Ringworm

[Kmstrle]

My sheltie, Shelby, was diagnosed a year ago and we have had her on 2 different medications and medicated shampoo and it keeps reappearing mostly on her tummy, back of back legs, tail and her back. I feel so bad for her and we keep giving her baths but she gets another spot . I'm are trying to see if anyone else has had these issue and what other treatments has anyone tried. My vet said it is hard to get rid of and the oral meds (We have had her on 2 types) seem to not be working We are now back to the baths with the medicated shampoo and ointment. Any other suggestions?? Has anyone shaved their sheltie....my vet doesn't what us to do that...said not good for the dogs.
Any suggestions would be appreciated
Thank you so much!

 

[Justicemom]

Question for you: what medications have you tried and did you have follow up cultures done?

I work in a humane society and have treated my fair share of ringworm dogs. Clipping is no longer recommended because it tends to spread the fungus around because the clipper cause mirco abrasions to the skin no how hard you try and it usually ends up causing more problems then it solves.

The key to treatment no matter what medications you use is treating until you get 2 negative fungal cultures taken at least 2 weeks apart. I treat 4 weeks then take a culture while still treating, reculture in 2 weeks(6 weeks mark) and watch the second culture a minimum of 2 weeks,(4 weeks in ideal) treating the whole time(minimum 8 weeks). At the same time I am still watching the 1st recheck culture up to the 4 week mark.

A positive culture starts the time table all over again. That is because the infection can look gone but it is still present. Do not stop the medications until the end of the second negative culture. My avg treatment length is 8-10 weeks.

My favorite treatment is oral daily Fluconazole and weekly or biweekly lime sulfur dips. Lime sulfur smells horrible(like rotten eggs) but frankly shampoos have been truly unrewarding. I don't use ointment at all unless it is only 1 lesion because it is hard to effectively treat all the lesions even then I do lime sulfur dips.

 

[Kmstrle]

Thank you for your reply. I never heard of the lime sulfur thing but will definitely try that. The meds she was on was Tribenefine & Grisofulvin. We had her taking the meds and it cleared up one time then came back again. We use the medicated shampoo every other day and the groomer also uses it every 6 weeks when she is groomed. I just feel so bad for her. She is such a good dog and has been dealing with this for so long. She doesn't seem to itch from it but I just want to clear it up. We thought at first it was her lying in the grass but we try to keep her out as much as possible but you can imagine how hard that is. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!