When you look at it, it is a rather distressing video. I don’t like to see it but it has to be done because the young cat that you see in the video is one of 85 cats who have been treated in this way because they suffer from a generalised ringworm infection having been rescued from Steel City Alley Cat Coalition (SCACC). You may have heard about this rescue as it’s been online quite a lot (read about it on this website by clicking this).
https://www.facebook.com/humanesocietypikespeakregion/videos/601418983720994/
The owner of Steel City Alley Cat Coalition may be prosecuted, as far as I am aware, in the criminal courts because too many of the cats rescued from the organisation were ill. Four of them have been euthanised and the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region (HSPPR) are still caring for 129 of the original 135 cats rescued.
HSPPR raised $7,000 through Facebook. The expenses of this operation are high at, I believe, around $200 per cat.
After the cats have been lime sulphur dipped (it is better described as being sprayed rather than dipped as you can see in the video) the fluid on the cats is allowed to dry naturally to ensure that the treatment fully penetrates the fur and attaches to the skin where the ringworm spores are present.
Apparently, “dips” like this need to continue for two weeks beyond the apparent cure to ensure that a genuine cure has taken place. The process is carried out twice a week according to my reference book.
In addition an oral antifungal medication is administered to the cats. In the video you see Dr Emily spraying acute cat. The cat is pleasantly very passive. I am very impressed by this cat. Normally, I’m told that a team of three people is required to carry out this process: one person to hold the cat, one person to spray the treatment on the cat and a third to clean the kennel so that the cat can go back into it immediately. As they say, it’s a very messy process. Their kennels become very dirty because the cats shake the fluid onto the walls and floors. The whole process is quite stressful both for cat and human.
When you think that it has to be done 85 times, you can only be impressed with the Humane Society’s staff in their patience and dedication. Because ringworm is so contagious and zoonotic (transmission between animal and human) the rescue organisation has to stick to strict protocols to avoid spreading the infection within the building and to avoid it infecting staff.
