A bit about Feline Acne and Ringworm
Regarding monstergirl’s question:
I got the Kitten from Hell the end of last July. Clueless Wonder’s breakout started about a week and a half ago or so. While feline acne can be contagious between cats, it is highly unlikely I can blame this one on the KfH. As much as I’d like to.
Cats have oil glands all over their body to help keep their hair waterproof and their skin in good condition. They have extra large ones on their chins and at the bases of their tails though to help mark their territory. Sometimes too much oil can be produced, and just as in humans, this can cause blackheads to form. Bacteria on the skin can multiply and cause infections because of the excess oil. You can end up with acne breakouts that make the cat’s chin hair fall out, cause open sores, and make for a very unhappy cat.
Because cats in a multi-cat household usually share water bowls and sometimes food bowls, the bacteria from the affected cat’s chin can rub off on the bowls and infect the other cats. Because of this it is important to clean water and food dishes daily when a cat is affected, both to prevent the spread of the infection and to keep the cat from reinfecting itself.
Ringworm is a fungus infection, NOT a disease caused by a worm. Kittens are most usually affected, but they can be carriers, and infect other animals (and people) in the house without showing signs themselves.
I have no idea what to do if a kitten turns out to be a carrier. Whole body treatment is controversial, and there aren’t good studies showing it is effective. I’ll have to wait and see on that one.
In monstergirl’s case, the cat most probably did not have acne, which is almost always confined to the underside of the chin. Ringworm lesions can appear around the eyes, and the kitten could have given ringworm to the cat. But the ringworm would not have cleared up when the kitten disappeared, so that probably wasn’t the case either. There’s no way of knowing for sure what the problem was there, but kittens play rough and don’t always remember to pull their claws in, so the kitten might have inflicted a scratch wound to the cat’s face that became slightly infected. Without seeing the cats in question, that’s probably the best guess I can muster up at the moment.
Oh, and LisaMarie. The story your uncle told wasn’t about ringworm. There is a tropical worm they treat that way though. Can’t remember the name off the top of my head, but it has to be pulled out through the skin a millimeter or so each day until it is worked completely out. It’s one of those tropical things that make me glad I live way up north where there’s a hard frost every winter.