Could this be ringworm??? - Page 1

Could this be ringworm? I noticed this white spot on my 4 year old male recently and didn't think much of it.  Now there is another white spot on the other side of his leg. A friend said it could be ringworm. I didn't know dogs could even get ringworm. Could it be possible? I thought it might be a callous at first but this is not a typical spot for a callous and now with the second white spot I'm wondering......

Litlte hard to tell in that picture...check with your vet, that stuff is contagious to you, too.

can't tell what the heck anything is in that picture.  But yes dogs can get ringworm - yes it is a circular fungus-y sort of spot on the skin (key is circular) and yes it can be transferred to people too.  Easy to check at the vet.

molly

Sorry about the picture quality. I already made a vet appointment as Trigger needs his yearly tune-up anyway. Will ask about the white spots and see if there is some kind of treatment.

Hope it isnt

You can pick it up from anyones place or any place you go with your dog.

What part of the dogs body is that?  Can't tell.

Sorry again the picture is so bad. That's the top side of the rear leg about halfway between the elbow and foot.  Today I found another white spot on the other side while I was cleaning him up as he was out playing in the sump pump mudhole again. I'll try the blacklight and see what happens.

Go to the drug store and buy some althlete's foot cream. Apply it to the spots several times a day. Wash your hands after touching the bare spots  or wear rubber gloves and use the cream on yourself if you get a scaly, dry patch. If it doesn't begin to heal in 10 days, 2 weeks, take dog to vet and he/she will pluck a few  hairs from the area and place them in a culture medium to see if it will grow a fungus.  A black light will also identify some fungal infections but you can also get false positives.

Ringworm is not a parasite, it's a fungus that's why athlete's foot cream will cure it if that's actually what it is.  If your dog starts to get a lot of spots and if it is fungus then you have a bigger issue and you may need to treat it systemically with griseofulvin. Treatment can last for months and you may also need to treat the environment. I wouldn't get out the big guns just yet; a few spots are not generally a big deal. Cats are more likely to get fungus infections than dogs. Got  any?

And there you have it - all you ever wanted to know about ringworm and then some

Someone I know and got to see first-hand had a litter of GSD pups who caught ringworm (yes, it's a fungus) due to more humid than normal conditions when the litter was born. It started on the base of their tail and went about half the length of the tails-it felt and looked thicker and than the rest of the normal tail, but it never turned a different color like white. The skin eventually comes off the places. It affected the toes on some, also, making the hair disappear and skin to eventually come off. It had to be diagnosed by the vet and treated with dips and sprays. And yes, ringworm is HIGHLY contagious to humans and takes daily treatment with iodine and a while to get rid of (and more if you end up with a 2ndary staph infection from it). Ringworm will discolor your skin and it takes your skin a month or so to get back its normal pigment. Handle it with rubber gloves until you get it diagnosed!