Can Cat Skin Diseases Be Contagious to Humans? How to Prevent and Treat Ringworm in Cats?

Can Cat Skin Diseases Be Contagious to Humans? How to Prevent and Treat Ringworm in Cats?

"Catification" is a daily hobby for many cat owners, but did you know that this intimate contact could pose health risks? Ringworm, a common skin disease in cats, is highly contagious and can even be transmitted to humans.

Which Cat Skin Diseases Can Be Contagious to Humans?

Cat skin diseases are mainly caused by three factors: parasites, bacteria, and fungi. Among them, parasitic skin diseases and fungal skin diseases are contagious.

Parasitic skin diseases: When parasites live in human hair or skin tissue, they can cause itching and rashes. For example, fleas, mites, etc.
Fungal skin diseases: The most common is ringworm, caused by a fungal infection. It has a high transmission rate.

Bacterial skin diseases are generally not contagious to humans because most bacteria cannot survive in the human body for a long time.

Types of Cat Skin Diseases

There are many types of cat skin diseases, and besides the three causes mentioned above, different skin diseases have different manifestations. Common cat skin diseases include:

1. Ringworm: Ringworm is the most common fungal skin disease in cats. It often occurs in cats with malnutrition or poor health. A humid and hot environment can also breed fungi, worsening ringworm. Symptoms include peeling, hair loss, and round spots that start from the size of a grain of rice and gradually expand to the size of a copper coin.

2. Eczema: Humid environments, sweat soaking, mosquito bites, prolonged exposure to sunlight, unclean skin, and contact with chemicals can all cause eczema. Eczema can be distributed throughout the cat's body and manifests as redness, papules, blisters, pustules, scaling, etc. Severe cases can lead to extensive hair loss, causing the cat to lose weight.

3. Pyoderma: Pyoderma is a bacterial skin disease that manifests as localized purulent inflammation of the skin, accompanied by papules, ulcers, scabs, etc. Pyoderma can also cause eczema and folliculitis.

4. Folliculitis: Folliculitis is mainly caused by excessive hormone secretion in cats, also known as "black chin." Symptoms include black granular objects on the cat's tail and chin. Friction with the hand can cause hair loss. A greasy diet can also worsen folliculitis.

5. Parasitic skin diseases: Fleas, ticks, mites, and other parasites lurk in the cat's skin. By biting blood, they secrete toxins that cause skin itching. Cats may scratch and bite, aggravating the infection, and symptoms include papules, redness, hair loss.

6. Chinese mitten crab dermatitis: This skin disease is also a parasitic skin disease, caused by the water hyacinth that parasitizes the skin surface, leading to non-purulent dermatitis in cats. After infection, the cat will have dry dandruff, causing itching and hair loss. This skin disease is more common in kittens and can also be transmitted to humans.

7. Feline Acne: Lack of cleaning habits, weak constitution, stress response, immune mechanism, and other factors can all cause feline acne. In the early stages, the cat may just have a small abscess. In severe cases, it will show a large black abscess with hair loss, dandruff, papules, and rashes.

8. Ear mites: Ear mites parasitize the cat's ears and cause ear mite skin disease. Symptoms include red-brown, brown, or black secretions in the cat's ear canal, which can develop to the head and neck in severe cases. Cats with ear mites will shake their heads and scratch their ears with their paws.

9. Demodectic mange: This is an immune deficiency skin disease. Purebred cats have a higher infection rate. Symptoms include well-defined redness around the cat's eyes, lips, and inner thighs, very little hair on the ears, and hair loss and edema.

Treatment of Ringworm

Although ringworm is not a serious skin disease, it is easy to recur and highly contagious, so it needs to be treated promptly. Ringworm can be classified into mild, moderate, and severe.

1. Mild Ringworm: If the ringworm is not serious, no excessive treatment is needed. You can give your cat more sunshine and nutrition, and it will get better on its own. Also, after giving your cat a bath, be sure to dry it immediately to ensure the skin is dry.

2. Moderate Ringworm: If the cat has peeling and hair loss, it means that the ringworm has become moderate. At this time, it is necessary to take medication promptly to prevent the condition from worsening.

Treatment methods include: Shaving the hair in the area of the cat's ringworm, then wiping off the dandruff, gently wiping off the scabs, and then applying medication to the affected area, gently massaging until it is absorbed. Besides skin medication, you can also combine it with medicated baths. You can take a medicated bath every two weeks, each time for 10-15 minutes.

3. Severe Ringworm: If medication and bathing together cannot cure ringworm, and no new hair grows in the cat's hair loss area, it means that ringworm has worsened. At this time, in addition to bathing, oral medication and injection need to be combined. However, oral medication and injection are harmful to the cat's organs, so do not use them unless absolutely necessary.

During the treatment of ringworm, getting more sunshine and supplementing nutrition are essential. Cats with ringworm can be fed some vitamin B, which can help with skin recovery.

Preventing Ringworm

Preventing ringworm requires three steps: healthy diet, hygiene, and regular deworming.

1. Healthy Diet: Adequate nutrition can enhance the cat's resistance. Besides regular cat food, owners can supplement with vitamins, minerals, unsaturated acids, and other substances that are beneficial to skin nutrition.

2. Hygiene: Not only should you pay attention to the cat's own hygiene, but also to the cleanliness of the cat's living environment. Owners should ensure that the house is well-ventilated, and cat cages, cat litter boxes, cat beds, and other cat supplies should be cleaned and disinfected regularly and exposed to the sun.

Regular deworming and bathing for cats are also necessary. However, bathing should not be too frequent. Long-haired cats can be bathed once every 2-3 months, and short-haired cats can be bathed once every 4 months or even half a year. Do not use human shampoo, use special pet shampoo. After bathing, dry the cat thoroughly!

3. Regular Deworming: Cats can go to the hospital for their first deworming at four weeks old. For internal deworming, generally choose before or after meals, let your cat fast for 2-3 hours, and then feed the internal deworming medication. Do not eat within one hour of feeding milk. Also, do not deworm during illness. Do not bathe, get a cold, or eat randomly after deworming.

If your cat has ringworm, owners must treat it promptly. Wash your hands immediately after touching the cat. If you are unfortunately infected, you can exercise more, get more sunshine, and take vitamin B2 together. If you cannot recover, seek medical attention promptly.

Summary of Experience

Although ringworm is not a serious disease, it needs to be treated promptly and accurately. By taking preventive measures and keeping your cat healthy, you can let them accompany us longer!

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