Ringworm is the most common infectious skin disease of cats, causing welfare impacts for affected animals and presenting a zoonotic risk to human contacts.
Ringworm causes welfare impacts through skin irritation, itching, and the significant stress of extended treatment protocols that often involve multiple baths, topical applications, and systemic medication. In shelter environments, ringworm can cause mass outbreaks that result in extended housing periods — sometimes months — which themselves cause welfare impacts through chronic stress and delayed adoption. The extended treatment period required for full resolution, combined with the environmental decontamination burden, makes ringworm disproportionately resource-intensive relative to its clinical severity. Shelter ringworm protocols have improved substantially, with evidence-based approaches now allowing faster treatment and improved welfare outcomes. For household cats, early recognition and treatment prevent the condition becoming entrenched.