Yeast Infections and infections in dogs

Yeast infections in dogs are easily seen.

Does your dog have brown or brown-pink feet?  This is a typical sign of an yeast infection in Canines.

Orange, brown or pink fur usually indicates a yeast infection.  The dogs saliva can stain if there is yeast present.  The reason the chin becomes stained is because dogs lick their paws and the  saliva stain can affect the beard by transferring the licked areas saliva to the beard.  Spooky got an yeast infection on his paws and the beard and feet were pink to brown.  How to get rid of this?  I cut off all the red hair.  Yes he looked funny.  Then I mixed water and vinegar and sprayed his feet three times a day.  1 part vinegar to 4 parts water.

An anti-yeast diet is also an anti-inflammatory diet, which is also a good diet for dog yeast. 

We know yeast needs sugar as a source of energy and that carbs break down into sugar.  Get the sugar out of the diet.

Here's what not to feed:

• honey
• fructose corn syrup
• white potatoes
• sweet potatoes

For really bad yeast infections go completely sugar free:

• low hypoglycemic veggies and eliminate potatoes
• corn
• wheat
• rice

Instead start adding some natal anti fungal foods!  Who knew?
small amount of garlic
oregano oil

Disinfection of the dog.  You are going to have to give your dog a bath often enough to kill the new bacteria that will grow every day. 

A vet will give you a cream or ointment to smear over the yeasty parts. 

What they don't tell you is as the yeast dies it forms layer of deed skin on top of other layers of dead bacteria.

Understanding Systemic Yeast Problems

[This is very informative article and the information below is not meant to be used in lieu of veterinarian advice, diagnosis and treatment.]

If you are reading this article it is probably because you are at the "end of your rope" with your pet's skin and/or ear problems. Far too often when dogs are diagnosed with allergies, they are in fact really suffering from a systemic yeast infection, be it on the surface of the skin or the whole system. If this is the case, antibiotics and steroids will not clear up the source of the problem. They only address secondary bacterial infections and provide temporary relief from itching.

Yeast problems can be caused by different yeast organisms.

One is Malassezia pachydermatitis, which is a common yeast organism found on normal and abnormal canine skin and ears. Other yeast problems involve Candida Albicans, which can be systemic and the root cause of the problem. Yeast found in the body changes to its fungal form and starts to overgrow in the gut, causing toxins to leak into the body and causing a breakdown in the body's defenses (immune system). The result is that we start to see a reaction (such as a skin, coat, ear or bladder infection) and the reaction is in the whole body's system (systemic). If you understand that the skin is the biggest filter organ in the body, you can understand that this is where the junk and toxins in the body end up, causing the issues you see in your pet.

I feel this is one of the biggest health problem facing pet owners today, as well as in humans, and the basis for many human diseases. I will tell you now, there is hope but it takes time, effort and patience on your part. So, take time to go through this information and share it with your veterinarian. I will try to keep it brief, a mini-course so to speak, but you have to do the homework! (words of wisdom from this retired professor!)

Understanding Yeast Overgrowth

How Did This Happen?

There are 3 types of yeast infection:

Superficial (most common) - characterized by inflammation of tissue linings, i.e. skin, GI tract, pharynx, upper and lower respiratory tract etc.;

Locally invasive - i.e. pneumonia, cystitis, esophagitis, the most common being ulcerations of the intestinal, respiratory or genitourinary tract;

Systemic - an invasive infection, characterized by lesions of the heart, kidneys, liver, spleen, lung, brain and other organs. digestive tract, it is one of those organisms, like bacteria and parasites, that need a host (your pet) in order to live.

When the body (pet or human) is given the best nutritional support with a good diet, the body can keep these "critters" at low levels and they do not interfere with daily life. But when the body is compromised and fungus/yeasts and other pathogenic bacteria (e.Coli etc) and parasites (giardia, coccidia, demodectic mange mites) not only flourish, the multiple with abandoned!

Antibiotics Can Save a Life and Compromise Health Too.

The second issue we need to look at for yeast issues is the use of antibiotics - either "over use" of them, or using them without using a probiotic "back up" at the same time. Probiotics (beneficial yogurt like bacteria) keep the flora/fauna of the gut at good levels in the digestive track. When this flora/fauna is killed off due to antibiotics we must re-seed the gut with probiotics at the same time. If we don't do this, guess what starts to grow out of control -- the yeast/fungus, which also lives in the gut and is just waiting for an opportunity to spread.

But Probiotics/Prebiotics, keep fungus/yeast at lower levels in the gut as long as it is supplied daily in your pet's diet and we can't fully depend on it on some dog foods. Once there is yeast overgrowth, probiotics alone will not push the levels back down. It requires supplements to alter the pH of the environment, kill off the yeast, remove the yeast die-off from the body, and probiotics to reseed the gut with beneficial microorganisms.

Other things compromise the system such as hormones (seasons), steroids, stress, vaccines, medicines, toxins, flea preparations, yard sprays, household cleaners, detergents, fabric softeners etc., but the two issues I have found the worst at causing yeast/fungus overgrowth are:

1). DIET - poor quality ingredients and lacking in nutrients and variety or nutrients that are not available to the body.

2). OVER USE OF ANTIBIOTICS with no probiotic back-up given at the same time to re-seed the gut with beneficial flora.

How Did I Miss This? ... A Slow Process

Generally this deterioration of the intestinal environment that causes yeast over growth, does not happen over night, it is slow and gradual process, just like the reversing of this problem. It starts with something called Leaky Gut Syndrome.

Leaky Gut Syndrome is caused by the Candida (yeast) changing into its fungal form, growing roots (rhizoid's) into one's intestines, and penetrating the intestinal lining. This causes the microscopic tears, which allow undigested proteins to pass into the blood, causing joint problems, autoimmune reactions.

Here is a typical scenario … let's say your dog is 3 years old and been fed a grocery store level food. It was on antibiotics a couple times for an infection. He has been healthy up until now, but one day you notice he is shaking his head, scratching his ear or perhaps chewing at his feet -- only once in a while. Then a few days later it seems to be with more frequency. Soon the dog chews it's coat, it's skin is raw or itches himself more often than normal, and it is obvious there is a skin infection. There starts to be patches of baldness and black spots particularly on the underbelly and legs of the body (yeast die-off residue) remember that skin is the biggest filter organ on the body. In extreme cases the dogs can start to have seizures, constant issues with reoccurring urinary tract infections, lethargy, skin welts and baldness etc.

So off we go to the vet and what do be get? ... we get an antibiotic ointment for the ears, antibiotic for the coat to make sure there is no secondary infection, and a shot of steroids to temporarily stop itching and a suggestion that "this is a food allergy" let's switch to Hills or Purina prescription diet.

The dog improves for a few days, thanks to the steroids and the antibiotic starts to clear up the itching secondary staph infection, then all of a sudden days later the dog is in full blown chewing, itching, red feet and ears and absolute misery. Back to the vet for a second or third or fourth round of the same thing and more steroids. Now it becomes a vicious circle - over and over again, back to the vet, so the vet suggests we do "allergy testing". The dog must be allergic to something perhaps it is in the diet.

And as always, when the body is in a "heightened state" of response, the least little thing can set it off and it seems come up on an allergy test as some kind of reaction from belly button lint to lima beans, from wheat to Kleenex, from fleecy toys to popcorn. You name it your dog "seems" to be allergic to it! I have seen it all on these tests. The owners return home baffled (we never eat lima beans?). The fact is these allergies tests have so many false positives that they are a huge money maker for the vets and really tell you nothing about the dogs situation. Remember real allergies are about immune problems...boost the immune function, change diets and we have success.

After hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars invested in tests and vet visit- the results tell you the dog is allergic to everything --things you didn't even know the dog came in contact with in your home!! (doesn't that "Australian Grass" only grows in Australia?). It is my opinion the majority of systemic yeast overgrowth problems in dogs, get mistakenly diagnosed as a food allergy.

A Quick Look At Potential Contact Allergies

There are contact allergies you need to consider before you go to all this expense of allergy testing, provided you go that route. Take a careful assessment of any changes in cleaning supplies, detergents, aerosol sprays and carpet sprinkle products. You may just have a"Taa-Da" moment and save yourself some major $$ in testing.

I know of a breeder who spent thousands of dollars trying to figure out what was wrong with their show dog. They had this dog back and forth to Purdue with no results. Then one day the owner called and said how his show career was over because of his skin problem and he was the #3 dog in his breed. I knew he was on a very good diet- something else was going on so I flipped through my mental rolodex..... I asked the owner "by the way, do you use Carpet Fresh?" He responded, "Oh yes, 2 -3 times a week, we have two males in the house, you know, I have to!". I said, "Well, more than likely that is your problem, you will need to have your carpets professionally cleaned to have the stuff removed, and bathe the dog with a shampoo from the vet. Rinse in a baking soda rinse and I just bet the dog will be fine. I ran into the owner 6 weeks later at a dog show, with his dog. He was glad to report once they cleaned the carpets and bathed the dog, the skin the problem went away.

Another breeder had changed diets 4 times and after talking it through we figured out the leather cleaner they used on the couch was problematic for their Dobe. If you think you have to use something on your carpet just use baking soda. Tide detergent, as well as other detergents can be a very problematic if used on dog bedding. Just wash bedding in bleach, no soap and NO softeners, which can trigger respiratory reactions in young animals and children. Particularity any aerosol sprays, like air freshener and especially Lysol and other kinds of disinfectants. Do not use them. Yard, flower, bug sprays and sprayed fields in agricultural areas…all of these things can cause serious contact allergy reactions. And lastly, swimming pools with chemicals/chlorine can also be a serious problem for skin and coats.

Systemic Yeast Issues: How the Parts Relate To The Whole.

Many contemporary veterinarians, like physicians are not trained in holistic approaches, they are trained in the allopathic method which means to look at the "parts" that are wrong and fix them with drugs and surgery. To understand and diagnose Systemic Yeast Overgrowth your veterinarian must understand that the visible symptoms you see on the outside of the dog; chewing, itching, ear infections, shedding, sores etc is only the "tip of the iceberg". You must look deeper at the core or origin of the problem and not simply treat the symptoms on a surface level. In other words … look at the whole animal, inside out and see how all the parts relate to this whole animal.

Beneath the Surface

To understand systemic yeast flare-up you need to know the mechanics. In a nutshell … When the yeast/fungus starts to over grow in the gut, it destroys the mucus lining of the intestinal wall, which is a protective lining. The digestive tract is a "closed system" much like a real septic system, and it is designed to keep the waste toxins from leaking through the walls of the digestive system and into the blood stream.

When this mucus lining is broken down due to fungus growing out of control and fungus die-off, it allows body toxins and waste to leak through the walls of the digestive tract and into the bloodstream, in short it is like the body is becoming septic. What makes this problem worse is, as the fungus dies off and decays, the waste from the fungus/yeast alone can make you "sicker than a dog".

When the toxins leak into the body a whole cascade of events starts to take place, one of which is the alteration of the pH of the gut, bladder and reproduction organs. These changes in the body are the "symptoms" you recognize when you have yeast overgrowth. It is referred to as 4 stages of severity of overgrowth depending on these symptoms. The list is far to many to list here, so I will name a few that seem to be the worst in animals:

Rashes - Itching -Body Odor - Smelly Ears - Reoccurring Ear & Bladder infections -Red Skin - Sores - Scabs - Shedding - Arthritis - Genital Discharge - Hotspots - Blackened skin.

Keep in mind the biggest filter organ in the body is the skin so when these toxins leak out of the contained system and into the bloodstream, they eventually make their way to the outer layer, the skin, and deposit the toxins on the surface of the skin causing itching, irritation, odor and then a secondary bacterial infections become a problem as well. Reoccurring ear infections are often treated with antibiotic, which don't even touch yeast infections of the ears, and in fact make it worse as it destroys the beneficial bacteria of the ear canal, altering the pH of the ear and making it comfy for yeast to want to grow there.

Can We Fix This Mess?

The answer is YES - we can fix or reverse this mess, it takes time, patience and you changing some of the feeding protocol with your pet, but YES we can do it. Here goes:

1) We MUST have your pet's thyroid checked - the yeast removal kit will not work without if there is a thyroid issue with your dog-this is critical in getting systemic yeast cleared up. If you are working with the Biopet Nzymes company with your yeasty dog, they often do not even tell people how important a thyroid test is in getting this cleared up.

 The Great Dane Lady has been interviewed for articles in Pet Product News and Whole Dog Journal and Animal Wellness Magazine for her knowledge, experience and advice on many companion animal health issues including systemic yeast issues, allergies and orthopedic diseases. This is due to her years of experience in assisting vets and their clients in clearing up these problems using solid nutritional support and the Blackwatch Feed Programs. She is not a veterinarian and this information is based in 40 years of experience as a professional breeder/exhibitor of dogs and as a canine nutritional consultant.This information is not meant to be used in lieu of veterinarian advice, diagnosis and treatment.