Disclaimer: I am not an expert on Dog Ringworm, I am just a dog owner that wants to share our success story!
Adoption
This past summer we adopted our amazing dog Lilah from a doggy foster mom named Shilpa. Shilpa had rescued Lilah from the Liberty Humane Society. When we got Lilah, Shilpa told us that we would need to go to the vet to have Lilah’s rash checked on (Shilpa had Lilah less than a week and was using topical cream which seemed to help a bit on the rash).
Here is a pic of the first day we got Lilah, notice the rash on her right rear leg.
Treatment, Take 1
We took Lilah to the Vet and they did a scan of Lilah’s rash with a florescent light which did not show any fungal infections. This fluorescent light method will not catch all fungal infections. Our vet, Dr. Jay (who we absolutely love BTW) from Twin River’s Animal Hospital in NJ put Lilah on Prednisone. The Prednisone greatly reduced the rash when she was on the full dose twice a day. As soon as we would back-off the medicine to a single dose a day, the 
rash would come back in full force. We went on another full round of Prednisone, and we were told by Dr Jay if that did not work we should go to a dermatologist for a second opinion. The second round of Prednisone had the same effect: great when on full strength but the rash came back as soon as we used lower doses.
Time for the Doggy Dermatologist
We then took Lilah to the wonderful people at Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls NJ (as of this posting they are also taking care of Patrick another inspiring story that is worth a look). Dr. Kathleen Kalaher, the GSVS dermatologist took care of Lilah. Dr. Kalaher informed us that this could be ringworm, but that is rare in dogs in comparison to other animals such as cats. At this point we were 
informed that we should keep Lilah away from people and other dogs until we figured out the root cause. This was tough being around the holidays. Dr. Kalaher did a fungal culture which came back positive. Lilah had ringworm. Later, Dr. Kalaher sent the scrapings out to get an exact strand of ringworm and it was Trichophyton.
When we were waiting for the results of the first fungal culture I looked on the internet to find pictures of Dog Ringworm and I found the same pictures over and over and none of them really looked like Lilah’s. I vowed that once we got through our case of ringworm that I would post pictures for other people to see (that’s what you are reading now!). The other thing that was odd was that my wife and I never got ringworm and we are always hugging, kissing, and overall glomming Lilah.
Treatment, Take 2
The treatment was done with several 14 day intervals of Fluconazole. We originally purchased the Fluconazole from Walgreens and it cost 
over $200, but I just got it since I was in a rush to get Lilah better. There was no time to price shop. It turns out that Sam’s club and other places had the same thing for around $50! So if you have to get these meds, shop around! A few phone calls could save you major $.
Lilah Gets Cured!
The treatment took about two months and now Lilah is 100% cured! Her hair has grown back without any scaring! We had several fungal cultures done afterwards and they all came back negative.
Photos
I have a full set of photos of Lilah’s leg on flickr but here is a quick rundown here.
First day with Lilah
The rash gets better than worse once the Prednisone wears off
Here is where the rash was “sort of” getting better
Sometime during the start of treatment with Fluconazole (the rash was wider by this time) – some hair coming back (see the white)
Today (this is many months later but it has been cured for quite some time). Amazing recovery!
One last one of us down at the Asbury Park Boardwalk. She’s awesome! Thank you Shilpa, Dr. Ajay Madaan (Dr. Jay) and Dr. Kathleen Kalaher you have made our family very happy!
I’ve battled with ringworm myself, it’s unfun. Looking back, I had issues with it since I was 5 but I had no idea that what my feet looked like were abnormal until I was in my 20′s. You definitely have to experiment on treatments! For me, I found that only some of the OTC creames/powders/etc. made a dent in it on a long term basis. I’d see it get beaten back, cut off the treatment and it would come back in a few weeks. I finally found the treatment that worked well for me, and with a lot of prevention (I always put the powder in my shoes when I take them off) it doesn’t come back. I found that prevention is key, and that it can come back fairly readily if you aren’t careful. Like I don’t shower in public showers unless I feel confident that they get cleaned very well or I have sandals. I’ve had it come back just because I moved to a new house… not walking barefoot in a house makes a big difference to me.
Hope she’s able to stay ringworm free!
J.Ja
Thanks for the story Justin!
I’m so happy your dog is well and happy.
I just took my dog to the vet and they think possibly ringworm. I have been doing some internet research and what Daisy has looks nothing like what I have been seeing.
Doc is doing a culture on her but it takes one week to cook.
In some articles I read that you must clean everything with bleach, have all rugs professionally cleaned, ect. to get rid of the fungus. Did your doctors advise you to do this and to what extent?
Hi Jon, I’m so happy your dog is well and happy.
I just took my dog to the vet and they think possibly ringworm. I have been doing some internet research and what Daisy has looks nothing like what I have been seeing.
Doc is doing a culture on her but it takes one week to cook.
In some articles I read that you must clean everything with bleach, have all rugs professionally cleaned, ect. to get rid of the fungus. Did your doctors advise you to do this and to what extent?
I am hoping and praying that our little Jack Russell has ringworm. He started with a rash on his front paw almost 3 years ago. He has had biopsies, lots of blood work, and seen at least 7 Vets. We have spent a small fortune on him. The rash has now spread and covers 2 legs and parts of his chest. He has been on prednisone for 2 1/2 years along with Atopica. Whenever we taper his meds the rash and swelling get worse. He has seen an Internal medicine Dr. and recently he saw a Dermatologist. She mentioned ringworm and did a culture. I don’t think other Vets thought of that since they would mention fungus but we live in a very dry climate so they didn’t search further into that area. We are anxiously awaiting the results but after seeing pictures I really wonder if it could be ringworm. Many Dr.s have said possibly an autoimmune disease but his condition is not typical and after nearly 3 years we have yet to have a firm diagnosis.
Thanks so much for sharing your story. We can’t bare to watch our little buddy get worse and suffer much longer. I am searching every bit of information I can find to try to help him and hopefully we can do that real soon.