Nasty rash.

[tireesix]

We have had the rash for around 4 weeks, no one seems to know what it is. I say we, but its just me, the baby and the husband, our other 2 kids don't seem to have it at all and it started when we allowed the stray cat into the house.

Its just lots of little red bumps that look like bites but I am pretty sure they aren't bites now.

Its so itchy, poor DH looks like he has had chicken pox, I don't look so bad but its affecting my fibro, my skin is burning.

We have had treatments for scabies, had antihistamines, nothing is working, we have sprayed the house etc, washed and tumble dried everything and I am still itching and the rash is still spreading. Thats why I don't think its bites anymore, because its spreading at an equal rate over the body, this past couple of days it reeached my hands and feet, I have these really sore lumps all over them that are incredibly ichy.

I just don't know what to do any more...... Its been going on ages and the doctors don't seem to know what it is and its so damned uncomfortable. If it was scabies etc, surely the other 2 girls should have it by now, they don't.

The cat by the way, appears to be fine now. He is on long term antibiotics, still not gaining weight too well but is definitely doing better....... Its just since we have had him we have had to put up with this damned itchiness. DH said its only because our other 2 aren't affected that he hasn't put the cat back out into the garden to live for a while lol.

[tireesix]

OK, tried some athletes foot cream on my hands and the itching has died down and some of the bumps have vanished, is there any chance it could be some weird fungal thing????????

I am desperate, I am not exagerating when I say both my husband and I have felt suicidal because of the itching and pain associated with it. If its fro the cat I feel sorry for the cat, god knows how long he was like it. He seems to better though, not scratching until he bleeds.

Its just us human members of the family we have to deal with now.

[azdesertrn]

You can definitely catch ringworm from a cat. (Its a fungal infection, not a worm) What you described didn't sound like ringworm, but google some pictures. It can be different shapes besides rings. I have heard coconut oil suggested as a home remedy for ringworm since it has anti-fungal properties. Athletes foot cream definitely works for ringworm.

Your sure its not flea bites, right?

Good luck. Hope you find something that works soon.

[azdesertrn]

-Oh, and if it is something fungal make sure the cat gets treated for it too and everything cleaned so you don't get reinfected.

[balancedmama]

Are you certain it's not fleas?

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Yeast can be all over the body and an anti fungal would help with it. Yeast is catching as well from husband to wife from intimate contact and to the baby through nursing or close contact.

[tireesix]

Definitely not fleas, he did come in with fleas to begin with but they were all frontlined and these are so definitely not flea bites.

I am going in to see a doctor again, see if we can get a skin scraping etc done and see if anything else comes up.

Such a pain in the backside.......

the spots on my fingers look more like warts than anything else, I have them all over the palms of my hands and the soles of my feet and they change to little red bumps over the rest of my body except for my face and scalp where there don't appear to be any but no doubt thats next.

Its just the way it has spread as well and it has spread the same way for the three of us who have it, started on the torso and spread out except for Kara who is coming up to two and has one of those blonde baby heads with little hair who also has it on her head. No haphazard bites here and there, just a regular spreading outwards and like I said, this has been going on for a month or so now and has kinda become quite unfunny (lol).

Its affecting my fibro badly, my skin is burning with it, DH isn't suffering with the burning like I am so I am figuring my nerves are complaining about it all.

Right, from what I can see on google, the spots I have on my hands are similar to contact dermatitis, I just don't know, its all so weird, thing is, hydrocortisone creams and those antihistamines aren't doing a single thing for the itching. I have been on them for the past month and it hasn't helped one bit.

[ameliabedelia]

I would try using tea tree oil on it (dilute in olive oil or coconut oil). It very well could be yeast or fungal in nature, and that will help

[tireesix]

I can't use tea tree oil, my skin reacts to it.........

Saw the Doc yesterday and she said I have hand excma and she doesn't know why my ears are itchy because they shouldn't be affected. She ignored the fact that I have a rash all over me and the fact that 3-4 members of my family also have it and that it all started at the same time, when the cat arrived. She prescribed some more anti histamines and ointment.

However, I have just woken up and my skin feels like its burning, particularly on my hands, it really, bloody, Fing well hurts, I cannot describe it right now. Its kinda in between insanely itchy and like having my hands dunked in the hottest water.

I am seriously considering going to accident and emergency later because noone seems to be listening and/or doing anything and I can't cope with this. My fibro has been bad for months and this isn't helping a) because its disrupting sleep further and b) its making skin react more than I reckon it should be.

Damn and bloody blast............

[sbgrace]

Do you cosleep with the baby? Do they look like bedbug bites? http://hotels.about.com/od/hotelsecr.../Bedbug-Bites/

[momofmine]

Yeah, sounds like it could be bed bugs, because you don't realize you are getting bitten! ugh, it sounds like you are miserable!

We also got ringworm around here from a stray cat, but it stayed in one spot. Took forever to go away, but it finally did, but it never spread from the original spot where the kids came in contact with the stray cat.

[tireesix]

No, definitely not bed bugs, the bumps on my hands look kinda like warts but aren't and as they group together it causes this nasty, brownish, leathery effect. I still have a slight rash over most of me but its worse in the folds of my elbows, ear lobes, backs of knees, shoulders, ankles, feet and hands, sod it, its pretty much everywhere.

This is really starting to suck in a major way BUT the new ointment does seem to be helping a bit as do the new anti histamines..........

[balancedmama]

I really do think that sounds like scabies or some other kind of mite. They can be hard to eradicate.

[Oubliette8]

I'd try looking up zoonontic diseases from cats. A quick google search gives a lot of results.

my first thought was flea bites or ringworm. I would still get it tested for ringworm, but it doesn't sound like what your describing. This link says that cats can carry a form of feline cowpox that can be transmitted to humans- http://www.messybeast.com/zoonoses.htm That seems to most closely match your description.

There's also a type of parasite that is found in cat feces that can cause skin rashes, although it doesn't quite match your description- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutaneous_larva_migrans

Cats can also carry and transmit MRSA which can sometimes have a rash-like appearance.

It appears you can also get several types of mites from cats that cause the rash you descrbe, including Scabies but also Cheyletiellosis
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheyletiella )

This might sound odd, but have you called your veterinarian? The might know more about various zoonotic diseases cats can transmit than your average doctor. If its something common to your area, they may even have had other clients with similar situations. I would make it clear you aren't asking for a diagnosis, but you need some ideas on what the doctor should test for because so far, they don't know. asking to see a dermatologist, if you can, might also help.

[tireesix]

Thankyou!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its really weird, its stopped on my feet kinda, they are still itchy but my hands are burning, ears aren't so bad now but my body is getting worse again.

My 4 year old is turning into a tomato, she literally had a few red patches yesterday morning and is now covered, having to get her an emergency apoointment.

Thing is, its affecting each of us differently. My 1 year old doesn't have it at all now.

This is why I can't beliee its a mite thing, the way it spreads, the fact my 1 year old has beaten (and its improving for my DH) and yet suddenly affecting DD2....... DD1 is still fine. Mites etc are supposed to be really infectious yet we have one child who hasn't been touched by it even though she is in regular contact with us, will come and lie on our bed etc and the baby has gotten better????????? And she was REALLY bad at one point.

I have spoken to vets on numerous occasions who have all said that most little critters associated with cats are species specific and as a result, its usually a self limiting thing. Infestation with other critters is really rare over here but, I was told to use Frontline Combo because thats pretty effective at zapping most infestations (like the flaky skin one, chitters, fleas etc) and also works in the environment. We have 4 cats in total now, all have been done with Frontline Combo and I have made a point of allowing them on the bed etc because just by touching the cats, the critters should PERISH.....

Everywhere has been thoroughly sprayed, we don't have carpets to worry about, just a few cushions on the floor and our beds, everything else has been washed and tumble dried and we had 3 bloody weeks of the stupid scabies treatment.

The GP says it looks nothing like scabies more bacterial, another doc says its hand excema (hahahahaha) and another doc just doesn't believe me (I went in when it first started itching, there were no bumps to begin with, it was just intensely itchy and DH was the same but then, this is a doc who doesn't believe I suffer chronic pain, just thinks I am a drug addict, she is the one who prescribed scabies treatment apparently 'to make me happy', she is a top notch bitch).

On the DH it looked more like bites on his body but his hands are similar to mine and what I have on my body looks very different to DH, mine is an awful lot of small bumps, a very fine, close together rash where as the DH had a spaced, large bump thing going on.....

I am waiting for DD2 to wake, I am going to see how she is, if she is still bad I am taking her straight to A+E today and see if we get anywhere over there.

[tireesix]

OK. took our stray to a different vet who actually did a skin scrape for us (the other vet insisted the cat just had a flea allergy and wouldn't do anything more), turns out our stray (called Wretch-Ed) has Sarcoptic and Dermodectic mange. Apparently this is what was causing our problems.

Wretch is now on his second week of Ivermectin injections and his skin is clearing up amazingly well, he has started gaining weight and his fur is looking and feeling a lot better too BUT the other effect is that our rashes are going now as well and really, we are all heading back to normal.

So, as I suspected, despite the first vet and my docs decision that it wasn't the cat, it turns out it was.

I have no idea how long Wretch has suffered with this but judging by his condition, it must have been a good while and I feel awful for him, we suffered a couple of months with it and it was horrible so how bad must it have been for him? He was forever scratching and chewing himself until he bled, his fur was all falling out, he was covered in scabs, flaking skin and just seemed to ooze blood out of every pore. No wonder the poor little critter wasn't gaining weight.

Anyway, last week he was under 2.9 kg, this week when weighed he was just over 3.3 kg (think its kg), so I am a very happy bunny and even happier now that I am not itching like crazy (as is the rest of the family).

[ttcintexas]

What an ordeal! I am so glad that your family, and your cat, are on the mend. I think I would have gone out of my mind.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I knew humans could get mange but never thought about mentioning it to you. I am so glad you got an answer and you all can rest easy now.

[Oubliette8]

Originally Posted by MCatLvrMom2A&X

I knew humans could get mange but never thought about mentioning it to you. I am so glad you got an answer and you all can rest easy now.

In humans sarcoptic mange is called Scabies and it was mentioned by other posters a few times

[tireesix]

Thing is, ours didn't look like scabies. Numerous docs looked and all said it wasn't scabies so I don't know what was going on, maybe we were just being bitten by the demodectic ones because from what I can gather, the contact dermatitis we suffered can be sparked off from bites but the demodectic mites.

It was all a bit weird, but its over!!!!!