YEAST!
Submitted by mnichols on November 7, 2012 - 11:28pmI have a 4 1/2 year old female English Bulldog who is relatively healthy except for a congenital defect (recessed vulva) which gives her recurring UTI infections throughout her life. She has had at least 12 infections which have been cleared up with various antibiotics. I give her daily cranberry powder, greek yogurt, and coconut oil which seems to help somewhat. Lately, she has a reddish brown sercretions from her eyes, tail pocket area, vulva area and in between her paws. Around the same time she has a patch under her neck with no fur and red skin.
The vet put her on an anti fungal which is not really working. I feed her twice a day wet and dry food. The dry food (which she has been on for at least 3 years) is Natural Balance Grain Free Sweet Potato and Fish and the wet food is Nature's Variety Instinct Lamb (I switched from Canidae Lamb and Rice because the local stores no longer carry it). Turkey, Chicken, Venison, and Duck don't agree with her so Lamb and Salmon seems to be the best. I have tried the raw diet with her and that completely does not agree with her. I feel like she has a systemic yeast infection and don't know how to fix this. I was thinking about putting her on a cooked diet of Lamb and Vegetables but I don't know if that will help. Also, I know a lot of the posts recommend baths but she is allergic to all soaps and becomes very red and itchy and rips her skin scratching. Usually, I just soak her in epsom salts and that works well.. Any suggestions or experiences about what this could be from? Is it from the anit biotics or food. She really seems ot be suffering and licking herself constantly so I really would like to try to heal this! Also, has anyone had succes with making their own dog food? Cooked not raw, as mentioned previously raw doesn't agree with her. She just finished three weeks of anti fungal which did not change this condition.
The best thing I have found for yeast is...
Malaseb. They used to make wipes, but I think they are discontinued so I use the shampoo for tail pockets and tear stain areas and I use the spray on a cotton pad for other areas. It might help, you can get it from vets or order online. Make sure that you are using grainfree treats as well as food. Lamb can also be an allergen for some dogs. Maybe stick completely with the fish.
UTI's in Bulldog (re: Yeast by mnichols)
Hi. I would like to respond to the section of your posting which refers to recurrent UTI's in your bulldog. I have a 2-1/2 year old female bulldog with a malformed vulva. She had her first UTI at 1-1/2 years old. It took five rounds of antibiotics and approximately 2-1/2 months to clear it up. Not long after, she came down with another infection. We decided to take her to the bulldog specialist we had used in the past, and he cleared her infection in one visit and one round of antibiotics. However, and this may be something you would want to pursue, we found out that her pH level was too high due to insufficient draining of her urethra and resulting in infections. The vet recommended giving her a prescription supplement called Methio-form (generic name: methionine) to make her urine more acidic. He suggested this as an alternative to performing surgery on her vulva, and we chose to take the path of trying the Methio-form. We have been using the supplement since last spring and she has been infection-free. We found an online pet pharmacy (Valley Vet Supply) where we were able to purchase a 500 count bottle for a very reasonable cost.
As far as her issues with yeast, my first thought is that having been on antibiotics so often may have promoted the yeast. Controlling her UTI problem may eliminate the need for antibiotics and therefore, reduce the overgrowth of yeast.
Joe & the girls
Similar case
My English Bulldog Priscilla is 8 years old. She had similar issues with yeast infections. Yeast between her toe's, tail and her area. We completely stopped feeding dry dog food 7 months ago and she has not had a yeast infection since. Fungus feeds on carbs. We gave her 93% cooked lean beef, 1/4 cup of steamed & blended broccoli, Brussel sprouts, flax seed, shaittaki (sp?) mushrooms. We also added yogart to her food and No Carbs until the yeast was gone. A few at home remedies worked as well... Soak in apple cider vinager (kills spores) & wash with selson blue (selenium sulfate). Small amount of monistat really worked area her area. Hopefully that helps. We battled the best solution for months. Typically yeast infections are caused by something else. Ours has a really weak immune system and was recently diagnosed with nasal cancer. Keep an eye for any changes in her gums. Best wishes.
~Bridget :)