Why Hasn't Anyone Told Me About This Before??!!

Pepsi is turning 12 next week, and her skin is having a moment. Not the dignified, ageing-gracefully sort of moment — the sore, broken, needs-sorting kind. She's always had lumps and cysts, but recently they've started bursting more often, and the aftermath has been genuinely uncomfortable for her. We'd been getting by, but getting by wasn't quite good enough anymore. Then we found the spray, and I've been telling everyone since.

Pepsi, our 'problem' child

Pepsi has always been what we affectionately call our 'problem' child. Not out of frustration — well, not only — but because she has never been straightforward in any direction. Behavioural issues when she was young, physical issues as she's got older, and an intensity to everything she does that makes her impossible to ignore.

As a puppy and young dog, she was extraordinarily destructive. Skirting boards, doors, the corners of a new dining table — all fair game. The most spectacular incident involved two beautiful dining chairs. We were out for tea at the local café for two hours. We came back to shreds. We took her to the vet, genuinely worried there was something wrong. After some questions, the vet's conclusion was simple: she liked it. Not separation anxiety, not distress — just a dog who had discovered a hobby. Every bed in this house has been plastic and covered in old blankets ever since. Soft, cushioned beds are not something we do anymore. That's entirely Pepsi's doing.

She is also, when she wants affection, completely overwhelming about it. If a cuddle is happening, it is happening at full intensity. Face right up to yours, breathing the same air, claws dug into your shoulders, and absolutely no concept of personal space. These moments tend to last considerably longer than you planned for.

Her coat was coarse and sparse when she was young, which caused its own issues with skin sensitivity. It improved as she got older, but the skin sensitivity never fully went away — and the lumps and cysts that appeared over the years became a regular part of managing her health.

Turning 12 and a new kind of trouble

The cysts have always been there, but recently they've been bursting more often. The result is skin that's left sore, bloody and open — exactly the kind of thing that needs proper attention rather than just keeping an eye on.

For ordinary cuts and grazes, Sudocrem had always done well. I want to be clear about that because it genuinely worked for smaller things. But for this — broken skin around burst cysts, already irritated and slow to settle — it wasn't managing it the way we needed.

So I did what any responsible dog owner does. Three Google searches and about five minutes on Amazon. And that, against all reasonable expectation, is how we found the answer.

The spray that actually worked

The product is Vetericyn Plus Antimicrobial Wound Care Spray. Our vet had a look at what we'd found and was happy for us to use it on Pepsi before we started — I want to make that clear, because we didn't just start spraying things on her and hope for the best.

What struck me first was how unbothered Pepsi was about having it applied. My husband and I both use it on her, and she tolerates it calmly, which for Pepsi — who has opinions about most things — is not nothing. The skin around the affected areas has visibly settled faster than it was doing before. I'm not making a medical claim; I'm saying it looked better, sooner, and that Pepsi seemed more comfortable.

I've since noticed the brand makes other products, including something for ears. Given that Pepsi's ears are occasionally a separate concern, we may look at that next — but we haven't used it yet, so I can't say anything useful about it beyond the fact that it exists.

I genuinely wish we'd found this sooner. That's really the whole point of the title.

A note before you go searching on Amazon

What worked for Pepsi was looked at by her vet before we used it, and that's not something I'd gloss over. Recurring cysts and broken skin can have underlying causes that need an actual diagnosis, not just something soothing applied to the surface — so if your dog is dealing with something similar, a vet visit really is the right first step.

This is one dog's experience with one specific product, and I'd never want anyone reading it to skip straight to the checkout. But if your vet has had a look and you're just trying to manage things day to day, it might be worth asking them about it. That's genuinely all I'm saying.

Nearly 12, still complicated, still capable of causing chaos when the mood takes her, and still delivering the most intense cuddles of anyone in this house. Pepsi remains, affectionately, our problem child. But her skin is a bit better, and that counts for a great deal.