Maddoxx: Bathing, dry skin and oily fur
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 11:40 am
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
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