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Old January 5th, 2017, 12:38 AM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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Suspect a Yeast Infection - Advice Needed

Hi Everyone,
Happy New Year to all and to all your precious pets.
I suspect my 12+ years old girl has a yeast infection on her skin. She is a terrier mix and her coat is primarily black on the body and tan on her tummy, head and legs.
She began losing hair on her ears and had some small nodules on the edges of her ear flaps some months ago. Her vet suspected vasculitis but testing ruled that out thankfully.
However I have noticed that her hair is thinning on her muzzle and the skin underneath seems to have a black colour to it - sort of like tiny dots so close together that it looks all black. She has the same on her outer ears and some on her inner ear flap, on her elbows and also quite a bit on her tummy.
She also does not smell as she used to. There is a strong smell from her, despite the fact that we bathe her although not too often as she hates it! It's hard to describe the smell - its like a musty unclean smell. Her breath has also become very strong and foul smelling - I can even smell her breath if she is barking up at me from the floor.
She seems to be sleeping very heavily as well and is difficult to waken. I don't know if this is related but I do know her hearing has deteriorated, but even when she is roused she is slow to waken full - she used to leap out of bed.
She eats a food called Vital Pet - which is a 5 star food that is fresh and comes in a chubb that must be kept chilled. She eats the chicken, beef, turkey and beef/chicken/salmon nuggets. She loves it and, as a picky eater, I am loathe to change it.
Google searches have thrown up a condition called Malassezia Pachydermatis, which seems to match her symptoms but I'm wondering if other pet parents have a dog with similar symptoms and what they suggest. Taking her to the vet is not a problem (I work in veterinary clinic) but I don't want her simply put on a medication if there is something I can do to help her that doesn't involve giving her drugs.
Thanks in advance for any help and apologies for the lengthy post!
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Old January 5th, 2017, 01:05 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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Happy New Year to you and yours, too, Shazanne.

I have no advice about the possibility of Malassezia Pachydermatis or possible treatments, but was wondering if you've had her thyroid levels checked recently? Hypothyroidism can cause skin and hair changes and make your dog lethargic. Even can make them smell different--we have had 3 dogs with hypothyroidism and we could always tell when they needed a med adjustment because they began to shed profusely and had a stronger smell.
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Old January 5th, 2017, 11:11 PM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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Thank you so much for that advice hazelrunpack.
I know she was tested in the past but cannot remember how long ago. I will certainly have her tested again. She is also shedding quite a lot, which I thought was a bit strange for this time of year in Canada as its so very cold here now.
Thank you again.
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Old January 6th, 2017, 12:13 PM
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It's worth a shot, anyway--and if it does come down to having to give her meds, they're cheap and easy enough to administer (our dogs love their thyroid supplements--the pills are chewable and evidently taste good )
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Old January 6th, 2017, 10:43 PM
Lynne&Co. Lynne&Co. is offline
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Is your girl scratching excessively?
A couple of months ago I took my 10yr old Papillon to the vet because she was scratching her ears more than normal and had an unusual odour. It turned out she had a yeast infection in her ears as well as in between her toes. After 10 days of ear drops and two weeks of medicated wipes for her toes she's back to normal. The odour is gone too.
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Old January 7th, 2017, 03:20 AM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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Hi Lynne. Yes, she is scratching - actually more so today than she had been. She actually nicked her nose today while scratching, which I was upset to see. Her vet is not available until Wednesday unfortunately (today is Friday) and as he is very familiar with her and very good with her (she gets quite stressed at the vets) I am hoping we are able to wait until then to see him. But I will judge that on a day to day basis and, if she needs attention before that, she will get it from one of the other vets in the practice where I work.
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Old January 7th, 2017, 09:55 AM
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If your dog's problem does turn out to be yeast-related, Shazanne, here's another thread you might want to look at: http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=78956.

It's a long thread, but on pg 4 the suggestion is made to spray dilute apple cider vinegar on yeast rashes. The ratio suggested in that thread I posted the link to is 1 to 2 parts ACV to 4 parts water--and there's a caution that if the skin is really raw, it might sting.

Do a little research first (there's a fair amount of info on the net, but make sure you consider the sources). But if it does turn out to be a yeast-related issue in your dog, the dilute ACV spray might also be worth a try.
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Old January 8th, 2017, 07:29 PM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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I think you really need to Vet her and have some of the skin scraped and cultured. What you describe sounds something like my boy had and it was bacterial, not yeast at all. He had black patches, did not smell though, at one point he lost all his guard hairs and had only undercoat left.
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Old January 15th, 2017, 11:38 PM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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Hi. Just to update. Millie was with the vet and has had skin biopsies (8 in total) taken and they have been sent to the Laboratory for testing. Should have results by the end of this week - hopefully. The in-clinic test (under microscope) showed no mites or no yeast, which concerns me somewhat as I was convinced it was a yeast infection and was well prepared for that. I had done extensive research on how best to treat her without resorting to drugs as she is old and I don't really want to introduce strong drugs that may compromise her other organs. She's already on Metacam for a disc problem in her back. I had even contacted the suppliers of good soil based probiotics, immune boosting supplements and a low allergen raw food as so may people had great success with raw for yeast issues.
But now I'm in limbo and have to wait for the results and pray that there is nothing more serious wrong with my baby.
Her thyroid was last tested in July of last year and was within normal range and hypothyroidism is the only illness that ticks most of her boxes.
Unless, as Longblade says above, that it is a bacterial infection. If so, I will be back here looking for more advice.
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Old January 16th, 2017, 12:03 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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What kind of food are you feeding your pet ? It could be a food allergy that popped up as your pet got older.

Last edited by Barkingdog; January 16th, 2017 at 04:11 PM.
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Old January 16th, 2017, 06:46 PM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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Hi. I mainly home cook for her but she's always been a pretty finicky eater so, to change things up a bit, I give her Vital Freshpet - it a refrigerated food that comes in a Chubb that you slice and serve. The ingredients are fresh and very good quality and I feed her the chicken, turkey, beef and salmon varieties when she gets it - all have fruit and veg added.
I would actually be delighted the learn that it is a food allergy as it would be an easy to solve once I pinned down exactly what she is allergic to and could omit it from what I cook for her.
However, I fear that her issues are a bit deeper than that and that she may have an immune disorder.
What I am hoping does not happen is that I don't get a definitive reason for her skin condition (which happens in many cases) and that my only option is to treat the symptoms (rather than the cause) with drugs. I would much prefer to be able to help her with diet, supplements etc rather than drugs.
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Old January 16th, 2017, 10:09 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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http://www.peteducation.com/article....2+2111&aid=143


This tell about food allergies with dogs.
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  #13  
Old January 17th, 2017, 10:09 PM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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Thank you so much for taking the time to share this - greatly appreciated.
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Old January 19th, 2017, 10:59 PM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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Hi everyone. I am not neglecting to update on here but am making slow progress in getting a definitive diagnosis on Millie. So far I know for sure that she has a bacterial infection on her skin and is taking antibiotics for this (first antibiotic she has every had in her 12+ years lifetime!) The results suggested that her thyroid function be checked and that has been done and is currently with the lab. She was last tested for thyroid function in July of last year and, while she was on the low side, she was within 'normal' range. However, part of her results returned today showing her T3 at 0.83 (normal should be 0.90 - 2.10) and her T4 at 23.5 (normal should be 13.0 - 53.0) Her TSH is at 0.19 (normal should be 0 - 0.60) I am awaiting her Free T4 before vet will discuss diagnosis. The figures I have suggest that her thyroid function is low - can anyone give their opinion based on their knowledge?
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Old January 19th, 2017, 11:57 PM
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Our dogs showed similar numbers as their hypothyroidism developed. When will the free T4 results be back? Do you know if the blood was sent to Dr. Dodd's lab?
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Old January 20th, 2017, 10:13 AM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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When my boy had a bacterial skin infection (no way to know if it's the same as Millie) he was NOT treated with antibiotics. His initial problem was a severe gut issue and antibiotics were the last thing we wanted to give, they'd kill off any good bacteria he had left.

At the time we had switched from a Vet who uses Western medicine (which failed) to an Integrative Holistic Vet who used acupuncture ( it can be used to target digestive and gut issues) TCM and changed his diet to a limited ingredient home cooked one. Every dog is different but you might want to consider this route if you don't see results. Many VEts now believe the gut is the source of most allergic responses and now that we have my boy's gut working properly it sure seems to be the case for him, no more allegies, which he had for four years, no allergy meds either. Good luck.
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Old January 20th, 2017, 05:18 PM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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That's very interesting Longblades. As I home cook already could you send me the recipe for what you are feeding and, if its not too much to ask, what you never include in the recipes. Do you include supplements to balance the diet?
I have already gotten some probiotics to give her once she finishes the antibiotics, which I was told she'd have to get in order to kill the bacteria (I'll have my hair pulled out soon from trying to do the right thing LOL!!!)
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Old January 20th, 2017, 05:28 PM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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It wasn't a recipe, just one novel protein and one novel carb. For us those were turkey and sweet potato. Our Vet did prefer we bake the sweet potato and not nuke it. I must say, it did come out differently when I baked, more dry and fluffy. Oh, 60/40 boiled ground turkey/baked sweet potato.

That was the recovery diet after month and a half long diarrhoea. Not balanced but ok for the three months he was on it. Toward the end of the three months we began to introduce raw. Our Vet is very pro-raw, BARF, and closely supervised all we did. The bacterial skin infection which sounds rather like Millie's popped up during the recovery period three months. And of course there was all the TCM and acupuncture along with the diet and there is no way to tell which or if any one protocol was more successful than another.
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Old January 20th, 2017, 07:21 PM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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Thank you! The turkey and sweet potato sounds like a good and simple way to start. Sorry to be a nuisance with questions but how did you approach the transition to raw? And did you stick with turkey initially?
My vet is not pro-raw (traditional anti-raw and a kibble feeder himself!!) but I know that nutrition is not a large part of veterinary training so I'm never inclined to seek nutritional advice from a vet. But I am a firm believer that what we feed our dogs is the best way to keep them healthy so am very open minded about it. I home cook now, which takes a great deal of time and effort but I feel its worth it, but am open to raw feeding if it will help my dog (s).
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Old January 21st, 2017, 10:09 AM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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ARE turkey and sweet potato novel for your dog? Millie has never eaten either in kibble or any other way? Or at least not for a long, long time? They must be novel. This is better than an elimination diet in our Vet's opinion, novel protein and carb.

We went to raw very s l o w l y. I would feed one meal of a raw with *blended vegetables then wait two days before trying another one. This is because of the gut and diarrhoea issues; we wanted to be very careful to not re-introduce them. I checked every single poop to see what was inside it and make sure stuff was indeed digested. Broke them up and stirred with sticks I found as we walked.

Ironically, no, we did not stick with turkey. My dog got sick again and I did the Nutriscan test on him. It shows an allergy to turkey. I never saw a reaction but Dr. Jean Dodds, who pioneered Nutriscan, feels it's just a matter of time before he will.

When he got sick again he ended up ( ) having a faecal implant as per the Internal Specialist Vet. She is the one who diagnosed Lymphangiectasia. It's commonly believed the way to control this is with a very low fat diet and she is anti-raw so we went to a Rx kibble. Our regular Vet is pro-raw and it's nearly two years post implant and we are even more s l o w l y attempting raw again. This time it's one raw meal a week.

* Our Vet prefers a slow juicer as the slower you mush stuff up the fewer nutrients lost to oxidation. They are fiddly to clean, I bought a high end blender instead.

This is the kibble we feed now. https://static1.squarespace.com/stat...Kang_Nov16.pdf
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Old January 22nd, 2017, 01:40 AM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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Ha ha I'm an obsessive poop checker too!! Even having two dogs who poop in the same area I still know which is which and if there's an issue with either. I blame my Grandmother who always said everything is seen in the bowels!!
Millie has eaten both turkey and sweet potato so that clearly not an option to choose for her initially. She alternates between chicken, turkey, beef/bison and fish - so not a lot of options left!! I had considered rabbit (raw) or pork as she has not eaten either.
I am hoping to steer away from kibble of any kind as she is not a kibble eater by choice. I am familiar with the Raynes brand through the clinic where I work although we only order it in specially for a very small number of clients.
I expect her complete results to be back during the coming week so will be making no decisions of any kind until I have the full picture.
The antibiotics are clearing her skin wonderfully at the moment, but I worry about what will happen when they are finished and about your comment that your vet refused to treat a bacterial infection with antibiotics.

I have got a specialised shampoo for her that it supposed to be particularly good for skin infections and I plan to bathe her tomorrow as her incisions from her biopsies are now fully healed. It's called Duxxo and is their Pyo range.

In response to hazelrunpack, her Total T4 is now back and is 23.5 (normal range is 13.0 - 53.0) so on the low side. I am still awaiting her 'Free T4 by ED' to complete her results.
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Old January 22nd, 2017, 12:16 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Shazanne, you would made a great health aide ! LOL! I was one and had to report to the nurse what my clients poops looked like etc! I check my dog poops too and also watch him pee to made sure there no blood in his pee.
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Old January 22nd, 2017, 01:11 PM
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You can always tell dog owners by how often the subject of poop and poop quality comes up at dinner time! Can you imagine when we had 8? For some reason, no one would accept our dinner invitations!
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Old January 22nd, 2017, 05:26 PM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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Originally Posted by Barkingdog View Post
Shazanne, you would made a great health aide ! LOL! I was one and had to report to the nurse what my clients poops looked like etc! I check my dog poops too and also watch him pee to made sure there no blood in his pee.
Only interested in animal poop - human poop is an entirely different matter and I'd probably run a mile from it!!!!!
I see more dog and cat poop in an average day than most people see in years. Anything that comes out of an animal is fine with me. But humans bodily function are
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Old January 22nd, 2017, 05:30 PM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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Originally Posted by hazelrunpack View Post
You can always tell dog owners by how often the subject of poop and poop quality comes up at dinner time! Can you imagine when we had 8? For some reason, no one would accept our dinner invitations!
Hahahaha!! So true! I have left my own food on the table to clean up vomit, poop and pee without batting an eyelid and then gone back to eating my food! Us dog parents are a strange breed - but we couldn't be happier!!!
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Old January 22nd, 2017, 06:19 PM
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You're my kind of people, Shazanne!
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Old January 22nd, 2017, 10:37 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shazanne View Post
Only interested in animal poop - human poop is an entirely different matter and I'd probably run a mile from it!!!!!
I see more dog and cat poop in an average day than most people see in years. Anything that comes out of an animal is fine with me. But humans bodily function are
LOL! Yeah that is true , but I have gotten so use to talking about human and animals poop I forget some people get gross out by it.
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Old January 22nd, 2017, 10:43 PM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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The only human poop I ever cared about was my kids - when they were babies and I had to see it multiple times a day!!!
But I can discuss animal poop with anyone anytime and not flinch - and believe me, in a veterinary clinic, you get ALL the graphic details and the poop samples to accompany them!!!
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Old January 22nd, 2017, 10:44 PM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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You're my kind of people, Shazanne!
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Old January 28th, 2017, 06:18 AM
MaxaLisa MaxaLisa is offline
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I know that you have a specialized shampoo, but for my thin-furred dog that battles staph off and on, this has been a great shampoo for us: https://www.amazon.com/Vets-Best-Spo.../dp/B0002AQMAA

My dog has a collagen disorder which affects many things, including her ability to grow fur. She is on thyroid meds which help, but it's an entire syndrome. Homemade bone broth helps. You might look at try a little bit of zinc and biotin. You don't want to have increased zinc for too long, but if it helps, it means there is a deficiency. Huskies are an example of a breed that often need extra zinc.

With my girl we didn't turn a corner until I took her to a dermatologist and I started her on oral allergy immunotherapy. Drops instead of shots.
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