Presented at the American Pets Alive No-Kill Conference 2014.

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?