Well, with that kitten came ringworm. First a few spots on Julianna. We thought they were flea bites so we didn't treat them right away. We took the kitten to the vet and he was examined and treated for fleas. We had a bunch of people over for New Year's Eve.
After about three or four days we realized they were getting bigger and were not flea bites despite Jules scratching all the time. Jonathan had a spot or two he thought was ringworm. By Friday after New Year's we started suspecting ringworm even though we now had a dip for the kitten to get rid of any ringworm it might have had. We started putting Lamisil on Jonathan and Julianna.
Friday evening Julianna looked so bad that we thought a trip to Primecare was necessary. There she was inspected and diagnosed with impetigo, a very contagious staph-like infection (I'm not going to link that because the images are just gross). The doctor assured us it didn't really look like ringworm and put her on an antibiotic for the impetigo.
We had a couple of family get togethers for one last Christmas and then a baby shower over the weekend. It was pretty annoying to have to carefully watch Julianna to keep her from scratching and spreading the impetigo and it was sad for her to not be able to hug anyone. Still, we gave her the antibiotics and put Lamisil on daily.
I felt terrible over the weekend. We weren't sleeping well because we had to wake Jules up to give her anitbiotics during the night. I think I had a low fever and my throat felt the size of a gorilla's. I coughed all night and managed to stay in bed from 8:30pm Saturday to 7:45am Sunday.
We emailed the guests from New Year's Eve, feeling like a total loser for giving everyone this nasty junk. Fortunately, no one that we know of has gotten any ringworm from that night even though all of the kids were playing with the new kitten.
Our neighbor (who helped Santa with the kitten prior to Christmas Eve) called and said she had a bad case of ringworm and wanted us to know. We again felt horrible for spreading nastiness, offered to pay for medicine for her, etc.
By Sunday Julianna's spots had pretty much cleared and we found a couple of spots on Josh and myself. We started treating those for ringworm. I called the after hours nurse to ask if I could take Julianna off of the antibiotics since we were once again pretty sure she had ringworm, not impetigo. They said leave her on the antibiotics since what I described still sounded like impetigo. I hated the thought of keeping her on unnecessary antibiotics after my battle with c diff several years ago, but I am a rule-follower and I tend to do what the doctors tell me to do. We kept her on it.
Julianna went to school on Monday, but not before Josh started running a low fever Sunday night.
Joshua's temperature was 102ish Monday and 103ish Tuesday. His ringworm spots were looking better, but we didn't know if he had what I had had during the weekend or if he was getting some kind of infection from what they kept telling us was Julianna's impetigo. I stayed home with him Monday, Jonathan stayed home with him Tuesday, and my mom stayed home with him Wednesday.
When he went to the doctor they tested him for mono, strep, and blood cell counts were high. He was put on the same antibiotic as Julianna and diagnosed with tonsilitis after all the other tests came back negative. Now after 24 hours of meds he seems to be on the upswing.
Meanwhile, Jonathan took the kitten BACK to the vet for more ringworm meds and they did see a few more spots of it on him. They gave him oral meds this time and said it could take 2-4 weeks to get rid of it completely. He has to be vaccinated and checked again in two weeks.
I am so thankful for modern medicine and doctor's care. I am still thankful for our kitten Lego even though he has caused so many problems in our house the last few weeks. I feel awful that he is quarantined in one room and the kids can't play with him for at least another couple of weeks until his ringworm is gone.
Jonathan has done so much laundry and sanitizing it is absurd. He has yet to get sick and I would appreciate any prayers for his health because without him we would be drowning right now.
I am sharing all of this not to complain but to emphasize what many people have said before about animals being a lot of work. Think long and hard before you decide to bring a new pet into your household.
He's a cute little shithead though, isn't he?
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