Cocker Specific Discussion > Oldies (Over 9s)

Lip fold infection

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henrys mum:
Ive not been round for a while but wondered if you lovely people could help. Henry is nearing his 15th birthday. He had smelly breath for a while and was eventually diagnosed with a lip fold infection. He's had 34 days of a 36 day course of clarithromycin and ive been cleaning his lip folds with dilute Hibiscrub. We went back to the vet today and he says the infection hasn't cleared and he's taken a swab for antibiotic sensitivities. Can anyone suggest anything else i could do?
Thank you
Pat x

Mari:
If he is fit enough for it, you could consider surgery. It's a quick and permanent fix. If not, then I'd say you're already doing all that you can. Swab to make sure you're treating with the correct antibiotics is always recommended, sooner rather than later, so good that it is getting done!

Little things in day to day life is just using food and water bowls that kan be cleaned effectively every day. No plastic bowls as they kan have scratches that harbor bacteria. Wiping away food or pus of anything that collects in the lip folds. If he has any toys that he likes chewing or carrying then probably keep them as clean as possible too. Probably things you already know, but it's the only things I can think of.

Hope the results of the swab and culture gives you a more successful treatment! My girl was much younger when she had this, but after months of trying "everything", I finally decided to do the surgery. It's not particularly invasive as it is just removing the affected skin and closing with a few stitches. So really it comes down to the risk of anaesthesia. Recovery was nothing compared to the infection.

There are gels that contain clorhexidine too, they are sometimes more effective than hibiscrub because they're left on the skin longer. You could ask your vet about that. I have no idea if they are safe to use near the mouth. But things like clorexyderm spot gel (dr.baddaky)could help if it is safe to use on the mouth. If not, then stomodine is used in the mouth so definitely safe, not sure if it's strong enough though. Ask your vet about it, they probably know or can ask the manufacturers if they don't know.

IonaD:
Bella was diagnosed with lip fold dermatitis and it often became infected leading to various doses of antibiotics. We decided It wasn’t best for her if we kept giving her antibiotics every time it happened so we went to a homeopathic vet. (We would have had the surgery but living in Italy, the vets here weren’t very familiar with the procedure and we didn’t want to risk it).

She was on a dry diet of biscuits but he said this was contributing to the infections and suggested we changed her diet. She now eats potatoes, veg and fish/meat or ricotta with oil and water. It has cleared up the infections and (touch wood) she has been fine since!!

During the summer with extra drool she can get a little bit whiffy so we wipe the folds with clorexyderm wipes and it clears up any smell or dirt in the area.

Hope this helps. I came on here and got loads of info from others  about what they have done to treat it, including changing her food and water bowls to ceramic and metal. If you look in Health I think there are already on or two posts with suggestions also.

Good luck!!

henrys mum:
Thank you for your quick replies. Henry has a plastic water bowl so i will replace that today. A good excuse to go to a pet shop xx

Jaysmumagain:

Virbac  do Hexarinse (chlorhexidine )which I use on Ollie if he gets a wee bit smelly in hot weather it is very good.  I dab it on cotton wool and get it wettish and dab on. 

I feel for you as my other cocker had recurrent issues.  Just a word though I have googled to see if the treatment my other cocker had many moons ago is still used today and it seems to be....and that is antibiotics along with course steriods....Jay to my memory had issues twice and both times he was given a short dose of both....after that I manged to keep it at bay with mouth cleanser.

Hope Henry improves soon.

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