can rats get ringworm?

[Petunia]

my daughter caught the fungus from her cousin's baby, and now one of her cats has it (or so she believes, I'm not doubting her but everything I read says that kittens and sick cats get it, and he's not a kitten nor is he sick, so I am wondering if they just assumed he has ringworm, because she does)

My daughter is very stressed out, so I was thinking of taking him so that she can get herself cleared up, she's got it on her face and it's very itchy and painful, and she's my daughter, you know, so I feel bad and want to help her......

but the more I read about it, the more I wonder, is it really what he has? and if he does, would it be too big a risk that my cat and my rats would get it?

I don't think the fungus would live very long in my place, the temp is kept to no more than 60 degrees F and I have forced hot air for heat, so now that the heat is on, the humidity is gone way down (gotta get something for the rat room soon to raise the humidity for them)

I don't know what to do. I want to help my daughter but I get itchy all over thinking about this fungus and what it could do if it spread here.

 

[victoria]

Rats can definitely get ringworm. It's not common but anyone that's somewhat immune compromised (possibly any rat) is more susceptible. It usually requires direct contact but it's not necessary, it can be spread via fomites.

I know that ringworm you get from an animal can't be passed on to another human but that's about where the good news ends. It can be hard to treat once an animal has it... if it were me, I wouldn't bring an infected animal into my home unless I could keep them completely separate. If you can keep the cat in a separate room and wash your hands/change your clothes before handling your own animals, then it should be fine.

Ringworm in humans is painful but I think it's easier to treat.

 

[hopefloats]

we had it or something similar here. I had it on my arm and my daughter had it everywhere. It took weeks to get rid of and mine is still kinda there. No idea what it was, looked like a huge ring worm. None of the rats had anything or got anything or any of the other pets in the house. I know cats are a major carrier of it, I have heard it a million times.

 

[Petunia]

Rats can definitely get ringworm. It's not common but anyone that's somewhat immune compromised (possibly any rat) is more susceptible. It usually requires direct contact but it's not necessary, it can be spread via fomites.

I know that ringworm you get from an animal can't be passed on to another human but that's about where the good news ends. It can be hard to treat once an animal has it... if it were me, I wouldn't bring an infected animal into my home unless I could keep them completely separate. If you can keep the cat in a separate room and wash your hands/change your clothes before handling your own animals, then it should be fine.

Ringworm in humans is painful but I think it's easier to treat.

OK but what about the ringworm a person gets from another person? do you know if that can be spread to their animal(s)?

apparently, the 2yr old who had the fungus got it from her father, (not my nephew, this is his step daughter, not his own daughter) during visitation. The story I am hearing is that the father of this little girl has had the fungus for 5yrs!! on his chest, of all places......

so, my daughter went to visit the cousin and his step daughter, and my daughter got it on her ankle, which was exposed because she was wearing a skirt. From there, it spread to her face and neck etc (my daughter kind of over-dresses and likes her place very warm, over heated if you ask me, but I like 58 to 60 degrees and most ppl find that too cold)

anyway, then one of the cats started to get spots, so she took the cat to the vet. The vet never did cultures so at this point, the cat has not been def diagnosed and I am praying the cat has something else.

I think I should talk to my own doctor about this and to my vet. The whole thing is very confusing.

I know my daughter got ringworm from a feral cat some years back when she volunteered for a feral cat rescue.
It cleared up pretty fast though and I never got it from her.

hmm, this is very confusing......

 

[hopefloats]

I have heard if you use a black light, it will glow under it. I also heard that is how some vets can diagnosis ringworm in pets.

I know there were 3 different types of ring worm the most common one was the one from animals. You can probably do a google search. After our little stint this summer I dont wanna see ringworm ever again.

 

[Nekopan]

I had ringworm a couple years back. It wasn't painful, but man was it ever itchy! I wanted to tear my skin off.

I don't know if this will help at all, but I went and got a tube of OTC antifungal. I applied it to the ringworm-y area twice a day, until two weeks after the spot had disappeared. Unfortunately ringworm can be very difficult to get rid of, and easy to transfer between people/animals that are infected. For the cat, if it's possible to take him to the vet he probably needs some oral antifungal medication.

Rats can definitely get ringworm, and I personally wouldn't bring in a cat that had it unless I could keep it completely separate.