Dry skin, as you probably all know, is dry because it doesn't have enough water in it. The creams and oils work to keep the water from evaporating, but they rub off. The water in skin? It comes from within--it's pulled up from deeper layers. Drink more water--visit the bathroom more, because the kidneys don't care if your skin is dry. On the other hand, take a warm bath with a cup of salt dissolved in it--any old salt, cheapest rock salt you can find--and the salt solution penetrates the dry layers with the water. That water may evaporate when lotions and cream get rubbed off, but the extra salt can't evaporate. It remains in the upper layers of skin. It will pull extra water up from deeper layers by the osmotic gradient. This fixed my 74 year old mom's maddening dry skin that used to keep her awake even, despite lotions or creams. She hated it at first, because her soap wouldn't lather up good, but it brought her complete relief and soft winter skin for the first time in years. It saves her a fair amount of money, too. She still uses a good quality lotion (she happens to use Lubriderm) but the salt baths are what made the difference. I guess it's like a combination approach.

Dancey sorry to hear about your skin troubles. I cannot speak to the menopause and hormone issues (though I remember my older sister telling me her skin became super-soft following hysterctomy hormone therapy) - but I have lived with dermatitis, exzema, and fussy skin allergies all my life and over the years have found these helps: 1. To the extent you can, try to reduce the total chemical load in your environment - do not use dryer sheets, fabric softener, room fresheners, hair creme rinse (or minimize it at least); put your clothing through a double rinse cycle; use gloves/other barrier to protect your skin from harsh detergents, etc. 2. Add evening primrose, flaxseed, tocotrienols, and more fish to your diet (the inside-out approach). 3. I have fussy impossible skin, and my red-head spouse has his own set of skin troubles (sun damage, pre-actinic keratoses, etc.). We're both in our 50s now, and though we're fit, free of health problems, and comfortable with our ages, we wondered if we might improve the appearance of our sun-damaged faces. Together we read Perricone's Cosmeceuticals book, and decided to try some of his recommendations. We found the author's products to be way beyond what we considered reasonable to spent, but we have had stunning results with similar products we found online through Amazon.com from Reviva Labs: Alpha Lipoic Acid Vitamin C Ester and DMAE Cream (for the face and neck day and night); Firming Eye Serum (night-time eye cream); and their hand lotion from the same line (sorry my bottle is out in the car so I can't give you specific name). My skin responded immediately (thank god I was getting a little worried about lip creases and papery eye and throat). We're both looking a lot clearer and more well-rested, with much-improved skin texture - that's as much as we can expect because we'd never go for elective surgery - only a natural approach... and no, we have no financial interest in the above-noted products. 4. Two other creams that settle my skin, as well as seeming to change the texture, are Nivea Skin Firming Lotion with Q10 plus Biotin, and Aveeno Stress Relief Moisturizing Lotion with Natural Colloidal Oatmeal, Lavender, Chamomile and YlangYlang. You can find these at any of the larger drugstores (I am on West Coast) - they're a bit more expensive than, say, Jergens, but I have been thrilled to find them. Sorry for the rambler, but I hope you'll try any or all of the above. So nice to have happy skin. Good luck!

So the Vet has ruled out any medical problems. Then I would suspect she is having a problem processing something in her dog food. When a dog raids the hen house, it always easy to pick out the culprit by his shiny coat. So I would do the easiest thing and change her diet. Maybe put more fresh veggies/fruit in her diet. Lightly cooked carrots, etc with maybe some fresh pineapple for treats. Actually the enzymes in the pineapple may help to clear her system. Then if that didn't work I would change the flavor of the dog food. So go from say chicken to lamb. Give that some time, and if that didn't work then I would change brands. Look for something that changes the grains of the food. Say between barley and rice. Possibly she needs less calories(fat) since she is such a small dog and getting older. Unfortunately, her owner will have to make a small change and then give it time to work. Sorry, but not too much thinking outside the box.

Blue Onblue, that is amazing! Years ago, a stray cat came to us, wouldn't leave and became expectant. I knew when this would happen, my indoor cat had raised a ruckus so we noticed the event. The stray lived in the garage (hence, her name was Garage Cat or GC) and when I came home the day before the expected event, she had oil all over her back! Called the vet who said she must be bathed and to use Dawn Dishwashing soap or Murphy's Oil Soap. I had neither of those so used what I had (Palmolive and the like) but none of my stock would do more than slide off the oil slick! Husband made mad dash to grocery while I held her in the bathtub, used the Dawn and have never bought any other brand since. That was probably 35 years ago! She was small and so round and heavy that she could not fight. Came home the next day and four new kittens. Kept one and had to put down at 19 years old! Our Sugarbaby!