Yes, your dog can get ringworm as you can! Ringworm is a fungus infection known by the scientific name: Dermatophytosis. The fungus is named: Dermatophytes. In most situations, Dermatophyte Microsporum Canis (Mcanis) accounts for approximately 90 percent of the cases with dogs. The other dermatophytes in dogs can be Trichophyton mentagrophytes, M persicolor, M fulvum, M gypseum and T terrestre.
Ringworm is definitely contagious. M canis symptoms are usually located around the dogs hairless lesions. The "ring" that humans exhibit don't appear as a "ring" on dogs. These lesions can grow in size and usually will become irregular shaped. The fungus causes the hair shafts to break away that can result to the dogs hair loss patches. The common locations are on the dogs face, paws, ears and tail. Also, these lesions are scaly and may be itchy with the skin often being inflamed and reddened.
How does a dog catch ringworm?
The transfer can occur by direct contact with another dog with ringworm, infected animals and even humans. The cycle can be dogs to cats, cats to dogs, humans to pets and pets to humans! These fungal spores can survive in the environment for a long time. The fungal spores usually exist in infected bedding, carpets and grooming equipment etc. that can infect your dog. Please note that ringworm can be spread by just petting or grooming an infected ringworm cat or ringworm dog. Also, you can get ringworm from horses, pigs, cows and even goats. The incubation period tends to be between ten to twelve days before any signs, lesions occur. By the by, rare cases do occur by contact with infected soil. The fungus will live for months if the proper soil nutrients are present.
The good news is healthy dogs usually have a resistance to getting ringworm. Ringworm in young puppies and dogs are more susceptible due to there undeveloped immune system. Dogs can be carriers of Mcanis and not show the symptoms and still infect other humans and animals. The best course of action is to have your vet diagnose your dog. It is very difficult to do the analysis by only viewing the skin area. Your vet may use a wood's lamp- black light (ultra violet lamp). Usually, 50% of M canis will glow under the wood's lamp. The vet may do a microscopic diagnosis looking at the skin or hair samples under a microscope. Also, a culture from the scraping of the lesion may be required to grow the culture over time.
What are the treatment alternatives for your ringworm dog?
Your vet may prescribe the use of an anti-fungal drug as Griseofulvin. Griseofulvin inhibits fungal reproduction but has some side effects. Consult with your vet about any drug being used is a great suggest to reduce any health issues. Lime sulfur dips are also often recommended. The dips are usually given two times a week by you or your vet. The lime sulfur will stain jewelry and clothing. The dogs hair will change to a yellowish color for a short period of time.
Don't forget to decontaminate your environment to prevent further spreading to your family, home and surroundings.
