Ringworm: Recognizing and Treating Ringworm in Dogs

What is ringworm? Contrary to popular belief, ringworm is not a worm. It is a fungus that infects the skin and thereby creates a ring like appearance upon the skin. Thus, is is called "ringworm." Ringworm is highly contagious to both dogs as well as humans. Those with weak immunity are especially susceptible.

A dog can catch ringworm by digging in grass and dirt that is larded with the fungus. Humans too need to be cautious about walking bare footed in wooded areas where the fungus thrives.

Ringworm, or "dermatophytosis" is a fungi that aims at infecting the hair follicles and thereby causing damage to the hair shaft. This in turn leads to the falling out of hair and the appearance of "rings" upon the skin. Ringworm in dogs is highly contagious, and can be a problem when multiple dogs are in close proximity to one that is infected. The mere brushing up against another infected dog, or the sharing of towels, collars, brushes, combs, or any objects that come in contact with one dog can lead to infection in another if those objects are shared.

Ringworm symptoms will often result in the appearance of skin lesions and this can take up to two weeks to form after initial exposure. Other ringworm symptoms include damaged, patchy looking skin, dry, red skin, or skin with missing hair and that is also painful to the touch.

Ringworm treatment is performed by a veterinarian who can search for dog skin fungus by means of a special, ultra violet light. Another means is through examining a sample of the dog's hair. The vet will be looking for the presence of fungus on both the skin as well as the hair, and this will be grown in a culture medium.

Canine ringworm involves specific treatment. The use of anti-fungal shampoo can be prescribed, and the owner will be instructed to use this each time the dog is bathed. Additional treatments include anti-fungal tablets as well as anti-fungal creams to be used upon the skin infected areas. However, the vet might suggest the dog's hair also be clipped in those infected areas, thus removing the infected hair still rich with spores.

Yet the amount of treatment will depend upon the severity of the infection. It is also important that owners destroy all objects the dog might have come in contact with: combs, towels, blankets, brushes, toys, and collars are just some of the few items that should be discarded or at minimum, rinsed in a chlorine solution. Your vet can inform you of the specific measures that need to be carried out when it comes to the killing of any remaining spores. These are just some of the few steps to take when it comes to keeping your dog and family protected from ringworm infection.