When tiny kitten Mouse was brought to Dane County Humane Society (DCHS) by a community member last August, our Admitting team took him in for a medical exam right away. During this exam DCHS staff discovered that he had a problem – he glowed! The glowing was a result of the Wood’s Lamp test and meant that little Mouse had contracted a highly-transmittable disease called dermatophyte or ringworm.
Thanks to generous supporters like YOU, DCHS had the resources to care for Mouse and cure his ringworm!
In 2003, DCHS opened our ringworm treatment program, now housed in the Maddie’s Feline in Treatment (F.I.T.) Center, the first program in the world to treat cats with ringworm in a shelter environment. Many ringworm-positive animals are euthanized across the country because most shelters are not equipped to contain and treat this highly-contagious disease. However, thanks to the investment from our community, DCHS has been able to treat and heal over 1,100 cats diagnosed with ringworm since we began the F.I.T. program 15 years ago.
This program is housed in a separate building from our Main Shelter, providing a quarantined and low-stress environment for our cats to heal. Our F.I.T. Center is almost entirely run by volunteers who provide treatment, care and socialization for these cats. Many of our F.I.T. volunteers have been with us since the beginning of the program and completed thousands of “dips” for cats in our care. Cats stay in the program an average of 50 days, being treated or “dipped” in a lime-sulfur dip twice a week and receiving oral anti-fungal medications. Be sure to view the video to see a few patients have their semiweekly treatments and Mouse's before and after photos.
Felines in treatment are able to “graduate” the program and be adopted after they have two negative fungal tests in a row to show they are ringworm-free. This year we have had 62 cats graduate from this program, and we hope Mouse, who has had a longer stay than usual of 95 days, will be number 63!
Your generosity supports the Feline’s in Treatment program and many other lifesaving programs. Donate today and your gift will be DOUBLED thanks to a generous matching gift of $30,000!
A very special thank you to Robert and Rhoda Bartholomew for their lead donation for the matching gift challenge this year and making this our largest matching gift ever!
Thank you for your patience! Due to all the wonderful generosity this Giving Tuesday, our donation form below may take a minute or two to load.
