This document outlines a shelter's program for treating and adopting out cats infected with ringworm. It discusses establishing protocols for group treatment of ringworm using oral and topical medications. Key aspects of the program include housing cats individually or in groups, thoroughly cleaning the ward twice weekly, tracking medication and treatment, recruiting and supporting volunteers and fosters, and marketing adopted cats through events and photos to find them homes. Challenges include low summer adoption rates and long shelter stays, but over 650 cats have been treated in the program.

1. Getting Ringworm Affected Kitties Out
of the Shelter Alive

2. • What is Ringworm
• Why Do We Save These Cats
• How Do We Save These Cats
• What is Our Treatment for Ringworm
• How Do We Run Our Program
• How Do We Find and Keep Volunteers and
Fosters
• How Do We Adopt These Cats Out
• What Challenges Do We Face

3. What is Ringworm
• Highly contagious skin
fungus
• Commonly presents
as crusted skin lesions
• Easily transmissible
• Infected cats in
danger at shelters

4. Why Do We Save These Cats
• Kittens commonly infected
• Self-limiting infection
• Harmless, curable
• Most cases are mild to moderate

5. How Do We Save These Cats
• Protocols are the foundation of “Herd”
Treatment
– Allow larger numbers of cats to be treated at once
• Always allow for deviations from protocol if
necessary

6. Establishing Our Program
• Began as 100% foster-based
• Even with an adoption
headquarters, ringworm
cats still in danger
• Crates in isolated hallway
allowed time to find fosters,
and begin treatment
• Began dedicated treatment
ward in late 2010

7. What is Our Treatment for Ringworm
Diagnosis
• Look for classic presentation
– Consider cat’s history
• Wood’s Lamp examination
– More accurate than previously
thought
• Treat for most likely cause of
infection
– Treat in isolation if unsure
– Track changes and
improvement

8. Medication Cost for 30 Day
Treatment of 10# Cat
Terbinafine $3.00
Compounded Itraconazole $7.90
Griseofulvin $75.60
Sporanox $204.00
Lyme Sulfur Dip $16

9. • Oral Terbinafine
– 30- 40mg/kg
– Recheck after 21 days
• “Off” 7 days, “on” 7
• Lyme Sulfur Dip
– 8oz/gal twice a week

10. How Do We Run Our Program
• Isolated space
• Cat housing
• Ringworm medications
• Dedicated supplies
• Set of cleaning
instruments for each
enclosure
• Sink or other area for
dipping
• Patients
• Patience

11. Housing
• Group vs individual
• Use easily disinfected materials
and designs
• Use disposable materials, like
cardboard for toys and scratchers
• Always include housing to isolate
sick cats
• Resources/time dictate capacity as
much as physical space

12. Group Housing Considerations
• Length of time in treatment
• Severity of infection
• Age
• Health/ vaccine history
Benefits
• Decreases stress
• Increases number of cats
• Appeals to potential adopters

13. The Fungus Fighters and “Spa Days”
• Volunteer team meets twice weekly
• Dip cats and ‘hard scrub’ the ward
– Dip cats, set up to dry in crates
– Remove everything from enclosures
– Clean with detergent
– Saturate with bleach solution
– Replace everything
• Cleanliness and disinfection is key
to success of the Ringworm Ward

14. • Wash all surfaces with detergent prior
to bleaching
• 10:1 water and bleach solution
– Ten minute wet contact time
– Refresh solution daily
• Remember to wash and bleach all
crates and cleaning implements as
well

15. Medication and Treatment Tracking
• Simple binder system
– Intake Paperwork
– Medication Trackers
– Medications
– Weight Trackers
– Stool Trackers
– Rabies tags/certs

16. Shelter
Adoption!
Ringworm
Ward
Foster
Cattery

17. How Do We Find and Keep
Volunteers and Fosters
• Honesty
• Communication
• Empowerment
• Support

18. Recruiting Volunteers
• Marketing to potential volunteers
– Be upfront about potential risks
– Be honest about stigma, and subsequent need
– Before and After photos during orientations

19. Retaining Volunteers
• Train volunteers to grow within the program
• List of ‘Graduates’
– Sense of accomplishment, especially during long treatment
periods
• Weekly update emails
– Improve communication, show respect, and keep volunteers
engaged

20. Finding and Keeping Ringworm Fosters
• Be honest about potential for environmental
contamination, and work involved
• Give contact information to fosters
– Personalized advice can help alleviate fear
• Dipping days
– Some fosters are ok with ringworm, but not with Lyme Sulfur
dip in their homes
– Allows for face to face interaction and relationship building
• Be supportive
– Some of our best ringworm fosters came into it by accident
– Become a ringworm team, instead of ‘Ward’ and ‘Fosters’

21. How Do We Adopt These Cats Out
• Make them visible
– Visitors allowed in ward
– Online marketing
• Transparency,
education, and honesty
to potential adopters
• Continuing treatment,
rechecks, and support

23. • Reduced adoption fees
– Half price
• Ringworm adoption
events
– Fun in Fungus
– Ring in the New Year
– Adopt a Fun Guy

24. • Expect lower adoption
numbers for ringworm
cats
• Don’t try to “sell”
ringworm to someone
who seems unwilling
• Don’t get discouraged

26. What Challenges Do We Face
• Summer adoptions low
– Utilize fosters for cats
near end of treatment
– Transfer cleared
ringworm cats to new
fosters
• Longer shelter stays
– Prioritize enrichment and
socialization

27. Often house special medical and behavior cases
awaiting foster
– Train volunteers to identify and provide treatment
– Protocols for common illnesses
– Feral kitten socialization

28. Challenges can be overcome, and pay off
• 652 cats have come through the ward
• 465 cats completed treatment or adopted from the ward
• 235 came through in 2013
• 92 adoptions in 2013

29. Questions?