Nanci, having this info on here was a huge help to us... thanks SO much for sharing it. You know what's been going on with Hermes vent, well when he started going into shed the other week it wasn't a good thing for his vent troubles. It scabbed up horribly, his straining to "go" returned, we'd get it softened a little {with the cream} and it'd harden right back up. Per his last vet visit, we had to put him in water so he could poop and not cause further damage from straining, etc. Needless to say, having to do that gave him problems shedding even once he had "gone" and the baths stopped. We let it go a while, then we did this. It really helped him slip right out, right away you could tell how much better he felt.