8 Yr Old Yorkie Has Yeast Infection
My 8 year old Yorkie has a yeast infection and I do believe it is from antibiotics. The vet says she has allergies and it is environmental. She was on antibiotics for two weeks for skin lumps and bumps (?) One vet gave her the prescription and another said the antibiotics would not help.
You can buy Malaseb Shampoo at Amazon and acidophilus at Walmart. I have used both apple cider vinegar and white vinegar rinses. Another rinse is a gallon of water, 1 cup white vinegar and 1 cup hydrogen peroxide. My dog has a dark saddle so the peroxide lightens the hair and I don't use it anymore. I recently discovered Defense Liquid Body Wash which can be used on dog, but not cats on Amazon and using that in sections and rinsing it off. I called the company to make sure I could use it on a small dog.
I have laid off of the ice cream and other people goodies. Right now she is on Merrick Bison and Sweet Potato, Origen Original and Halo Chicken. She has always been on Natural Balance, Taste of the Wild, Blue or higher end kibble. I alternate every 3 months. We also cook ground pork, chicken, or turkey mixed with veggies, and pasta (brown rice, pasta). Since the yeast flare up we have laid off the starches. She eats 1/4 cup of kibble a day and gets fed twice a day the cooked meat and veggie mixture. I have read that oregano or a little garlic is good to ward off yeast. She gets cut up raw beef after dinner daily with the oregano on it. I watch carefully that her food is grain free and make sure her treats are of the best quality.
So what could possibly causing the yeast you say? I don't know, but I'm trying everything I can to rid her of it. It is under her armpits, and around her genitals. It's better, but not gone. I will try the castor oil. I have tried Candida by Now, Kefir and plain yogurt and acidophilus. I've tried so many things that I don't know which is helping. I think in the future I will go for limited ingredient high end kibble next time and keep up with the yogurt and acidophilus. We give her too many sugary sweet people treats and I've cut that out. I too have yeast issues thus the Candida by Now. The vet thinks it is environmental (pollen, dust etc.). If it is potatoes that is an easy fix.
Mpls., Mn
02/03/2015
Hey Lilli!
It sounds like the 2 week regime of antibiotics may have been the straw that broke the camel's back; your girl's systemic yeast infection likely has been building for some time now. In my experience a systemic yeast infection can start first with a vaccine reaction that goes un-noticed until the yeast overgrow and overt symptoms present as 'skin allergy'. And when it is bad, the vet nips it in the bud with an allergy shot to arrest the hives and itching, and with an antibiotic to deal with the secondary skin infection in the abraded skin caused by all the scratching.
To break the cycle, you are on the right track with upgrading the groceries and cutting out the unhealthy people food. It sounds like you have found a number of topical solutions and shampoos that work for you; the only thing I would consider topically would be Ted's Anti-fungal/Anti-staph dip or paste - but these would also bleach the coat over time and turn that black saddle into a rusty red.
If this were my dog - to fight the yeast from the inside out - I would consider alkalizing the water with baking soda; I would consider Ted's Borax protocol for dogs; and I would also supplement the diet with a digestive enzyme such as papaya.
You have supplemented with acidophillus; what may make a huge difference is to change it up a bit and offer a wide variety of strains of probiotics; DDSw/FOS, PB8, etc. - just use another brand or strain when the current bottle runs out as populating the gut with too many of one strain can cause the same problems you are trying to eliminate. Additionally supplementing Yucca may help reduce inflammation and supplementing Quercitin and Colostrum may help with the allergies.
