Lip Crease Issues

Ok... this had been an ongoing issue with my girl Marz in her senior years before she passed. Now I've got the same thing going with Arez. They both had been to the vet over it. One gave me Surolan and the other gave me a cream type ointment. I forget what it was called but it was sort of a triple anti bacterial/antifungal type cortizone cream. The main issue with both recommended products is that they worked brilliantly, until I stopped using them. Of course the vet didn't encourage long term use of either. :rolleyes: For a long while, I was using baby but cream, and it was keeping it clear as long as I did it daily but recently it stopped working. :mad: I switched to polysporin and it's done diddley. I was considering switching her to raw just incase it was connected to her diet or immune system since she's an old lady now at eleven. She is on a good quality food {TOTW} although I'm going to switch her as her coats getting a bit dry . I have no issue applying something daily, as long as it's working and safe for long term use. I figured I'd ask here to see if anyones had any similar experiences or if anyones got any suggestions for ointments that are safe for long term use. I got a few ideas I'm going to try out, but I figured the more imput the better. My poor piggy. Keep in mind this is WITH polysporin applied twice daily.





This sides not quite as bad..

 

Stainless steel.

 

that does look like bacterial or something food related maybe. With any dog that has ongoing health issues you are best off to feed a food (or make your own) with high levels of antioxidants to help the immune system.

The commercial food with the most antioxidants is Nutro Ultra Superfood Blend, it has like 11 different superfoods in it. .. otherwise feeding foods like spinach, pomegranate, tomato, pumpkin etc or other "superfoods" can help boost your dogs immune system. Whenever fighting infection I have always boosted superfood intake and noticed a good bit of improvement from it.

 

I remembered the name of the other cream I used before. It was Panolog, and just like the Surolan, it worked awesome, until I stopped using it after the alloted two weeks. :rolleyes:

I was actually considering going raw with her... or at least the safest version we can do of it in a household with an immune compromised child in it {ie no bones/carcasses, just mush in a bowl} in the hopes that maybe boosting her immune system would help. It'd rather get to the root of the problem instead of just treating the symptom that just keeps coming back anyway. :mad:

 

Oh ya... forgot to say, she is on Taste Of The Wild Salmon, although I was going to change anyway as she seems to be getting a bit of a dry coat on it. It was doing great with her for awhile but not so much lately, but it's not like she's on Snappy Kibble or something. lol

 

go to a drug store and see if you can buy human grade emu oil, in australia older people use it for joint pain, it is also full of natural oils that will help the coat and boost the skin quality of an older dog, im not sure about the millions of food brands you have in the states but i know that eukanuba, hill science diet, and royal canin all have specialist dry foods that cater for any skin type problem, i would only buy these super premium brands as they have put the money into the research for issues like this.
it may have started of in the older skin and now just stay because of the dogs old immune system,.
or get another diagnosis from a different vet.
good luck hope this helps you out.

ps if you cant find the emu oil in any stores get on the net, ive seriosly seen the stuff do wonders will all sorts of dogs. its something that i think every dog owner should use all the time for the health of their animals.
oh and all you do is put a teaspoon of it in each meal when you feed.

 

Hmmm.... I'll try a bowl change. Ya.. I'll be getting on changing her food right away.

Actually, I'm in Canada junkyard. I don't think Emu oil would be too hard to find around here. There are actually ALOT of emu farms around her for some weird reason! lol I remember someone else really raving about how great it was.

I'm thinking of trying out the homeopathic vet again that helped me out when Marz had cancer. I just have to try something different than what these vets are recommending as it's only a temporary fix. I think I've seen like FIVE different vets about it over the years, with Marz and now with Arez. It's getting really frustrating. :mad:

 

My brother's older Springer Spaniel, Chivas, had a very similar issue -- the dog drooled a lot because he LOVED to chew everything and his lip folds were always very moist, resulting in sores like the ones pictured. My brother tried quite a few ointments but nothing ever seemed to work. Then a vet suggested trying Sea Breeze Astringent several times a day. The Sea Breeze helped dry out the lip folds and the sores gradually healed up and went away. It's *not* an overnight fix and you have to stay on top of it, but it did work for him.

Best of luck! I know my brother was very frustrated trying to fix this issue.

 

Thanx Marinepits! I have a feeling nothing is an overnight fix with this issue. The weird thing is, she isn't even very lippy. I'd almost expect this out of Tank as he's got lips to spare! lol Marz wasn't very lippy either and she had the same issue, but they are related so that no doubt has something to do with it. She is a neurotic tire chewer so I thought maybe the rubber was causing some irritation, but Marz wasn't a big chewer at all and she had the same issue. Frustrating is right! :mad:

 

Chivas didn't have any problems when he was younger, only as he got into his senior years. My bro was pretty strict about getting the dog's teeth cleaned and that also seemed to help. The sores tended to come back when Chivas' teeth got really gunky. I can't remember what else he used to do, but I'll ask him when I see him tomorrow.

 

Ya... same deal. It started happening when they were seniors. :confused:

 

A good food to try (and easy to find in canada) if you want a good fish based food is Acana Pacifica . . all fish and fruit!

 

Hmmmmmmm........ I'll have to see if I can find that Acana. I like that it's not quite as high protien as some of the grain free foods. I'm nervous to try the foods that are 40% protein. I tried the EVO and it did NOT go over well. Explosive craps all around! lol I figured it was maybe too rich?? I'm trying to find something without any wheat, barley, etc... as since my daughter was diagnosed with celiac I want to try to find gluten free food for the animals as well as she likes to help feed everyone. That's not so hard for the cats and dogs, but try to find a gluten free bunny food! :o

 

Just thought I'd update. So after... OMG..... I don't want to THINK about how much money, how many products.... how many cultures and runs of antibiotics... I think my awesome vet finally found something to fix this damn issue from hell!

http://www.drugs.com/vet/douxo-seborrhea-spot-on.html

Not only have the wounds closed up, the hair is growing back. We are SO thrilled!