Hi everyone. We have a three years old Neopolitan Mastiff who suffers from very bad dandruff. He is fed on a natural diet with added vitamins etc, and gets extra oil added to his food. We have tried vegetable and sunflower oil, different types of margarine, but none appear to work. He is brushed and combed on a regular basis which seems to loosen even more dandruff which takes ages to get rid of from the top of his coat. Rather like a walking snow storm. Can anyone help.

Has he seen a vet? I think I'm right in saying dandruff is often caused by a fungal infection, and I think (again - not entirly sure of my facts) that the folds of skin are great breeding grounds for fungi :-(

HTH

Fran

There is also a mite which looks like dandruff and is actually called walking dandruff I think. In a short coated breed such as the Neo I would recommend just using a chamois leather to clean the coat rather than a brush as this can scratch the skin making it worse.

hi iangeorge fran is right dandruff is fungal. it can be cleared up but it does take time. you go to your nearest health shop and buy pure coaltar. mix it with a good antiseptic shampoo or a sulphar based shampoo. wash every week for a couple of months dont do anything else like combing it as this aggravates the problem cut out the oil and give aloe vera instead, I know there is a dip you can use as well but i would prefer you got professional advice on that . best wishes mari

if you've had contact with him do you ever get itchy, ive had one dog that came with rabbit mite -cheyaetella or something its called, ive had it up on the google search before, you dont have to be anywhere near a rabbit to get it,if its this you;ll need to get stuff off the vet, i think its called aludex or similar, and it takes several dips to get rid of it,no amount of herbal or other stuff will remove it as its alive, nick named walking dandruff.have you other dogs at home as i think its very infectious ,so if you have and theyre not scurffy then its probably not it

Hi All thanks for all the information you have given us about dandruff on our Neo. He has not seen a vet as we would like to treat him with more natural methods. We don`t believe it is contagious as we have other dogs in the house who are all clear, we felt it may be something in the Neo breed. We are going to try pure coal tar shampoo first and will let you know how Amos`s dandruff progresses. Thanks all who took the time and trouble to reply.

Try dipping any brushes and combs that you use in a solution of Dettol every time you groom, this has always worked for me

Hi would dettol but safe for a puppy of 5 months since he started teething he has got dandruff

Jane

I always understood that Dettol was poisonous to dogs and cats as is any disinfectant that contains phenol (goes cloudy when mixed with water) I have always used Savlon for this sort of thing.

By all means try all the ideas put forward by the others. Sometimes, however, dandruff is very simply brought on by a stressful situation Don't ask me the chemistry of it, I don't know - I just know it happens.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

i RUB DOWN WITH BABY OIL AND GIVE EVENING PRIMROSE OIL BY MOUTH.
YOU WILL BE SUPRISED.

Kay, can you take your CAPS LOCK off please. It makes your postings hard to read :-) Thanx

Leigh