Ringworm
Ringworm is caused by a fungus that infect the skin, hair and nails. And it is a very cinfectious disease may lead to patchy areas of hair loss on a dog and may spread to other animals and to humans,also.
Ringworm Symptoms:
- Skin patches appear on the head, paws, ears and forelimbs.
- Ringworm can be circular ,crusted or patchy bald spots that look red in the center
- In mild cases, there may be just a few broken hairs in small areas of the body, while bad cases can spread in larger area of a dog’s body.
- Some pets can carry the fungus and do not show any clinical visible symptoms .
Dogs More susceptible to Ringworm:
- Puppies less than a year old are most susceptible to infection than adult ones
- Malnourished, immunocompromised , weak and stressed dogs are also at a greater risk.
- Ringworm can spread quickly in kennels, shelters and other humid places where there are many dogs in a close environment.
Diagnosing of Ringworm :
In case of appearance of any skin sign disease show it immediately to the veterinarian .
- It can be diagnosed by clinical signs of the baldy circular skin area with hear loss and also by radiography or ultraviolet .
Treating Ringworm :
- Treatment of Ringworms depends on the severity of the disease
- A veterinarian may adivse you to use a shampoo or ointment that contains anti fungal chemicals to kill the fungus.
- In some cases, oral medications of anti fungal drugs are necessary.
- It is important to treat your dog for as long as recommended by your veterinarian and treatment may be continuous for 2 or 3 months .
- Reinfection may occur in some cases
- You hadve to minimize spread of infection among your pets and this can be done by :
- Bathe all your pets with a medicated rinse or antifungal shampoo.
- Wash the infected animals’ bedding and toys with a strong disinfectant that kills ringworm spores.
- Discard items that can not be disinfected (carpeted cat trees, etc.)
- Frequently vacuum to get rid of infected hairs and skin cells. (Yes, the fungus can survive on hair and skin that your dog sheds!)
- Washing hands thoroughly after touching or handling your pet .
