Advising Clients on Dealing with Dermatophyte Lesions

Valerie Fadok, DVM, PhD, DACVD, dermatologist in the Veterinary Specialty Team at Zoetis, discusses the best approach to advising a client who believes their pet may have infected them with dermatophytosis.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“If clients are infected with dermatophytes, the best advice [you] can give them as a veterinarian is to see their physician. I usually ask them to see a dermatologist, and my rationale in doing that is I have met a few clients who had kittens, and [while] the kittens had no lesions, [one of] the people developed a skin lesion and they went to, perhaps, a general practitioner who wasn’t interested in skin or just was looking at the fact that the family got a new kitten, they wanted to blame the kitten. The kitten didn’t even have dermatophytes.

I think there’s some value in seeing a dermatologist, but at least see your family physician because they can write a prescription that is ideal for use in humans.”