Okay, so that’s not a real product catchphrase, I just made it up. Still, it’s fitting since this week I’m excited to review the Tropiclean Oxy-Med Medicated Oatmel Shampoo and Treatment/Rinse.
My mom recently bought this shampoo and treatment while she was dog-sitting for my brother. She purchased the two products at a local pet store, but I have found that it is easily available at Petco. My dog-nephew (or is it nephew-dog?) Trigger has pretty dry skin, and my brother recommended this shampoo because it works well for him.
Now, I have to be honest, I was not excited or even somewhat interested in trying a new soap for the pups. They have such sensitive skin, and just about everything gives them hives. In fact, we even asked our veterinarian what would be the best shampoo to use because their skin is so sensitive and he recommended trying baby shampoo, which is supposed to be super gentle. Unfortunately, baby shampoo made Rosee and Simon instantly break out in bumps!
However, lately they’ve both had hotspots on their stomachs that just won’t quite go away. We started using coconut oil and it has helped, but their spots never quite go away completely. So, I gave in and decided to try the Tropiclean shampoo and treatment.
Week 1: First Impressions
When my mom first showed me what she bought I was kind of wary. The locally made bar of soap that we’ve been using lately on Simon and Rosee has been working pretty well, and I didn’t really see any reason to change. Sure, the hotspots on their stomachs haven’t gone away completely, but otherwise they were fine. They didn’t shed or have any flakes, their coats were very shiny, and they didn’t start to smell until it was time to bathe them again. Still, I thought it might be interesting to try this new shampoo and treatment because it claimed to be medicated, and I thought “Wow, if this works it will be much cheaper than buying the medicated shampoo from the vet!”
According to the bottles the shampoo and treatment are supposed to help with itching, hotspots, flakes, dryness, eczema, and shedding. Both are oatmeal-based while containing salicylic acid to help exfoliate the skin, nourishing vitamins as well as fatty acids to moisturize. Honestly, after looking at the ingredient list on the bottles I started to become a bit excited because all of the ingredients sounded amazing. I was sure it was going to be the best bathing system we’ve ever tried. Then, I looked at the directions.
Like most shampoo and conditioner (even though Tropiclean calls this step a “treatment”) I figured that we would have to shampoo the pups first then apply the treatment second. What I didn’t realize though, is that after you shampoo your dog and rinse it out you have to completely dry your dog before applying the treatment, which too needs to be rinsed out. At this point, I almost didn’t even want to try the Tropiclean system because I’d have to dry each dog twice. It may not seem like a big deal, but it is so difficult to dry Rosee and Simon! They barely have any hair, yet they soak up water like a sponge. Plus Rosee really does not like the hair dryer, which makes air drying (after towel drying them first) the main method of drying for the pups. However, I couldn’t imagine letting them air dry for half an hour and then putting them back in the tub to apply the treatment, let it sit, rinse it off, and then let them dry for another thirty minutes. So, we comprised and towel dried the dogs as best we could before applying the treatment and continuing.
Both the shampoo and treatment are heavily scented. To me it smells like a mix of green apples and mango (very tropical, like the name indicates). I don’t think it’s bad, but it is definitely very, very strong. Another thing I noticed right away was the filminess of the shampoo. After I applied some to each dog I would rinse it off my hands and I found that my hands felt dry and like there was a film left on my fingers. I wasn’t crazy about the feeling and certainly didn’t like to think what the shampoo was doing to Simon and Rosee’s skin if my hands felt terrible. Yet, I was hoping that the treatment would help. In general, the treatment did make their fur feel very soft. Unfortunately, Monica was completely grossed out by the feeling of it. It looks just like lotion, but she said it felt weird trying to apply the gloopiness to their wet coats. Still, after applying the treatment, letting it sit, and then thoroughly washing it out I am happy to have noticed that the pups’ hotspots looked a lot better already. They smelled good, their coats felt pretty soft, and their spots almost looked normal. Overall, I was optimistic about this bathing system.
By the end of the week, I have to say I was pretty surprised by this shampoo and treatment. It worked fairly well. I noticed that Rosee and Simon didn’t itch as much as usual, they still smelled pretty nice (not like dog), and their spots looked great. On the flipside, I did find that they shed more than usual, had flakes, and there was some reside left on their skin from the treatment step despite thorough rinsing. Yet, their spots looked so great I’m willing to overlook the downsides for now and continue to use this shampoo and treatment. Hopefully, their skin will only continue to improve.
*Check back next week for an update on the Tropiclean shampoo and treatment bathing system!
Play Hard, Bark Often 
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