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Presented at the American Pets Alive No-Kill Conference 2014.
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Getting Ringworm Affected Kitties Out of the Shelter Alive
• What is Ringworm• Why Do We Save These Cats• How Do We Save These Cats• What is Our Treatment for Ringworm• How Do We Run Our Program• How Do We Find and Keep Volunteers and Fosters• How Do We Adopt These Cats Out• What Challenges Do We Face
What is Ringworm
• Highly contagious skin fungus
• Commonly presents as crusted skin lesions
• Easily transmissible• Infected cats in
danger at shelters
Why Do We Save These Cats • Kittens commonly infected• Self-limiting infection• Harmless, curable• Most cases are mild to moderate
How Do We Save These Cats• Protocols are the foundation of “Herd”
Treatment – Allow larger numbers of cats to be treated at once
• Always allow for deviations from protocol if necessary
Establishing Our Program
• Began as 100% foster-based• Even with an adoption
headquarters, ringworm cats still in danger
• Crates in isolated hallway allowed time to find fosters, and begin treatment
• Began dedicated treatment ward in late 2010
What is Our Treatment for Ringworm
Diagnosis• Look for classic presentation
– Consider cat’s history• Wood’s Lamp examination
– More accurate than previously thought
• Treat for most likely cause of infection– Treat in isolation if unsure– Track changes and
improvement
Medication Cost for 30 Day Treatment of 10# Cat
Terbinafine $3.00Compounded Itraconazole $7.90Griseofulvin $75.60Sporanox $204.00
Lyme Sulfur Dip $16
• Oral Terbinafine– 30- 40mg/kg – Recheck after 21 days
• “Off” 7 days, “on” 7
• Lyme Sulfur Dip– 8oz/gal twice a week
How Do We Run Our Program• Isolated space• Cat housing• Ringworm medications• Dedicated supplies• Set of cleaning
instruments for each enclosure
• Sink or other area for dipping
• Patients• Patience
Housing
• Group vs individual• Use easily disinfected materials
and designs• Use disposable materials, like
cardboard for toys and scratchers• Always include housing to isolate
sick cats • Resources/time dictate capacity as
much as physical space
Group Housing Considerations• Length of time in treatment• Severity of infection• Age• Health/ vaccine history
Benefits• Decreases stress• Increases number of cats• Appeals to potential adopters
The Fungus Fighters and “Spa Days”
• Volunteer team meets twice weekly• Dip cats and ‘hard scrub’ the ward
– Dip cats, set up to dry in crates– Remove everything from enclosures– Clean with detergent– Saturate with bleach solution– Replace everything
• Cleanliness and disinfection is key to success of the Ringworm Ward
• Wash all surfaces with detergent prior to bleaching
• 10:1 water and bleach solution– Ten minute wet contact time– Refresh solution daily
• Remember to wash and bleach all crates and cleaning implements as well
Medication and Treatment Tracking
• Simple binder system– Intake Paperwork– Medication Trackers– Medications– Weight Trackers– Stool Trackers– Rabies tags/certs
Shelter
Adoption!
Ringworm Ward
Foster
Cattery
How Do We Find and Keep Volunteers and Fosters
• Honesty• Communication• Empowerment• Support
Recruiting Volunteers• Marketing to potential volunteers
– Be upfront about potential risks– Be honest about stigma, and subsequent need– Before and After photos during orientations
Retaining Volunteers• Train volunteers to grow within the program• List of ‘Graduates’
– Sense of accomplishment, especially during long treatment periods
• Weekly update emails– Improve communication, show respect, and keep volunteers
engaged
Finding and Keeping Ringworm Fosters• Be honest about potential for environmental
contamination, and work involved• Give contact information to fosters
– Personalized advice can help alleviate fear• Dipping days
– Some fosters are ok with ringworm, but not with Lyme Sulfur dip in their homes
– Allows for face to face interaction and relationship building• Be supportive
– Some of our best ringworm fosters came into it by accident– Become a ringworm team, instead of ‘Ward’ and ‘Fosters’
How Do We Adopt These Cats Out• Make them visible
– Visitors allowed in ward– Online marketing
• Transparency, education, and honesty to potential adopters
• Continuing treatment, rechecks, and support
• Reduced adoption fees– Half price
• Ringworm adoption events– Fun in Fungus– Ring in the New Year– Adopt a Fun Guy
• Expect lower adoption numbers for ringworm cats
• Don’t try to “sell” ringworm to someone who seems unwilling
• Don’t get discouraged
What Challenges Do We Face
• Summer adoptions low– Utilize fosters for cats
near end of treatment– Transfer cleared
ringworm cats to new fosters
• Longer shelter stays– Prioritize enrichment and
socialization
Often house special medical and behavior cases awaiting foster– Train volunteers to identify and provide treatment– Protocols for common illnesses– Feral kitten socialization
Challenges can be overcome, and pay off• 652 cats have come through the ward• 465 cats completed treatment or adopted from the
ward• 235 came through in 2013• 92 adoptions in 2013
Questions?