Natural Remedies

Pekingese With What Smells Like a Yeast Infection

Posted by Ginnypigl (Maryland) on 11/03/2015

I'm new to this site and a lot overwhelmed on all the holistic treatments for my 8 year old Pekingese with what now smells like a yeast infection. A few months ago I took her to my vet for chronic sneezing, sometimes up to 30 times in a row. Sneezing would happen at different times. At the same time, after waking up she would be rubbing the sides of her face or both ears on the floor and "growling" like she was uncomfortable. She also does this rubbing of her ears and face hen outside on the brick patio area.

When seen for the sneezing, the vet gave her a shot of convenia, and a shot of steroids. He also gave clavamox to me to give her if she was no better after receiving the two shots. Also she was to take benadryl, which she is still currently on. He checked her ears, nothing was wrong.

He tried to check her teeth but it was difficult for him to do so as she is not too cooperative at the vets. He had the techs do an x-ray. They had to do three as my dog kept moving when they tried to do the x-ray. One x-ray that was clearer than the others showed a dark spot at the top of her nose. He consulted with the other vet who does all the surgeries at my vets and they agreed my dog needs a rhinoscopy to see if there is something in her nose. The charge would be $800.

I decided to wait and see if the shots she had received helped before considering the rhinoscopy. Initially she was better after the vet visit. The benedryl has kept the sneezing under control, she gets 1/2 benedryl 2 times a day. A few weeks passed and then she seemed to get worse so I gave her the clavamox. In the past few weeks she has a smell that smells like a yeast infection to me. The space right above her nose when she will let me clean it has an odor. I think the odor may also be coming from her ears.

I have her x-rays and have considered going to another vet for a second opinion, just don't know a vet nearby to go to, and one that I trust.

She has had stomach problems when on store bought dog food so I have been making her dog food for years with cooked ground beef, or ground turkey, green beans, and carrots. Her stomach problems have gone away.

Currently she sleeps mostly but that could be the benedryl, and still has the yeast smell. Not a happy puppy, and I am unsure of all the holistic treatments what to use if any or should I get the rhinoscopy done and see if she has a polyp, or something worse in her nose.

I would appreciate some advice with a few ideas of something that will help her, and not overwhelm me too much.

Worried about my girl. :(

Thank you.

Replied by Theresa
Mpls., Mn
11/04/2015

Hello Ginnypigl,

I have some thoughts for you.

It sounds like your vet hit hard and heavy with the antibiotics; did he feel there was an upper respiratory/sinus infection going on? And then the antibiotics knocked out the beneficial bacteria in your dog's system which has allowed the yeast to take hold. If this were my dog I would order from online Zymox Otic; I prefer this product over others and some home remedies because it has enzymes which will help digest the yeast. I would use this in the ears and also the skin folds. And, while you wait for the mail order to come, I would bathe in Ted's Mange remedy or the Anti-fungal/Anti-staph dip. Bathe your dog and rinse well, use your hands to squeeze out any water and then saturate the coat down to the skin with the solution and let sit for 10 minutes. [I will post the remedy at the end of this reply.] I would also rotate between baking soda water and borax water. The baking soda water helps to alkalize your dog's system and balance the PH. The borax is an antimicrobial and necessary mineral and will help combat the yeast from the inside out. I usually rotate the borax or baking soda in my own pack; in your shoes I might start with the borax first, and then move onto baking soda water along a schedule something like this as recommended by Ted who first gave this advice:

For a female dog use 1/8 teaspoon Borax per liter of fresh water; weight is irrelevant.

Timing: dose Borax for 1 week; then drop to half the dose in week 2. Stop for 1 week. Resume.

or

Dose Borax for 4 days, then plain water for 3 to 4 days, then Borax water for another 4 days; continue on/off schedule until ailment clears.

When not on the Borax protocol, I would alternate with baking soda water. A crisis or 'break out' dose is 1 teaspoon of baking soda into one half liter of fresh water; this might taste too strange for your dog right off the bat, so if you dose the water and she turns up her nose dial it back to 1/2 teaspoon baking soda into 1 liter of water and build it up every 2 days or so until you reach the therapeutic dose. You could also alkalize by adding raw, unpasturized apple cider vinegar to your girl's food - 1-2 teaspoons per meal or what she will tolerate.

And - to deal with the elephant in the living room - the mass/dark spot seen on the xray absolutely should be checked out further. To my thinking, if she snorted up a foreign body you would see sneezing and discharge; you are not reporting any discharge other than the sneezing, and so I would be concerned about a tumor/cancer of some sort. If you can get a referral from your vet to a specialist for a second opinion that would be ideal. If that is out of the question financially, you might consider asking your vet about a payment plan; if you are a long time client/patient they may accommodate you. I would advise the rhinoscopy sooner rather than later; if you are indeed dealing with a tumor then you can take appropriate action immediately - and if it is just a polyp you can then rest easier. Please let us know what you decide and report back.

The following are Ted's remedies to use as a dipping solution after a bath.

Ingredients:
Borax laundry booster - the plain stuff with NO scent.
1 -16 oz bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide

I get both of these from the grocery store.

Process:
Empty hydrogen peroxide into larger bottle - I use an empty 1 gallon vinegar jug. Add to this 32 oz filtered or distilled water - I just refill the hydrogen peroxide bottle twice - and dump into the jug. What this does is change your 3% hydrogen peroxide into 1% hydrogen peroxide.

Next add 1 cup of the borax crystals and shake. There should be some undissolved crystals in the mixed solution - this is just right. I try to use hot water from the kettle on the stove, that or sit the jug of mixture in the sink full of hot water while I bathe the dog.

NEXT:
Bathe the dog - use whatever shampoo and rinse well. Squeeze out excess water and make sure the tub is drained. I then plug up the tub. Now pour the mixed up solution over the dog. I use a small sponge to soak up the solution from the bottom of the tub and squeeze it out onto the dog again and again, making sure I get the head and underneath. Keep squeezing solution over and over onto the dog for about 15 minutes - 30 minutes is better. Then pull the stopper from the tub and let the excess drain. DO NOT DRY THE DOG OR RINSE THE DOG. The solution has to remain wet as it is still working. Allow the dog to air dry. I just pop mine into their crates and I remove any absorbent bedding.

If you are worried about poisoning your dog keep in mind that borax has the same toxicity as table salt. The solution doesn't seem to hurt the eyes or sting any sores on the skin. Some dogs feel instant relief!

You can make up a solution for a spray bottle and touch up areas on a daily basis if you choose – just keep the hydrogen peroxide ration 1:2 – so 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide straight from the bottle to 2 cups filtered water OR 1 tbsp hydrogen peroxide to 2 tbsp water – and then add powdered borax until it stops melting into the solution and remains as grains on the bottom of the mixing bowl. The key is to make a “saturated" solution, the point of saturation is where the grains of borax stop dissolving; again the solution should be grainy whatever the ratio of hydrogen peroxide and water that you use.

Now, the above remedy is for mange - but its a good start for troubled skin. If that doesn't seem to be working and things do not look better you can make a topical skin solution for the troubled spots.


Anti fungal/staph skin solution - you will need:
Milk of Magnesia [magnesium hydroxide], also called MOM
Epsom salts [magnesium sulfate]
Borax [sodium tetraborate]
1% hydrogen peroxide solution

Mix 1 tbsp of MOM with 1 tbsp epsom salt and 1 tbsp borax into 1-1/2 cups of 1% hydrogen peroxide. Apply and do not rinse. This solution should knock out any staph infection or yeast infection going on in the skin.

Replied by Lynn
Maryland
11/06/2015

Thank you for all of the information. I will order the item online that you mentioned in your response to my question. Regarding the Rhinoscopy I checked with a specialist where all other vets I checked with referred me to and the cost was way over my vets estimate of $800, but knowing my vet that was a low ball figure. Honestly I don't really have a lot of trust in this vet although I do know others who swear by his care of animals, I'm not one of them. I usually see the other vet at this practice whom I trust but he does not do surgeries, or procedures like the rhinoscopy. Meanwhile the dog is feeling lousy and I am trying to do my best to make her feel better. The vet I see was not sure what she had, possibly a sinus infection so I assume that is why we used 2 antibiotics. She did not have the yeast smell when I took her to the vets. I agree the antibiotics caused that. Honestly I think what worked was the shot of steroids because she was better after that which would make sense if she has an inflammation in her nose. When the steroids wore off she got worse again. She has never had a discharge from her nose. She does snort everything, and has a weird habit of licking the floors and furniture at times. Could be a stress thing as she is easily stressed, another reason why I am unsure what to do. We have valium for her but it doesn't really calm her down much. Also she has both back legs that have luxating patella which at some point she will probably need surgery for. I can usually gently pop them back in place but this can't go on forever. The dog is 8 years old. I take excellent care of my fur kids, just not sure where to go with this. I suppose suck it up and get the rhinoscopy done by a vet I don't trust but can kind of afford? He lets me make payments, but if he doesn't pay attention to what he is doing and something happens to my dog it really doesn't matter about the money. I know this isn't your problem I just feel helpless.

Replied by Ginnypigl
Maryland
11/06/2015

Theresa,

After much reading, and many phone calls I have found a vet who will be seeing my dog next week. They do ultrasounds, and x-rays there, sedated if need be, as her x-ray was kind of blurry. She hates the vets. She seems better today, was even playing fetch. Perhaps the acidophilus has begun working on the yeast infection. I have changed her diet as well, no more junk food treats. She is offered green beans, and I guess she's hungry enough to go for them. I have a vet tech working with me at the new vets which I feel better about. Hopefully we can get a definitive answer on what may have showed up as a dark spot on the original x-ray. Thank you for all the information. I have written down all I need to buy for her to get rid of the yeast infection. We will take things a day at a time and hope all goes well with her. Thanks again.