Paw Spa: Zymox Enzymatic Rinse

Zymox, owned by Pet King Brands, markets enzyme-based health products for veterinarians to sell to their clients. Their offerings include ear cleaners, oral care products, and various skin treatments. Our vet recommends Zymox Enzymatic Rinse when Brisbane has major skin issues. The rinse can be used along with a number of different shampoos, and can be rinsed or left on.

How Does It Work?

The whole point of the Zymox products is that they use a proprietary LP3 enzyme system against microbial organisms. The company's FAQ page cites several peer-reviewed articles published in the International Journal of Applied Research in Veterinary Medicine. 

I was extremely impressed with this until I read the entire citation and realized that every single paper was about an in vitro study. This *basically means they proved that their enzymes kill bacteria and other nasties in a petrie dish. Since these are topical products, in vitro studies are very promising. However, I would like to see some controlled double-blind studies demonstrating actual clinical efficacy because I am a science geek.

It Totally Smells Like Coconuts

We've been through several bottles of this stuff, and I love the way it smells. I hate the way coconut tastes, but the scent is lovely when I'm smearing it on my dog.  Zymox Enzymatic Rinse can be used diluted or full-strength, and can be rinsed off or left on without causing problems. When Brisbane is just a bit itchy, I dilute it and rinse it off a bit but not very thoroughly. After the dramatic shavedown, I slathered on the full-strength product, put on his bathrobe, and sent him off to spread the coconut-scented love. It left him feeling slightly dirty for a bit, but once dry his coat felt normal.

Zymox stuff is apparently effective against fungus as well as bacteria, and along with a medicated shampoo helped Brisbane beat his massive bacterial and fungal infection. My vet is a skeptic and sticks to science-based medicine, so I trust her recommendation as more than an attempt to sell a product. It seems to have worked for us, though I'm not sure how much of that to attribute to the Zymox Conditioning Rinse and how much to the medicated shampoo we used.

Happy New Year!

Tonight I'll be snuggling with Brisbane, Sisci, Ru, and also Ranger and Annie who have come to escape their neighbor's scary fireworks. In 2016 I'm hoping for fewer skin issue for Brisbane now that we've begun allergy shots and identified more food sensitivities. I'm not sure what else the year will bring, as we had a followup on Brisbane's face bump today. Two weeks of abscess-targeting antibiotics did nothing at all, so today our vet took three different needle biopsies and sent them to the cytology lab. I'm hoping to get results on Monday, and we'll decide what to do from there.

Product Review: Medical Pet Shirt

The Medical Pet Shirt was developed in the Netherlands for pets recovering from surgery, injury, or skin problems. It's basically a dog onesie. It can also be used for females in season, and incontinent pets. This shirt features a snap closure that covers the anus and genitals, and a turtleneck collar. It is available in ten sizes to fit dogs measuring 8.5-36" from base of neck to base of tail. Medical Pet Shirts are also available for cats and rabbits.

Photo by Erin Koski

I found this shirt at a thrift store, and I bought it because it was weird. I've since discovered that these are only available from veterinarians. This is not something that Brisbane needs at the moment, but it certainly would have been useful several times in the past.

The Medical Pet Shirt is something that just...makes sense. It is unique and does things I've never seen another dog product do. All this time, we've been improvising with t-shirts, baby clothes, diapers, and wraps.

Photo by Erin Koski

What we really needed was a dog onesie. You know those baby bodysuits that snap at the crotch? This is the dog version. It snaps and also velcros at the crotch to cover up all the important bits. The back underside is also lined with a sort of pocket, which allows for absorbent material to be held in place for incontinent dogs or bitches in season.

The Medical Pet Shirt solves a lot of problems that I and my friends have experienced. Dog scratching himself bloody? Licking her lady bits raw? Slithering out of his bellyband and going on a pee-spree? Diaper just won't stay on? Here is a comfortable and ergonomic solution.

Pros: Fitted turtleneck does not stretch or slide down, and can be pulled up under a cone to protect the neck. Snap-and-velcro closures stay on securely even through scooting on the floor, and are easy to undo for potty breaks. Machine washable. Fits really well. Protects everything but the head, tail, and legs.

Cons: Not available for retail purchase in the US. Only come in one color.

Bottom Line: Now I can get rid of the collection of childrens shirts I have for keeping Brisbane from scratching himself up when his allergies are terrible. I will be sure to tell my friends and coworkers that these exist so they can do the same.

In Which Brisbane Gets a Haircut

Brisbane has been itchy since we returned from Lake Tahoe, and none of the antihistamines were helping. He had been getting progressively more scabby, and last week when I gave him a bath I realized he was losing hair all over the place.

This morning we went to the vet. The doctor asked if it would be ok to shave some of the worst areas to get a better look at them.

Shaving hot spots is not usually necessary for healing. Normally, they heal up just fine when kept clean and dry. For dogs with thick fur, impacted undercoats, or stubborn sores, shaving can help get air to the skin.

Hairless areas are also significantly easier to treat with topical remedies like shampoos. The stuff can really be scrubbed down into the skin where it can be most effective.

So we started shaving Briz. We started with the red oozy areas, and kept uncovering older, darker spots from lesions that had healed up a little. In a few minutes his entire belly was hairless, and there were still more oozy spots trailing up his neck and shoulders.

My herding instructor really wants me to get Brisbane registered as an Australian cattledog with the AKC so we can do herding trials. We have been tossing around plans that involve slicking his floof down with hair gel, or cutting his hair. Knowing that he was likely covered in sores, and that I wanted to cut his hair anyway, the vet and I agreed that shaving him down would be a good idea.

Dr. Rugg said she started out with a longer comb on the clippers, intending to leave him with mostly longer hair. She was only going to shave the sore spots down super-short. Before long though, she realized that he was basically covered in sores.

See those dark spots all over Brisbane? Each of those is a sore or lesion. There are quite a few red ones as well. The vet said that his skin started looking better within an hour of the big shave though. Hopefully he's on the way to feeling much better.

Does you dog have skin issues?

Food Friday: Mirra-Coat O3 Supplement

Mirra-Coat, by Pet Ag, is a dietary supplement for dogs. As the name implies, Mirra-Coat will supposedly help grow hair on a dog. It contains high levels of vitamins and fatty acids to help fill in nutritional gaps and provide optimal hair-growth. It comes in a 1-pound canister and contains no egg or poultry ingredients.

I'm highly skeptical of most dietary supplements, since many seem to be fairly gimmicky and even extremely popular ones can have very little evidence that they actually work. Still, there's a decent body of evidence that omega fatty acid supplements improve skin and coat health. I give Brisbane ludicrous quantities of fish oils already, because my vet said to keep upping the dose until it causes some sort of digestive upset. As his innards are apparently made of cast iron, I think nothing of tossing him ten capsules a day. Still, his coat was very patchy.

Brisbane has a variety of food and environmental allergies, and is prone to getting hot spots. Despite a whole lot of medication, bathing, and avoidance of triggers, he sometimes scratches his hair off. We've ruled out mites, ringworm, and any other potential causes for his moth-eaten coat. As long as he stops scratching it should grow back eventually. Still, this winter he managed to give himself quite a few bald spots all at once, and they seemed to be taking forever to fill in.

I asked some of my fellow dog nerds on the internet for their favorite skin and coat supplements, and got a variety of answers. This was one of the first that came up, so I ordered a can. I realized after it arrived that it was the special organic type, next time around I'll stick with the regular kind because the organic label annoys me.

My approach to getting Brisbane's hair to grow back has been less scientific and more "throw everything at it and hope something helps", so it's difficult to tell how well the Mirra-Coat is working. I can, however, report that something seems to be helping because the bald patches are finally filling in after months of shameful nudity.