Four mixed-breed puppies arrived at Tri-County Humane Society in late January with abnormal skin lesions all over their bodies. Their family had been working with their vet for treatment, but there had been no diagnosis. Tri-County Humane Society’s medical team immediately suspected the litter was dealing with a contagious skin condition, and, upon testing, diagnosed the puppies with Microsporum canis, a fungus that causes the ringworm skin infection.

Despite its name, ringworm isn’t a worm, it’s a fungus. It isn’t fatal, but the condition is not quick or easy to treat; it takes a minimum of five weeks. It is also easily spread from animal to animal, or animal to people, so an animal shelter setting is not an ideal place to treat ringworm. 

Tri-County Humane Society depends on foster homes to take on the burden of treating ringworm cases. Treatment includes oral antifungal medications and topical treatments using a lime sulfur solution, a product that smells intensely like rotten eggs. It takes a special person to take on an assignment like this! Plus, because the condition is contagious to other animals and people, there are strict isolation and cleaning protocols a foster must follow in their home. 

As you can imagine, we don’t have many fosters willing or able to do this, so our ability to treat animals with ringworm is limited. When we have superhero fosters willing to help ringworm animals, it is truly a joyous, life-saving occasion!

The four pups – Betty, Gary Puckett, Wiggles, and Dexter – were truly lucky; TCHS was able to find them a loving and capable foster home, and they received outstanding care. Even better news yet, they have all been adopted! 

Like many of the animals we adopt out, their adoption fee only covered a fraction of the investment we put into them. The pups spent six weeks in our care, and between tests, medications and lime sulfur dips, vaccines, deworming, spays/neuters, and microchips, we invested about $4,400 to get these four healthy and off to a new start. Your donation today will help defray these costs so we can go the extra mile for the next animal who needs our help.

P.S. For more information about our foster care program, please contact our foster care team at fostercare@tricountyhumanesociety.org.

For the animals,

Brianna Reinke
TCHS Development Manager
give@tricountyhumanesociety.org
320-371-0735