Lip Fold Dermatitis

[Guelder Rose]

Grace had her first bout of this early in the year and also suffered from it being infected with anti-biotic resistant bacteria - took ages to clear up (several weeks of anti-biotics and topical treatment)!  I was keeping her hair ultra short under her chin - but I forgot about the daily checking and cleaning when the heart issue came up - and now she has the dermatitis back.

I have cleaned her mouth with dilated hibi-scrub and need to shave the hair again.  How can I stop this in its tracks as I really don't want her to get it infected again?

I have thornits, but have no idea whether I should use that to dry the area or how to use it?

I have some apple cider vinegar, but again, not sure if I should use this or how to use it?

Any advice would be appreciated - I think the hibi-scrub is probably the best way of cleaning the area morning and night, but how can I promote this to heal before it gets out of hand?

Poor Grace currently has another flare up of her skin allergies and she really doesn't need this as well

[aljeana]

I do the same keep hair short & wipe with hib-scrub my vet suggested vasaline applied to the area but he did give me some steriod cream as use as an when she starts rubbing her mouth along the floor.

But its keeping it clean & dry that helps most so I use baby cotton buds to clean the area so can get into the folds better make sure I dry area the apply cream or vasaline

[Mari]

Have you considered surgery? We struggled for months. Painful treatments with antibiotic creams and hibiscrub. My happy cocker was slowly getting more depressed. Eventually I changed vets to get a second opinion because someone on here mentioned surgery as an option. He cut away the infected tissue and voila, the day after surgery I had my happy girl back. 6 years (I think) on and we have not had any flare ups...because there is no longer a fold there to get infected I usually don't like surgey if there are medical options available. But this is not particularly invasive as it is only removing some skin. Also the area is well vascularised so healing is fast. I'm thinking she is high risk for recurring infections if she has allergies. Cleaning with hibiscrub and keeping it dry seems like a good plan until you can contact the vet on monday.

[Guelder Rose]

My vet did mention the lip fold surgery but as he said, Grace had never suffered before from this issue and her lip folds are really small compared to most Cockers.  He said surgery was an option but that she was a long way off going down that road.  It took a long time to heal because of the anti biotic resistant bug that was in it, but I took my eye off this area recently and that is why this has happened - I should have cut the hair back about two weeks ago and I should have been giving her a proper clean up and inspection each day - I was so worked up about her heart issue that I forgot.  I'm going to call the vet this afternoon when they open to see if they have anything that might help more than just Hibiscrub.   

[Patp]

Wash with hibiscrub dry thoroughly then put some thornit on a cotton wool ball and dab it on.

[Guelder Rose]

Wash with hibiscrub dry thoroughly then put some thornit on a cotton wool ball and dab it on.

Thank you Patp!
We went to the vet last night and are due back on Monday morning - I've managed to clip the hair a bit more and her left side looks good - her right side has red areas that are moist.  Obviously I'm just wanting to catch this before it gets bad as I don't want her on medication again and I will try the thornits today.
I've just ordered some wrinkle balm from the natural dog company - the intention being to use this once she is healed to try and help prevent another flare up - has anyone else tried this product?

[Patp]

Not heard of it but in my opinion it needs to be kept dry so that bacteria doesn't grow.

[Guelder Rose]

I used Thornits yesterday and there was no sign of any pus today and the area seems a bit drier - there is one small area that is still red and angry so I've put some more Thornits on that area this morning.  Fingers crossed this heals up - not sure if I will use the balm now as I would agree that we want the area to be dry not moist, but I can probably use the balm on any hot spots she gets on her tummy so it won't go to waste!

[rubyduby]

I am having exactly the same problem with my girl , she has quite strong folds , though at 7 she has done well no problems till nowand have been thro anti/bs hibiscrub, etc...didnt know you could use Thornits around the mouth , what happens when they lick it , thought it was quite 'bad' stuff???...She is difficult to manage as she wont keep her head still, obviously sore at both sides , so impossible to trim hair very short

[Guelder Rose]

I am having exactly the same problem with my girl , she has quite strong folds , though at 7 she has done well no problems till nowand have been thro anti/bs hibiscrub, etc...didnt know you could use Thornits around the mouth , what happens when they lick it , thought it was quite 'bad' stuff???...She is difficult to manage as she wont keep her head still, obviously sore at both sides , so impossible to trim hair very short

Exactly the same with Grace, absolutely no problems until she was 7 - she had pus as well so a swab was needed to establish what bacteria was causing the problem so we could treat appropriately. 

I have found that if I use a cotton bud to apply the treatment it is highly unlikely that she will ingest anything - she can't lick under her chin thankfully!  Also, by using a cotton bud I am able to target the specific area that is sore rather than end up with it all over her and I remove any excess.  Thus far her second bout of this is healing nicely and I only have one small spot left - I have used Thornits a couple of times, but mainly a cream from my vet. 

I'm using paper towels to press gently under her chin each time she drinks to keep the area drier throughout the day.  I'm also giving her a proper clean up every time we come back from a walk as that is when I find she is most dirty with quite a bit of saliva and general street dirt caught there!  After talking to my vet, I cut down on washing with hibi-scrub to a max of once per day if required as he said this could actually irritate the area or more likely result in me constantly disturbing the healing process.

Trimming the hair ultra short in this area also helps - Grace didn't like this, but after several training sessions with treats she now accepts it and it makes so much easier to see exactly where the sore areas are and also helps in keeping the area dry.

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

When Charlie had lip fold problems I used to put apple cider vinegar on a cotton wool pad and wipe around his mouth (maybe twice a day) until the raw redness went. Now as a preventative, I wipe his mouth with apple cider vinegar daily.

[rubyduby]

I had thought of cider vinegar maybe with honey, but thought that might sting?

[Guelder Rose]

When Charlie had lip fold problems I used to put apple cider vinegar on a cotton wool pad and wipe around his mouth (maybe twice a day) until the raw redness went. Now as a preventative, I wipe his mouth with apple cider vinegar daily.

I have a bottle of apple cider vinegar with mother and wasn't sure whether to use it in the way you are or as an additive to drinking water - I think, once she is fully healed I will try this as a preventative in the same way you do.  Grace also has skin problems - again, this only started at age 7 and she has had the allergy testing which highlighted various foods and plants as being triggers - she currently has a bout of the itchies and despite a steroid shot and anti-histamines and bathing (which worked previously) she is still itchy!  I'm going to see the vet again this coming week - it's so frustrating as right up to her 7th birthday she did not have a single skin issue!

[rubyduby]

Ironically Ruby is suffering from skin rashes at the moment and she has eye problems for three days the 2nd eyelid covered her eyes so completely we couldn tput ointment in. Fortunately now after anti/bs and eye treatment she is back to normal , she has this problem virtually everytime she goes out, although not usually as bad....trying to use the 'tears' has she does suffer dry ey, hopefully this will help lubricate the eye and flush out nasties before they get hold.
The vet has put her on Piriton as he thinks she is prone to these things...so time will tell
 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

When Charlie had lip fold problems I used to put apple cider vinegar on a cotton wool pad and wipe around his mouth (maybe twice a day) until the raw redness went. Now as a preventative, I wipe his mouth with apple cider vinegar daily.

I have a bottle of apple cider vinegar with mother and wasn't sure whether to use it in the way you are or as an additive to drinking water - I think, once she is fully healed I will try this as a preventative in the same way you do.  Grace also has skin problems - again, this only started at age 7 and she has had the allergy testing which highlighted various foods and plants as being triggers - she currently has a bout of the itchies and despite a steroid shot and anti-histamines and bathing (which worked previously) she is still itchy!  I'm going to see the vet again this coming week - it's so frustrating as right up to her 7th birthday she did not have a single skin issue!

I use it that way as he's not a big drinker (and he's fussy) so doubt he'd drink it.