringworm on my cat. It showed up as an elongated area on the base of his tail where the hair was sparse (it was not ring shaped). It was sparse because my cat had licked the hair off. He had licked the hair repeatedly because the ringworm irritated him. Ringworm itches slightly. It is not bad but noticeable sometimes.

Cat ringworm might be fairly obvious. However, usually it isn't. As a result I developed a technique for diagnosing cat ringworm. First look for obvious signs. You might see bald patches or thin patches of fur. Secondly, if you pass a flea comb through the fur you will feel irregularities on the surface of the skin as the comb passes over the skin. These irregularities are the flaky inflamed parts of the skin caused by the ringworm. As the comb passes over the skin you can also hear the irregularities.

Note 1: This technique is difficult and probably impractical to employ if your cat has long fur and it is not regularly groomed.

Note 2: If your cat has a single coat and is placed in the sun you can see where the fur is thin due to over grooming cause by irritation due to the presence of cat ringworm.

Note 3 : The flea comb should be in gentle contact with the cat's skin as it passes through the fur. Gentleness is key. Never be hard with a cat.

If you feel or hear cat ringworm utilizing the above technique, you should be able to see it on your cat's skin if you comb back the fur in the area where you have detected it. This is difficult to do but possible.

When you detect the damaged surface of the skin hold the fur back and apply standard human grade ringworm treatment to the spot. Note: caution. I only advise what I know works. Drugs vary from place to place so don't do it unless you are sure it is safe. Never take medical risks with your cat for the sake of few quid or bucks.

I use (in the UK) Daktarin GOLD 2% Cream. This is marketed as for athletes foot but it kills fungi and was recommended by my pharmacist (fungal treatment are almost universal it seems).  It works well in clearing up ringworm on people and I can vouch for the fact that it helped my cat substantially. My cat licks less and the bald or thin patches of fur have gone. I just checked in the sun about 20 minutes ago.

Update three weeks later: This treatment has worked very well for my cat. I am very pleased with the results. Conventional treatments for cats can be uncomfortable.