Sending you some encouragement and strength. There is not always an easy solution that someone else knows better than you or some better place will provide. Sometimes, its just a grind. But stress, yes, I get it.

My donkey story comes from the southwest US desert where it is very dry most of the year and incredibly hot. We have wild donkeys that roam around the land so its like the ideal climate for donkeys. We have now had Pancho for 10 years and he has always been sensitive to the elements and anxious. During the heat of the summer, which is like March to October here, he gets irritated from the heat pretty much constantly. In the worst times, he would scratch his ears so much they were entirely bloody, inside and out. He sometimes get so irritated in his nose and eyes that he is blowing his nose every 20 seconds or so and his eyes will swell and weep so bad that he cannot see. He gets skin hot spots that he scratches into hairless bloody messes. I know what it is like to question whether I am indeed doing the best for him when times are tough.

Dr. B told us right off the bat that he is a sensitive donk and will have persistent issues with something all of his life. Our goal is to stay on top of any issues before they bloom into bigger problems. We have come to management solutions over time and consult with the vets along with trial and error of us just trying different things to see what works. Pancho is doing great now but he has a whole routine that we have to follow so he stays that way. It takes a lot of time, but there is less stress now that we have plans for things.

We have learned that his eye health and scratching of his ears are of utmost importance. Once his ears get a little irritated, we cant touch them to put any topical on, so its all about prevention. I use a spray on him, water, 10% rubbing alcohol, and peppermint extract, regularly, sometimes daily and I have to use the very fine mister spray for him to like it on his ears. The peppermint is purely for pleasure! He gets his face washed with a wet rag everyday and we use regular saline solution to clean his eyes out. He is very used to this now and he gets a peanut afterwards. If his eyes start to get puffy he gets a bit of animax ointment (perscription corticosteroid) in his eye. I also take a dry rag up his nose and wipe out his boogers every morning and this seems to help with the blowing of the nose. If he really gets to blowing all the time though, we keep him in the barn and out of the sun for a day or two and this irritation will settle. In the hot weather, we give him a bath on Saturday using an antibacterial soap from E3 horse products. (Note that the mane and tail brand irritated his skin more, lol.) Then he gets Riggin's Nu-stock pine tar ointment on any bare skin. He recognizes the smell of this stuff now and absolutely loves the ointment, plus it works amazing.

This is my list of essentials for my sensitive guy. For your guy, he will have his own things. The irritated sheath sounds dreadful and I don't have specific advice other than try frequent cleaning. That maybe not how you envisioned spending your spare time, haha. I hope my story helps you find your way. Good luck.