For those who have read my posts, you are aware that Snowie, my four-year-old Lab, has suffered from itchy skin for most of his life. I have tried everything going in the hopes of finding something that works. I am sure that many of the things have contributed towards this point of providing Snowie relief, but I just have to share my latest success! About a month ago, Snowie's stomach was raging red and damp to the touch, probably from all his licking. He had licked so much on one side of his penis that the skin had thickened over time. I have no idea why I tried it, but I decided to rub some Milking Cream on his stomach one night. Milking Cream is the brand name for a lanolin cream with chlorohexidine, a disinfectant. It is used on infected cow udders, but when you start chatting to people, you find that everyone uses it for runner's chafe, cracked fingers in winter, lovely smooth arms, etc etc! Well, the next morning I was amazed that Snowie's stomach was almost a beige colour!!!!! I hadn't seen that normal skin in ages. So the next night I rubbed it on again -- he does love a massage, lies on his back in bliss! And interestingly, I noticed the next day that the blackened skin around his balls had lost some of the blackness. I've been rubbing it on almost every night, and sometimes during the day if I remember/have the time. And he has stopped the excessive licking of his stomach, those sopping sounds that keep us awake at night. I mentioned this to a vet I saw on Saturday (we were in for blood tests for epilepsy meds) and she recommended that Snowie is bathed twice a week until the itching stops, and then once a week thereafter forever. (I have written this as a response to another post, so apologies to those who are rereading this info again!) She said that the bacterial and fungal load on the skin of an allergic dog is higher than a normal dog, and that bathing brings them relief by removing the bacteria and fungus. She recommended a vet's prescribed medicated shampoo, and lo and behold, the active ingredient is chlorohexidine. She'd never heard of Milking Cream -- she was a locum and I do believe not local. (She had a British accent, and we are in Cape Town.) We bathed Snowie on Saturday -- took my husband with the treats to coax him to stay in the bath (a plastic tub on the patio) and me to do the lathering up and rinsing. That night we all slept through the night -- incredible! No waking up to hear a dog scratching and licking. And again last night. And he has not been scratching so much during the day, it is a relief for us all. It boggles the mind that my regular vet did not recommend a disinfectant shampoo. I was rather reluctant to go in when my vet was away and to see a locum (who I was worried would be inexperienced), but this time a locum really helped. The locum recommended a shampoo with both chlorohexidine (antibacterial) and an antifungal for malassezia, but there was none in stock that contained both. She said if his skin did not improve with just the antibacterial shampoo, to look for a shampoo with the antifungal in as well. Regarding shampooing, Snowie hates the hosepipe and the shower, and we do not have a bath in our house. I had read that bathing an itchy dog is good, and I have used a very gentle shampoo in the past, but it didn't bring the relief that the antibacterial shampoo has brought, and neither him nor me enjoyed having him entrapped between my legs while I hosed him down. But this time we went out and bought a plastic tub and he didn't mind it, so we are intent on doing this twice a week until he has total relief. Regarding his paws, he was still chewing those this morning. The shampoo must stay on for five minutes for the chlorohexidine to take effect, and that didn't happen while standing in the bath. So this morning I gave him a sponge-bath, just the paws, worked the lather into all the crevices on his feet, and I am AMAZED that he has not chewed his feet today!!!!!! For those of you with itchy dogs, I am sure you will understand my incredulity and amazement. I feel like what Archimedes must've felt like when he that Eureka moment!!!
I really am pleased for you, and for Snowie too, what a relief to find something that works and works well ! Its funny how we sometimes come across something purely by accident and it proves to be effective . My Sam has some seasonal allergies and we tried the shampoo from the Vets, he hated it and it didn't work, but raw virgin coconut oil has worked wonders for him , whatever floats your boat so to speak , very happy for you
I'm so happy that you have managed to find a solution. Hopefully your post will help others who have dogs with similar conditions Fingers crossed his skin will stay itch free and his licking will stop
That's great news for Snowie - how odd that a simple antiseptic cleared it up. You'd have thought a vet would of suggested it before! Well, it's great news for Snowie now anyway.
Kate, do you feed it to him or rub it on his skin? I give Snowie a teaspoon of coconut oil every evening (and myself, too -- it is delicious!). I did try rubbing it into his skin but it was very oily and left oily marks all over his bed. And because he likes the taste, it only encouraged him to lick more. I am really hoping the shampoo continues to work because I am pretty exhausted trying every new remedy that comes my way!
Great news Obi is itchy too and we have always used Malaseb shampoo, which has chlorhexidine in it and anti-fungals (miconazole) that target malassezia. Was this the recommended shampoo? If you can manage to leave it on for a full 10 minutes before rinsing off that's ideal - the 5 minutes is a minimum (but has obviously worked!). The shampoo has a residual effect, so even after the bath it continues to have some activity for 3-4 days. It's not just a simple antiseptic so any old antiseptic wash or cream without chlorhexidine won't substitute for it.
Well, I didn't mean "simple" as in anything would do - but chlorhexidine is a pretty common and basic (as in essential for basic health care) antiseptic - used in everything from mouthwashes to midwifery. For very good reasons, of course - it's effective.
Yes, true, very common, effective and available Just mentioned it in case anyone thought that an antibacterial action was enough for this kind of skin condition or that antibacterials types or forms are interchangeable.
Yes, that's the name she used -- Malaseb shampoo! They didn't have it in stock. The shampoo we bought is called Pyoderm by Virbac. I see on the label that is says it also treats fungal infections. We went to the beach yesterday evening and Snowie spent a lot of time in the sea. This morning he was back to scratching, not sure if it was the seawater or whether the effects of the shampoo had worn off. So we washed him again this morning -- yes, needed husband with treats, took two full-sized adults to wash a Labrador!!!! Hopefully Snowie will get used to a bath and not keep running away to shake off the water and rub his face against the wall. I left on the shampoo for longer this time as you recommended.
I'm so pleased you have found something that has brought him such relief....itching must be so miserable for them x
We find that when Obi swims in lake water (ie not fresh tap water) it makes him itch and he needs a steroid tablet to settle it down. Lochan (one of the moderators who is also a vet) mentioned that water makes the skin more porous to irritating agents (like pollen) and that can increase the effects of the agent. Plus I think our lake water has pollen and stuff floating on it. After a swim in suspect water rinsing off with tap water then drying as thoroughly as possible can help, we find. Keeping the skin dry (other than when shampooing) is important. You can over-bathe/shampoo. Personally I'd limit it to 2 times a week if at all possible, as the vet has suggested initially. You might be able to buy Malaseb on the internet (maybe from Australia where pet shops sell it). The Pyoderm might be all you need though
I must admit that when we get home from a walk that has included a swim in the sea, I am lazy to rinse Snowie off because he just hates it, makes a big show of escaping as soon as he sees me reach for the hosepipe. And I myself just love the sensation of salt water on my skin, so I've never felt the need to rinse him off. But point taken -- if it reduces the itch, I will persevere. Interestingly, when I part Snowie's fur after he's been in water, the fur close to the skin is dry, as if water never even penetrated that far! He has very thick fur on the furry parts. The vet we saw suggested bathing 2-3 times a week. I was thinking we'd do just 2 times because it is very time-consuming, but because she said 2-3 times, that is why I bathed him this morning even though he'd last been bathed on Saturday. She did mention it might dry out his skin, although if you read the Pyoderm insert, it says that is designed to hydrate the skin! Marketing speak? The proof will be in Snowie's skin... Fascinating about water making the skin more porous. Of course I had to go read up on it! (I should be working!!) And, yes, hydrated skin is more penetrable than dry skin, although it does depend on the compound that is "trying" to penetrate.
It is! And for us, too, just seeing him spend so much awake time -- and time when he should be sleeping -- scratching and licking and chewing.
Tummys, paws, underarms and eyes are most exposed when a dog gets wet as they're not as fur-protected. So even though water might not penetrate the well-furred parts, it's definitely soaking the skin in the less furry parts which can also become the focus for itching/licking. Interestingly, we don't have an itchiness problem after exposure to salt water, only lake water. The sea is also 2 hours from here, and I expect that our dog's allergens don't live there. Obi improves if we have a week away at the coast. Do you notice if Snowie's itchiness is better or worse if you go to a different region?
Aarrggh!!! Last night Snowie was chewing his feet and licking is stomach/groin incessantly -- felt like we were both awake all night. The shampoo was too good to be true! This after we shampooed him again yesterday morning. This morning I rubbed in the Milking Cream (lanolin and chlorohexidine) on both his tummy and all paws, although he loves the cream and tries to lick it straight out of the tub!! He also licked it off his paws and off my hands while I was trying to apply it. But he seemed to be less itchy during the morning, slept a lot, probably exhausted from being up all night!! I have no idea what could have caused the itching although I do wonder if it was any of the following: yesterday we went to the mall where his favourite shop is -- the pet supplies shop! Dragged me there, knows the way, that we must first get in the lift to go downstairs. Has to sniff every single item in the shop, all the bags of dog food, the toys, and especially the tubs of bones on the FLOOR! The shop assistant said they have lots of "shoplifters"!! He always has to have a nibble on the smoked ostrich bones, so I wonder: could that have been what set off the itching? I am sure they have lots of preservatives. Or was it the walk on the promenade, huge lawns, perhaps there is some chemical on those lawns? Or all the morsels he scavenges on the lawns -- picnickers tend to discard their chicken bones and bits of food all over the place, and this is an off leash area so he has free reign to scavenge to his heart's content! Or was it because I dissuaded him from swimming after his walk (he usually jumps into the swimming pool when we get home) because I wanted to retain his lovely silky fur post bath. So he might've been hot and got itchy. I don't know! It is so frustrating to have taken all those steps backwards again. For the past two years we have taken a holiday house at the beach (tiny holiday town) for a week over the summer holidays (December here in South Africa) and have noticed that Snowie has been itch-free there. During that week he is permanently soaked in seawater and sand, although we did try to towel off as much sand as possible before coming into the house. We'd take him for three long walks a day (on the beach, dirt roads, through native vegetation) and included a lot of swimming (ball retrieves) in the lagoon, so he slept a lot back at the holiday house. And the floors were screed/concrete and very cold, so he was always cool. Our own house is just minutes from the sea and only an hour and a half away from this beach holiday town, but of course we live in a built-up area with all the pollutants of modern living.
Did you try changing his food? Our guy had major itching - Malaseb really helped - but the only thing that both got his coat looking great again and stopping the itching was an elimination diet and hydrolyzed protein food. Not easy to do, especially with a young guy, but it might help.
Yes, we have tried the food route, although not hydrolysed protein. He is on raw meat and bones, been on that since he was about 6 months. He is now four years old. Last year we tried elimination and fed him only duck on our vet's recommendation. Eliminating chicken and pork seemed to be very beneficial. But he didn't do great on duck so he is now on venison, beef, sheep, and fish only (sounds like a lot!), which seems to agree with him a lot more. However, what seems to have done the trick of late is using Bravecto. For the first time in years he is relatively itch-free. Perhaps he was being bitten by something although I never found a flea or flea dirt on him, and while Bravecto only states its for fleas and ticks, I wonder if it can work on mites? I have written about this on another thread...
There is a study of 16 dogs using Bravecto v Advocate which suggests it may help in cases of general demodicosis, also known as demodectic mange or red mange. The results for Bravecto were not significantly better than using Advocate http://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-015-0775-8
@MaccieD That must be the study that was being referenced that I referred to in my other post. Very interesting, thanks for finding it and posting it. BTW I clicked the link but it gave a page not found error. I googled the title and found the study on another site: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4394402/
