Lip fold dermatitis

[JudgeMenthol]

My cocker has had his booster jabs today - some whiskers on his chin have been crispy, I thought it was wet food collecting in his fur and had been bathing his chin.
The vet says it's lip fold dermatitis and that surgery is the only real cure.
Just wondering if anyone has experience of the surgery, and how it went?

I had the surgery done on my springer when he was about a year old. It was well done but as he grew, the lip folds got worse again and tbh I think it was a total waste - at least I should have waited until several years later.

What DOES help (imo) has been to get him used to having ceramic clippers around his mouth so that he tolerates me keeping the hair there clipped very short. This is a game changer. I then use CLX wipes every couple of days to keep it clean. Malacetic wipes are also very good but sadly you cannot get them in the UK any more for a reasonable price.

Hibiscrub diluted is a good start ,be thorough and clean away any debris from the area then pat dry.
Douxo pyo pads which can be used daily are good and as pp says are clx wipes.
I work in a vets and even though this is not nice if the dog is fairly tolerant then this condition can be managed and even improved if you are regular and consistent with maintenance and hygiene.
There may be times of flare up and the vet may then give a short dose of steroids and sometimes antibiotics, also topical creams .

@BatteryPoweredPeacock ..thanks for the info .. I'm worried about using clippers on the little bits of matted fur?
I have got some antibacterial wipes that I'm going to try. His mouth isn't smelly and he will tolerate some teeth cleaning.

@tsmainsqueeze ...the vet did mention hibiscus, he will tolerate me cleaning his chin, so will get ourselves into a routine with this and the pads to see if we can keep on top of it

Just to say, I tried hibiscrub and the douxo pads and neither were as good as the CLX wipes but I know different people rate them - so be prepared to do a bit of experimenting to find what works best for you.

Both my dogs (2 different breeds) used to get lip fold dermatitis, and both were later discovered to have food allergies. Changed their food, and never had another issue. Obviously every dog is different but that's my experience.

And agree with PP - keep it clean, keep the fur around the mouth short.

@TillyandFlorence that's interesting -
He is a rescue, he's been with me for 2yrs. Initially he had quite bad dandruff so he was on fish flavoured kibble - this seemed to help. Then he was castrated and his metabolism slowed right down and he put a chunk of weight on. We moved to weight management kibble, which was chicken flavour and I'm thinking this is around the time the lip fold dermatitis started....

Our older springer had the surgery as she was constantly suffering with it, I wish we'd done it earlier as it cured the soreness and she didn't have any further issues.

My cocker has been suffering from this since 1,5 years, we have tried pretty much everything. Last resort surgery costing 4-5K I clean every day but he stinks & is disgusting , antibiotics used, hibiscrup etc. can't take it any more.

4-5k!?!?!

When mine had the surgery it was about £500 🤨

Omg where in the country is this!!!!! We are in Kent . Yes. Max 5k I find it ridiculous!!!!!!!