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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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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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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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