Zeus’s treatment for syphilis is finished, and the corners of his lips have cleared up quite a bit.  Now however the little fold of skin where his chin is still stubbornly staying a little crusty.  It doesn’t bother him at all, he’s acting totally normal, but the vet and I are trying to brainstorm on how to get it to clear up.

His teeth have been checked very thoroughly, including a head xray.  No issues, and he doesn’t drool at all.  The vet thinks it’s just the conformation Zeus has – a good sized dewlap, flat face, and lots of chin folds.  Food and water particles fall down into the folds, can’t get out, and then get crusty when bacteria starts to grow.

The vet gave me silver sulfadiazine cream to apply to his chin, but it’s near impossible to get it thoroughly into the folds and when I put him down he just grooms and licks it all off anyways.  The vet is now investigating if we can use some sort of astringent to help dry the skin up.  She also wants me to wipe his chin off as much as I can with a paper towel to ensure it stays clean and dry.

Any other suggestions?  I thought about drying his greens real well with a paper towel before I feed him.  I also wonder if I should try a water bottle instead of a water bowl?  He loves his bowl though and drinks really well from it.

At least he’s doing really well right now otherwise!  Bouncing all over the house, jumping up on the couch, shredding boxes, digging the carpet… you know, the usual.