Crusty mouth bits

[Bounty]

My Hamish tends to get little bits of food stuck in his lower mouth fur. 

Its hard to explain but if I stroke him on his chin (but near his mouth) there are little hard bits of food there.  Now I do remove them but he HATES it and wriggles and jigs and tries to get away.  This does not hurt him but he gets upset and I hate to have to do it.  Sometimes a little bit of whisker will come away with the food and I am sure that is not nice for him.



My Maggie (RIP) never had this issue so its a new one on me.  I don't like leaving them there as I don't think its hygenic for him or nice to feel.  Plus if I don't take them away they build up.

Does anyone else get this problem with their cocker and if so, how do you deal with it?

thanks all x

[Nicola]

Because of his allergies I have to wipe Rodaidh's mouth with a damp piece of kitchen roll after he eats his kibble in the mornings to get rid of any residue left around his mouth. It only takes 2 seconds and he barely notices me doing it so you could maybe try doing the same with Hamish, it should be easier to clean his mouth while the food residue is still fresh rather than when it's dried on.

If it's on his chin rather than around his mouth and if bits of whisker are coming out when you pull at the 'bits' there's a possibility it could be something in his skin like enlarged hair follicles or small spots or something

[ladylola]

Hmmmm, If it is just  dried on food, wet a piece of cotton wool and remove it with this.

I have Two dogs at the moment with Antibiotic resistant lipfold pyoderma and they have this crustiness round the mouth.

Does he have a horrible smell around his mouth [indicating infection]  If not and it's just food the wet cotton wool should suffice.

[Bounty]

I will try the cotton wool after he has eaten.  thanks so much.

But now you mention it, on his upper lip right near his nose he has a crusty scab thing that I do not touch but it won't seem to heal either.

Maybe this is the sort of thing you mean.  I will maybe take him to the vet I think to get it checked out. 

[ladylola]

Lip fold infections are below the lower lips, where the skin folds, Don't know what the one you have near his nose can be.

If it's not healing, I would get it checked out.

[Bounty]

I have had another look and can see the sores on his lower lips and the puss coming out of them.

It has definately got worse and I am now 95% sure that he has lip fold hypoderma which I now feel terrible about as I just thought he was a messy eater 

Poor little Hamish...off to the vets we go.

Thanks for all your help on here you guys are great . 

[paulette]

My little honey suffered with this problem, I had to clean her mouth four times a day and it was very smelly, she has had lip fold operation, but I still clean her mouth after she has eaten, and we clean her teeth once a day to keep the bacteria levels in her mouth with logic toothpaste. Hope you get to the bottom of Hamish problem and he feels better soon.  Big kiss from Honey xxx   

[Bounty]

thanks Honey (and Paulette) - wow 4 times a day is an awful lot!

I hope he wont need this, I dont mind cleaning after he has eaten and morning and night but the fourth one might be tricky! I hope the vet gives him some antibotics to sort him out.

It does not seem to be upsetting him which is at least something and there is no nasty smell YET 

[Bounty]

he has the lip fold thing and has been given antibiotics and also some hibiscus (?) stuff to swab on his mouth and some ear drops.

He cried when I tried to do all this and I feel like the worse mummy in the world 

[Sarah.H]

he has the lip fold thing and has been given antibiotics and also some hibiscus (?) stuff to swab on his mouth and some ear drops.

He cried when I tried to do all this and I feel like the worse mummy in the world 

I think you mean Hibiscrub  . Millie has just got this and I was thinking the smell was her anal glands so I'm a bad mum too  . I've got a little routine now that she gets a small treat after each step so she now thinks she can put up with the whole thing as long as she gets a bit more grub  . Thank doG for greedy cockers!

[paulette]

I am so glad that the vet has been able to find Hamish's problem, I had to clean Honeys mouth for four months and we had antibiotic for four months as well, so I was so please when Honey have her operation, it had to be done twice as the first vet did a very poor job of it, the second time it was perfect but Honey was so depressed and took four days before she would eat, that is it now no more operation, she had to have five different prosedgers done, now she is as fit as a flea, a darling of a little girl. Keep us updated on how Hamish's gets on. big kiss from Honey xx   

[Bounty]

yes that is it, Hibiscrub!    I just feel so bad for him as it cannot be pleasant.  he does get a biscuit after so I hope that softens the blow a bit for him.

I dont know whether he will need any ops.  If he does he is insured so it will be ok and I will just go with what the vet suggests.  As you say in a way it solved honey's problem so it may in the end be the best solution for Hamish too.  he does not smell bad actually but maybe we have caught it early.  it also worse on the left side than the right for some reason.

four months seems a long time but I guess he will get used to it and be less scared the longer it goes on. Poor lad   


thanks for all your support and I will keep you updated.  he has a follow up at the vets on 19th feb.

[EmmaA]

poor little lad 
I hope the hibiscrub and antib's start doing their job. I am sure he will get used having the area cleaned with time