Colloidal oatmeal-shampoo (Episoothe, Virbac, France) was applied to 12 cases of pruritic canine dermatitis caused by acute eczema, atopic dermatitis or pyoderma.
Each dog was shampooed once a day for 10 consecutive days. After this treatment, depending on the symptoms, shampoo was applied once every 5 days for 20 days. In mild cases, the pruritus disappeared within the first treatment series. In moderate cases, the pruritus also disappeared or was relieved along with the cessation or reduction of antipruritic drugs treatment. In severe and chronic cases, the shampoo did not show remarkable effect, though the pruritus was relieved for a short period of time after shampooing.
These results indicated that the oatmeal-shampoo was effective against mild or moderate pruritus. It did suppress the pruritus temporarily in the severe and chronic cases which were treated with steroids.

View full abstract