Ringworm is a fungus that grows on the skin, similar to athlete's foot
fungus and 'jock itch'.  And yes, it is contagious.  I fostered 4 kittens
that had it, my husband got one spot of it, and I ended up with 3.  I used a
fungicide cream from my vet to treat it on the cats, and athlete's foot
cream (Lotrimin, Tinactin, etc) on me & hubby, but after a few weeks, it
didn't seem to be going away, so the vet recommended LymDip - it's a
sulferated lime solution, used for skin conditions like mange & mites, and
it really worked!!! Vet even suggested we dab the spots we had on ourselves
with it, and it worked on us, too.

The test our vet is probably talking about is a skin culture - our vet used
a sterile tooth brush & scrubbed the affected area on one kitten lightly,
then rubbed that toothbrush on a petri dish, and it took about a week for
the culture to grow enough for him to be able to tell that it was the
ringworm fungus.  I don't remember how much it cost for that, but our vet is
very reasonable, and tries to keep costs down any way he can (when we had a
sick cat that he treated, we 'donated' a park bench for their waiting room
anonymously over the Christmas weekend a few years ago - it still has a note
on the wall behind it saying "thank you Anonymous")

Oh, good Lord; that's ridiculous. Try another vet. Ringworm is rampant in
shelters; if shelters had to spend that kind of money, they'd go broke. The
"light" is nothing more than a blacklight, the same kind you can buy yourself.
The vet, ,IMO, should include that in the exam fee; he should not charge you
another $9 for shining a blacklight on your cat.  The last time we treated
ringworm the cat had a 3-week regime of Fulvicin, and Tinactine was applied
topically to the spot. (same stuff you buy at the drugstore for athlete's
foot). I don't believe Fulvicin is used any more; it's hard on their liver; and
I'm not sure what internal med has replaced it. Ringworm is very contagious;
but some people/cats are susceptible and some aren't. I've never had it and
I've handled many, many cats with ringworm. You don't even have to touch the
cat itself to catch it; the spores from bedding/clothing can carry it. Just
vacuum your house thoroughly and wash all bedding in *very* hot water.
Sherry

Depending on the cat's size, bathing it in a shampoo that is especially
formulated to combat these kinds of fungi, is an option.  It's still an
option--regardless of the cat's size--but it may become a two-person job.

I once had to bathe three kittens twice daily for a week in order to cure
the fungus.  You can buy these shampoos from a vet.  (not OTC at Walmart)

--Geno

Thanks to all of you. I thought ring worm was an
actual worm. I'm sorry that the nice people didn't
get to adopt "Grumpy" because of what appears
to be a greedy vet. Anyway, I glad for this group.