Baby and Her Lovely Baths

Wang always bathed her much loved 2-year-old female poodle, "Baby," every Sunday. First she gave her a brushing. Then she used warm water in the shower and got Baby all wet. She applied the best shampoo she could find. It promised to leave Baby's white coat looking shiny and new. After rinsing,she even massaged in doggy conditioner, which Baby really enjoyed, to help keep the hair in good condition. Wang doted on her little friend, whom she thought was the best little dog anyone could ever have.

About mid-July, Wang noticed that Baby was scratching more often than normal. She took a careful look at her. She saw that there were a few little spots and some flaky dirty bits on Baby's skin. She rushed to the local vet who took one look at Baby and pronounced her to have a nasty skin disease. The vet prescribed some medicine for 10 days and Wang went home happy knowing her friend was going to be all right. The little spots seemed to go away. But a few days after stopping the medicine they were back again, and this time there were more.

Everyone in the neighbourhood always thought Baby was the best turned out pooch and they always complimented Wang on the care she gave to her beloved Baby. No one could see that Baby's skin was getting worse except her owner. Wang was getting worried.She had been to three different vets all with the same results. Finally, she decided to go to the expensive clinic on the other side of town.

Everything was a bit strange in the clinic, and Wang was very nervous. The vet checked Baby over and started to ask lots of questions. Finally,having found out that Baby was getting baths every week, the vet went into a long winded description about why this was not a good idea.

Wang couldn't remember it all as she was upset at the thought of doing something wrong for her dog. But she was desperate and this vet promised to get Baby better as long as Wang followed instructions closely.

First, she was to stop using shampoo when bathing. This was taking away all the natural oils in the skin and leaving it dry and more susceptible to bacterial and fungal infection. If Baby got dirty then she could bathe her in water and then give her a good brushing to get rid of dirt. Wang said she was worried about the smell. The vet told her that it would take two or three months for the skin to return to normal, and that during this time it may smell more than she would like.This was an unfortunate consequence of the situation.

Next the vet made Wang promise that she would feed Baby a proper dog food with a balance of nutrients and especially essential fats in it to help the new skin come through moist and healthy. He gave her a daily supplement to help provide all the goodies that skin needs to be healthy.

Finally, antibiotics and, oddly, a shampoo were prescribed. However, this was a special shampoo that was antibacterial, antifungal,antipruritic and exfoliative. Treatment lasted four weeks, and by eight weeks after the start of treatment, Baby had a lovely natural shiny coat and healthy skin. She wasn't itchy at all and Wang was very happy. However, she still wanted to give Baby baths as living in the city is dirty. The vet said that an expensive oatmeal based shampoo would be the best of a bad world and to use it only if absolutely necessary; not to any particular schedule.

Baby went on to have no further skin problems,even though the air conditioner was always being turned on and off and she was constantly in and out of the house in all seasons.

The moral of this story is you get what you pay for in the veterinary business just like any other. Bathing your dogs too often is not healthy for them and it can be a long and expensive road back to a naturally shiny coat and skin.Dr James Holder is a vet at PAW veterinary clinic and Board Member of Second Chance Animal Aid

Written by Dr James Holder
Reprint of Shanghai Star Article
page06  2006-10-26