Help! Oily Dundruff And Now Patchy Bald Spots!

[Red Fox]

I'm a bit worried about Kei's skin...

Over the past month or two he seems to have developed a bit of oily dandruff. Not severe, but very noticeable after a good brushing. It's only along his back and neck, nowhere else on his body and mainly in the ridge.

I put it down to the fact that I had changed brands of shampoo/conditioner in that time (from Aloveen to PAW). And now the more I think about it, the problem seems to have gotten worse each time I bathed him in the new shampoo.

Normally I would only bath him ever 3-4 weeks, but over the past month I have been bathing much more frequently (1-2 times per fortnight). The reason being that everytime I give him a decent brush his coat becomes excessively oily and the dandruff just sticks to it. If I can get away with it I just rub him down with a damp cloth after brushing. Failing that he is bathed.

Due to my concern about it being caused by the new brand of Shampoo I have switched back to Aloveen for the past 2 washes which seems to have helped with the oilyness somewhat.

Now what has me concerned is that yesterday I gave Kei a really thorough brush with the Zoom groom to loosen off any dead hair then put him in the bath for a good scrub. I used Aloveen, left the shampoo on for a good 5 mins, rinsed thoroughly and then rinsed again just to make sure it was all out. Then used the Aloveen leave-in conditioner with a light rinse off. He seemed fine last night and coat looked great. But this-afternoon I noticed that his Ridge looks rather patchy -like he is getting bald spots! The skin is not red or inflamed at all but slightly grey and flaky

He is not itchy at all and is acting normal but I am worried. Google tells me it's mange but I'm not so sure... I'll take him to the vet when they re-open and have it checked out anyway.

I have some Malaseb here and am tempted to use it but dont want to agravate the situation any more.

Kei is on a raw/BARF diet, with no recent changes that I can think of. He is also given an Omega Oil supplement (Melrose Omega Pet) and has sardines or Mackeral added to his food twice per week. We've never has any skin or coat problems before bar mild dandruff when he was a baby puppy.

Does anyone know what this could be

[Erny]

Over the past month or two he seems to have developed a bit of oily dandruff. Not severe, but very noticeable after a good brushing. It's only along his back and neck, nowhere else on his body and mainly in the ridge.

SK .... as one of the symptoms to his already seemingly complex health issues, Mandela suffers this as well. I use the Calendula Tea to wash him down to help with his hives (I think you've read of the problems I am having with him) and I did notice this has a very positive effect on the oiliness and the flakiness of his skin. His oiliness and flakiness, when it does occur, is not completely restricted to his ridge, but it does occur predominantly along his ridge. It is generally worse up near his shoulder blades, at the rosette end of the ridge, although it does get him down on his loin area as well at times.

The Calendula Tea is antibacterial and is soothing and chemical free.

ETA: I agree that a Vet consult to confirm the absence of parasites is one of the first steps to take. I don't think the Calendula Tea wash would harm in any way, but I'm not a Vet. Mind you, Vets often lean towards the chemically based shampoos anyway, so they may not even be aware of the benefits of CT.

Reported use of Calendula includes treatment in cases of certain mites as well.

Calendula

Edited December 27, 2009 by Erny

[Guest Ams]

You will need to get a vet to do a skin scrape to say for certain if it is mange or not. If it is mange then Malaseb will not make it worse, it will make it better. Then you can go back to your Aloveen. I switch between the two for my dogs with no adverse reactions.

[puggy_puggy]

Could be the hot humid weather you have had over the past month. I would probably not use the conditioner.

[Red Fox]

Over the past month or two he seems to have developed a bit of oily dandruff. Not severe, but very noticeable after a good brushing. It's only along his back and neck, nowhere else on his body and mainly in the ridge.

SK .... as one of the symptoms to his already seemingly complex health issues, Mandela suffers this as well. I use the Calendula Tea to wash him down to help with his hives (I think you've read of the problems I am having with him) and I did notice this has a very positive effect on the oiliness and the flakiness of his skin. His oiliness and flakiness, when it does occur, is not completely restricted to his ridge, but it does occur predominantly along his ridge. It is generally worse up near his shoulder blades, at the rosette end of the ridge, although it does get him down on his loin area as well at times.

The Calendula Tea is antibacterial and is soothing and chemical free.

ETA: I agree that a Vet consult to confirm the absence of parasites is one of the first steps to take. I don't think the Calendula Tea wash would harm in any way, but I'm not a Vet. Mind you, Vets often lean towards the chemically based shampoos anyway, so they may not even be aware of the benefits of CT.

Thanks Erny, I might give the Calendula tea a go next time I bath him. It can't hurt to try Kei's dandruff is pretty much entirely along his ridge with a little up near the neck area and a tiny amount down near his butt. There is nothing on the underside of his neck though or anywhere else. The oilyness is in the same area.

And yes, I have read your posts about Mandela's health issues too

You will need to get a vet to do a skin scrape to say for certain if it is mange or not. If it is mange then Malaseb will not make it worse, it will make it better. Then you can go back to your Aloveen. I switch between the two for my dogs with no adverse reactions.

I'll definitely get him to the vet for a scraping. It's obviously not an emergency though and I doubt we'll get an appointment until after new Years, but we will get in as soon as we can.

When I said I was worried that the Malaseb would agravate the situation I was more refering to bathing him again so soon as opposed to the Malaseb itself. I do doubt that it's mange, but will need a scraping to rule it out for sure

[Erny]

Thanks Erny, I might give the Calendula tea a go next time I bath him.

Don't worry about waiting until next time you bath him. In fact, I'd be inclined to not bath him too much - let the skin find its natural PH balance. If you infuse the Calendula into a tea, you can apply it with a flannel soaked in it, and wet his coat down to the skin, especially at the affected area. I tend to find the Calendula leaves the coat lovely and clean and fresh smelling.

Does Kei have pollen allergy? I read that you need to be a little on the careful side with that, given that Calendula is made from the Marigold flower plant.

Edited December 27, 2009 by Erny

[Red Fox]

Thanks Erny, I might give the Calendula tea a go next time I bath him.

Don't worry about waiting until next time you bath him. In fact, I'd be inclined to not bath him too much - let the skin find its natural PH balance. If you infuse the Calendula into a tea, you can apply it with a flannel soaked in it, and wet his coat down to the skin, especially at the affected area. I tend to find the Calendula leaves the coat lovely and clean and fresh smelling.

Does Kei have pollen allergy? I read that you need to be a little on the careful side with that, given that Calendula is made from the Marigold flower plant.

No, no pollen allergies as far as I'm aware

Where can I find the Calendula tea though? I did a search of both supermarkets in my town this afternoon and neither had it. I'll give the health food section of the chemist a try tomorrow, otherwise I'll have to wait for the health food store to open up again and see if they have any...

I have used calendula cream on myself before and remember that it was very soothing. Hopefully it's just a mild reaction to something (and not mange ) and the tea will do the trick

[Erny]

I've only ever purchased Calendula from a Health Food Store. I would doubt that it would be in the supermarket.

I have the Calendula cream as well, but for the purposes of the rash/s that appeared in Mandela's arm pits, I didn't find it responded as well as the tea. Perhaps his skin in that area didn't appreciate the moistness that forms the base of the lotion.

If the Calendula works, you should (going by my own experience) see results inside 24 hours or so.

[Red Fox]

I've only ever purchased Calendula from a Health Food Store. I would doubt that it would be in the supermarket.

I have the Calendula cream as well, but for the purposes of the rash/s that appeared in Mandela's arm pits, I didn't find it responded as well as the tea. Perhaps his skin in that area didn't appreciate the moistness that forms the base of the lotion.

If the Calendula works, you should (going by my own experience) see results inside 24 hours or so.

Thanks Erny

I'll try the chemist today, they have a section for health foods and may have it. We have a healthfood store in the next town that might have it but they wont be opened until tomorrow. If they don't I should be able to do an internet order so I'll get my hands on it somehow

Looking at Kei today his skin does not look any worse- if anything it seems less flaky than yesterday. Hopefully it's just a reaction to the combo of new shampoo, brushing, weather and over bathing and nothing more.

[Erny]

I've never seen it in chemists, either. But yours might carry a more diverse stock, perhaps. For a packet it is only $8.00 .... so I suspect that internet would prove costly by the time you factor in postage. But you never know . I hope that it is just a one-off passing thing for Kei. The Calendula tea stores well though, and if you don't look like using it on Kei you could always have a drink of it yourself for the health benefits it derives .

Edited December 27, 2009 by Erny