Maddoxx: Bathing, dry skin and oily fur

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NanouetJon
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Maddoxx: Bathing, dry skin and oily fur

Post by NanouetJon »

Maddoxx is my 3 year old male (neutered) black chow.

I am concerned with his skin, fur and such. He grows a beautiful perfect black coat, he is a wonder to look at. Except, his fur get a popcorn smell and you can feel a waxy feeling in his coat (usually, on his back rear)

So I bath him. I do have experience bathing chows, my family showed them when I was younger. And I have a second chow Marru who baths without issue.

Once bath Maddoxx is fine for 12 hours and then gets itchy and scratches. I mean scratches, to the point you can see how unnerved he is, he goes into the bedroom and lays down and tries to sleep. You can see him actively trying to stop. Once he start scratching we have to put an E-Collar on him becuase he has scratched and chewed to blood. During this time I put him on fish oil and after 2 weeks things calm down and we can take off the e-collar. Even 2 weeks my vet thinks is extremly long to be in an ecollar.

So what have we done:

We have tried two diets the vet suggested for food allergies. He currently has Blue Buffalo, fish, no grain. He is fine on it (Pre bath) We have determined with the vet that it is not food related.

We have tried bathing him with Furminator, 4 different vet recommended shampoos and conditioners, guinea pig shampoo, baby shampoo, oatmeal shampoo.
No help

I have tried:
blow drying no heat
blow drying with high speed blow dryer ( mondo - lave-pitou)
Towel drying and letting air dry on warm summer day
Professional groomers ( twice)

Each and every time - Still has issues.

My theory,

As a puppy I bathed him and had no issues. The issues started after I moved ( Ontario to Quebec ) and had him neutered. He also burns the grass when he pees now. I think this is a PH problem and that since the neuter he is unbalanced. His skins produces excess oil.

My vets are stumped and offer me new shampoo to try, but I am tired of guessing. I am also very guilty after washing him because he looks so uncomfortable. But the oily, waxy fur is smelly and if not cleaned will cause other problems.

I need your ideas and suggestions please
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Rory's Dad
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Re: Maddoxx: Bathing, dry skin and oily fur

Post by Rory's Dad »

i dont have anything real concrete to advise, but i think you should look back before the bathing. The oily, waxy fur and smell is not, from my experience, normal in itself. You may be right on the PH balance, but i cant say with any sort of certainty. Just sounds like its on the right line. Hate to suggest something that will cost you more, but perhaps a specialist is in order. As a stopgap measure, perhaps a waterless shampoo, just for the in between.
wokman
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Re: Maddoxx: Bathing, dry skin and oily fur

Post by wokman »

My late Chow, Kamie had an oily coat almost her entire life until her last year. Kamie also had a higher PH in her urine and was put on Science Diet CD. After the second year on the CD diet also her last year, the excess oil was gone. She did not have an oder and did not chew or scratch the way you describe. Find an animal dermatologist to sort through what has happened to Maddoxx to this point and determine if it is internal or environmental. Poor thing; hope you can find a solution for Maddoxx.
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chowpups
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Re: Maddoxx: Bathing, dry skin and oily fur

Post by chowpups »

Sounds like yeast infection to me. Watch sugars and starches in. Treats and food. Google yeast infection see if it's sounds like your pup then ask the Vet too! My daughters shar pei had feet she said smelled like FRITOS, and that's one of the signs the vet said!!Along with the itching and waxy feeling and a few other things that poor dog had! ?his immune system was all off ..
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NanouetJon
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Re: Maddoxx: Bathing, dry skin and oily fur

Post by NanouetJon »

UPDATE:

We went to vet and had a checkup and to take another try at this.

We did skin scrapping to look for yeast. The results were that there was very little indication of yeast on the surface.

So we tried a different track. Instead of looking for allergies we tried a new shampoo that was made for dry flaky skin (dog head and shoulders). Maddoxx had alot of dandruff in his coat.

DOUXO - Seborrhea Shampoo

Results:

He was still itchy BUT..

Far less than normal. Instead of the maddening stares and refusing to move because it so darn itchy. He is normal with a cone on. Much more improved than ALL the other shampoo. Its day 3 and much improved. We may have a winner here!
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NanouetJon
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Re: Maddoxx: Bathing, dry skin and oily fur

Post by NanouetJon »

I have the best Vet in the world. Called me to see how Maddoxx was doing.

So a 12 days ago, I gave Maddoxx a bath. New Shampoo from vet. Douxo Sebhorrhea Shampoo.
Day 1 Maddoxx was itchy but not shaking itchy, normally he hides for a few days, laying in his nite spot and gets over the urge to scratch. He is in Elizavethan collar and socks on his back feet.
So its better than normal but still not good.
Day 3 Maddoxx twists in such a fashion and grabs his tail, gets a hot spot and chews it till it bleeds before we realize. Now a bigger cone.
Day 7 back to the vet - Antibiotics and Cortizone to remove the itch and get him through the crisis. We also get a blood test for his Thyrois, TS and 6 panel. She also gives me Douxo in pippettes to add to his coat every 4 days for 3 treatments.
Good news: His dandruff is under control but the greasy feel is coming back just ever so slightly.
Day 12 (today) Thyroid comes back as fine. His results are great and no where near the grey or thryroid issue zone.

New strategy is going to be changing his food, Suggestion of Royal Canine Derma coat or something that will balance his PH. Every pee he takes burns my grass. The grass I don't care about, but I think it is a symptom.
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