Ring Worms in my Yorkie??
 

Hey all,

I just got my first yorkie pup when he was 9 weeks old. He seems very healthy and the most healthy out of the litter. I got him from a lady that wasn't really a full time breeder, but she hired a stud and bred her own personal pet yorkie.

Well, 3 days or so after we got him home, my daughter came down with ringworm on her neck and got sent home my the school nurse. I immediately thought it was our new pup because he likes to lay up hear our neck with his face.

When I called my vet, he was very surprised because he said he very rarely see pups with Ring Worms as it's a disease mainly seen in kittens.

Anyway, my daughter said she was NOT around any other animals at all so I'm almost sure she didn't catch it any where else. The puppys breeder said she had a few cats and that the pup was good around cats. So maybe he does have ring worm and got it from one of her cats.

I've had the dog treated once with a dip. The vet wants to do this dip once a week x3. My baby needs two more dips. I'm doing this in case he does indeed have the ring worms. The vet said the only way he will know for sure is if he does a skin test and it takes 4-6 weeks for the results to come back.

I'm just hoping that being exposed to these chemicals to kill this ring worm isn't going to effect my baby puppy later in life. But I don't want to NOT treat him then it get worse. KNow what I mean?

Any advice? I sure do love my new little baby boy. He is so playful, but sometimes that little squirt like to play rough!! LOL

Ringworm will floresce under a blacklight.

A skin scrape grown in culture takes only 10 days...where on earth is your vet getting FOUR weeks??? It takes 4-6 weeks to treat for ringworm.

After that period, you have to retest the skin (grown in culture, another 10 days) to make sure it's gone.

Btw, why is your vet treating with dips rather than meds? Those dips can be avoided by giving Diflucan every day x 6 weeks.

Just fyi...ringworm can come from anywhere. My Marcel caught ringworm as a pup from his VET, lol! So, your puppy could also have caught it at the vet just from being at the office where the fungus may have been present.

Well, he did say that he can test for it but it takes about 4 weeks and by the time the culture comes back, the dog could be worse. I don't know where he gets his information, I'm just going by what he told me.

He is a very good reputable vet that is not a rip off type of vet, IMO.

He (the vet) didn't say anything about oral meds. He said he will do the once weekly dip x3.

I also told him that I called my old vet and they offered to do the black light test. Woodshed test I think it's called. Let me make note, that I had to stop seeing these vets because they were RIDICULOUSLY expensive and I just couldn't afford them anymore!!

My vet said the 'Wood shed" black light test will only detect certain ringworms. I don't remember exactly which medical terms he used in describing these types of fungus' but he said the black light will only show up 1 out of 3-4 fungus' that is ringworm.

I'm an RN so I'm familiar with diflucan. Maybe this little guys weight is an issue with the administration of diflucan. The pedicatrician didn't use oral meds for my daughter. She told me to buy lotriman and use it BID x3 weeks.

See my post above, I forgot to quote it so you could see my reply
I"m new here.

Here is some additional information on canine ringworm and its treatment from webmd:

Dog Ringworm: Symptoms and Treatments

Did the puppy actually have any symptoms of ringworm, or did the vet prescribe the dip as a precaution? If there were no symptoms, I'm sure he prescribed the dip because it's safer than oral medication, especially if you're not sure the dog has ringworm. If the dip contains an anti-fungal agent like miconazole or clotrimazole, I'm sure it's safe to use. These are the same kinds of ingredients that are found in Lotrimin...

The dip is probably lime sulphur and it stinks to high heaven.

Wow, poor puppy and humans!

Carollyn, is that what the vet prescribed?:

Lime Sulfur Dip Veterinary Information from Drugs.com

OP, that dip probably will not hurt your puppy as it is very commonly used and I have never heard of anyone having issues with it; but I wonder if he really needs it. Sounds very odd to me that the vet could not examine him and tell whether or not he had something that looked like ringworm and then do a scraping. He also could have looked under a blacklight. I guess he did what he did because of your daughter, but honestly she may have gotten it somewhere else.

Yeah, it stinks really bad. Like 'rotten eggs' the vet said. My vet is doing it as a precaution, not 100% sure the pup has ringworms, but my daughter couldn't have got it any where else. Pup also has some scabby sores on his ears that he had when we got him, vet said it was prob from other litter mates chewing on his ears, however, the ears seem to be better since the first dip. Puppy has to stay at vet all day to be dipped and air dryed. I feel so sorry for my little fellow. But I'd rather be safe than sorry.

If your daughter is school age she could of easily gotten it there or at a hair salon from unsantitized brushes and comes they spread very quickly.

FYI, Ringworm spores are every where, it is when over exposed to the fungi and/or the immune system is weakened that the spores will overgrow. They are more active in the spring & fall so it is very possible that your Daughter did not get it from the pup. Do you know the signs of ringworm on an animal ? if not then I would take the puppy back to the vet & let him/her check out the pup before administering any oral meds as they are very hard on the liver.Also, while your Daughter has ringworm, Do Not let her play with or touch the pup as she could spread it to the pup and be sure to wash her bedding & bathing towels in bleach daily so she doesn't get reinfected.

Just to make sure everyone is clear on this, ringworm IS NOT a worm. It is a fungus, like athletes foot or jock itch (tinea). The name is misleading. It can be spread by contact. It should be treated with antifungals like miconizole (monostat) clotrimazole (desenex, lotrimin) or orally with diflucan, as the others have said.

It is commonly treated in dogs with that dip that I mentioned. Not saying always, but I have seen this done for many years.