They may use UV light to try to identify fungal spores in your cat's hair.
They also may take a hair or skin sample or conduct a culture test.
Once ringworm has been determined as the cause of the infection, you can begin treating your cat..
Miller, the veterinarian may examine the cat's coat with a Wood's lamp—an ultraviolet light under which a fungus-coated hair will glow with a yellowish-green color.
The hairs that fluoresce in this manner are then examined microscopically for specific spores and other fungal characteristics..
Fungal culture of hairs and scrapings from the affected areas is the most accurate method, but it can take up to 3 weeks to get the results.
A positive result obtained with an ultraviolet lamp may allow early diagnosis, but the results are not always reliable and need to be verified with a fungal culture..
The typical presentation of ringworm in cats is regular and circular alopecia, with hair breakage, desquamation and sometimes an erythematous margin and central healing (Chermette et al., 2008; Moriello and DeBoer, 2012).
The lesions are sometimes very small, but occasionally may have a diameter of 4-6 cm..
