Thursday, May 7, 2009

For Vets - Is there a Feline skin disorder that can be transmitted to humans?

I need to know if cats can have a skin disorder that can be passed on to humans? I have a cat that is always scratching. He even has scabs on a small area where he has licked and or bitten. I have used shampoo, cream and even a spray for this on him (I don't have money to take him to the vet right now. I have to wait at least two more weeks.) My skin is extremely itchy especially if I get a cat hair on me. I have used creams, oatmeal soaks, etc. But nothing! I have been taking allergy medications to aleviate the discomfort. I've had cats all my life and never dealt with this problem can anyone give me any suggestions? Thank you in advance for your help.

For Vets - Is there a Feline skin disorder that can be transmitted to humans?
They pretty well covered it.





Mange, skin mites, ringworm. ALL are treatable, but to treat it effectively you'll need a vet to check which one your cat has.





Ringworm will show up as blobby stuff on your skin, as a ring, as a dry scaly patch. If you don't have that, it's not ringworm on you.





Do you get red bumps? Is the skin on those areas of you dry? Weeping?





Has the cat gotten into any chemicals that both of you are allergic to? Any pesticides? Topicals? You have to eliminate those possibilities too.
Reply:I'm not a vet but there was a story in the news just this week about a family taking in a stray cat and they all caught ringworm from the cat. They had pictures and it was pretty gross looking.
Reply:Ringowrm is the most common skin infection that can be transmitted to humands from any type of animal. What you can do to see if she has it is put her in a dark room under a black light and if a spot on her starts to glow yellow or green...basically only a spot, not her whole coat, then you know she has it. If she does you can try an OTC ointment froma petstore for her, but you would have to see a doctor to get something. Hope this helps. Otherwise you still should take her to the vet.
Reply:Any fungus (ringworm), or bacteria can be passed to a human. It isn't likely to happen as long as you are clean.


Toxoplasmosis can also be transfered to humans, but that is not a skin irritation.
Reply:I'm not a vet, but does the cat have ringworm? It's not a worm but a fungus. Treat the cat and yourself if this is the case.


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