raw is going well but the final frontier: feet
Submitted by DadtoMatilda on September 17, 2010 - 6:14pmMatilda's doing very well on raw otherwise, but we still have a problem in one place: her feet.
During hot, humid weather she occasionally will get a bit red in other places, namely some of the folds on her undercarriage. I call it "her peep". As part of maintenance, I say "we're gonna clean your peep" and she will lay down and let me clean her up with some yeast cream. Usually goes away right away.
Her back feet, and even more specifically between the two middle back toes are another story. There, and only there we continue to have a problem with yeast. In fact, just like with nail trimming she will struggle and try to get away I attempt to clean them with - well - anything.
We have tried:
Nizoral 1% ketoconazole shampoo (I have looked for the 2%, can't get it without a human prescription). It works wonderfully on all the rest of her skin.
Epsom (it goes in her bath)
Vinegar (it goes in her bath as well as is used for wipe-down)
Eqyss STOP shampoo
Witch hazel
Mentholated alcohol
Gold bond cream/powder
Not even a round of cephalexin would clear it up (that she was on for something else, but still)
Nothing seems to help. When I see other bulldogs with very short back nails, it seems their toes are properly 'seated' and allow air in between the spaces, which I think is part of the problem. Over the course of the last four years I've tried to get her in at least every three weeks to help keep her nails short in back, but it is slow going. I think some of you read how that usually Matilda gets the Sedate Dog of the Year award until you try to cut or grind her nails. She categorically refuses to let me touch her back feet with a washcloth. Her front feet and the outsides of her back feet are fine and she will actually put her front paws out and let me hold them to wipe them down. Back ones? Forget it. Holy terror.
The red underneath could be coming from an allergy to grass, which she also eats (great...) and she is markedly less skin-irritated in winter but those two places on the back feet never seem to stop. She isn't obsessed with them but from time to time she will lick them until whatever she's sitting on is wet.
Any tips?
Are you using the raw
unfiltered apple cider vinegar, such as Braggs? Perhaps as you continue to build Matildas immune system by feeding raw, this problem will go away. I hope so.
In Dr. Goldstein's book of animal healing, he recommends about 1 tablespoon in a cup of water. Could you just stick her feet in a pan with that solution once or twice a day?
Just a crazy suggestion.
Grapefruit seed extract
I recall reading somewhere it solves yeast issues. Maybe do a google search on it...Grapefruit seed extract.....Poor baby...Can I just say, raw has gotten rid of all Roxy's yeast issues. I too would have to clean her "peeps". She would lay down and roll over to expose herself as soon as she sees the wipes coming. Gotta love those bullies.
Good thing I feed Kofi
raw, cuz she rarely will expose her peeps for me to clean.
Strange little girl, she should trust me by now, but she seldom will let me even give her belly rubs, though she loves them.
Go figure!
I have heard...
...that supplementing the diet with Acidophilus may be helpful to dogs with yeast-related problems. I started my own two guys on it recently, and it seems to have been tremendously helpful with their yeast issues. You can purchase brands made specifically for dogs, but I have them on the Spring Valley human brand from my local Walmart. They each get half a pill per day. Before, I always felt like, no matter what I did, I was always dealing with irritated folds, ears, and toes, and not too long afterwards, this is no longer the case. Of course, I started the Acidophilus and raw feeding at around the same time, so it's tough to identify the relative impact of each. Good luck - I hope you find something that works!
Susie, Eddie, and Alex
we use
As far as supplements we are using a modified Judy Wilson model :)
Matilda gets half a vitamin C tab with each meal as well as a squirt of fish oil and a half tablespoon of sea kelp with probiotics (acidophilus, bifidus, and some other one I can't pronounce). When I come home for lunch she gets a large blob of yogurt for a snack and perhaps some freeze dried duck or liver for a small treat. I try to avoid chicken, for some reason it turns her a little pink for a while after she eats.
When I feel like cleaning the floors I'll give her a fresh raw bone that morning and let her fool around with that, but I haven't been able to do that because of little boy, who does not eat raw and loves bone.
I wanted to start giving her raw anchovies and sardines (she loves plain herring and sardines canned in water) but I am not sure what raw fish with bone in to give her.
I use distilled white vinegar for cleaning the floor and I wash all of Matilda's laundry in white vinegar and baking soda only. I wash her stuff probably once, maybe twice a week if it isn't around bathtime.
To clean her peep (and her face actually) I use Bragg's diluted with contact lens solution. It works quite well on the facial folds and everyplace else except, of course, her back feet.
The only place we continue to have a problem is the back feet. I started raw in early August; perhaps things will continue to improve as time goes along but unlike the other areas I've noticed an improvement (shedding, tears, dirty ears, red areas on the body after eating, small poop) the feet are still an issue.
Treating yeast infections
First of all cephalexin (keflex) will not help--it is for bacterial infections. Oral medication wouod be something like ketoconizal (spelled wrong) However maybe Monistat cream wouod help. It is an OTC to treat vaginal yeast infection but may work on the toes. They have a package containing the cream, cool wipes and something to relieve the itching. It would not hurt her if she licked it either--the amount she would get by licking would be minute. Also soaking feet in Masengyl (spelling?) supposedly helps clear up IDC--may help clear up the yeast, too.
Miriam
omegabulldogs@aol.com
Good post.
I have heard about using Vagisil, it seems to work pretty well. Maybe that would help.
Amy and Sophia
You name it, we've tried it
The pharmacy must wonder why I buy Vagisil and Monistat so frequently.
Yeah, I know keflex won't clear a yeast infection but even if it weren't that, the point is nothing seems to improve her feet. The antibiotics were for other things.
wilson has the same problem
he has bad idc..their is not alot you can do but to keep working on them...he never had a problem till he got pneumonia and it took four months and 4 different antibotics to clear his lungs up...it was the antibotics that did it....i keep them clean use vagisil... if their really bad i use prep h...but use caution as this has a steroid in it....