Yeast Infection

[mssabai]

Hi,

Our pug is two years old now and has suffered from a near on permanant yeast infection ever since he was a puppy. The cycle is we get him treated, he is great for a few weeks and then his itching and smell come back. We worked out a while back that cheap dog food brands were a big no no - I am assuming because of their high carb levels. He is now on Purina's premium brand as well as cooked meat and small amounts of rice.

I am reluctant to keep going back to vets, as it is obviously a lifestyle issues and I am aware that overuse of antibiotics will make the problem worse. He is generally happy and the itching is not excessive, but if left untreated he can get quite depressed and his coat looks unsightly (and he HONKS)

I have been looking a lot into a RAW diet, however (and I know this is very weird for a pug) he is a fussy dog and will only eat when he is hungry. The idea of leaving raw meat lying around in a bowl all day in tropical temperatures is a bit too gruesome for me to bear. He is also incredibly messy and likes to drag his food around the kitchen (again raw meat...bleurgh). Feeding him outside isn't an option as the neighbourhood dogs will come and eat it while he is deciding when he is hungry.

Has anyone had a similar problem and any success in treating it? Should we just stop feeding any rice at all (he does enjoy it, particularly mixed up with meat and juice and his purina)? ANy shampoos we could try (we use the specific yeast one when he has flare ups - Mescab??? and a regular doggy one the rest of the time)? And in particular any succesful diets? (I am in rural Thailand, and also funds are not unlimited...)

Thanks very much

Ms Sabai and Pooch Sabai

[Nienke]

I've had success with several dogs just by taking the dog completely off the carbs/dryfood and/or rice and only give raw food (sorry about that).

If you're still in to trying out the raw food for a months or 2-3, then I suggest to feed your dog only at one certain spot, for example, in the bench. Give the dog 20 to 30 minutes the time to eat it. Then take it away and put it in the fridge. Next meal give again. Continue this until your dog gets the point.

And yes, rice is not advisable to give, especially not when the dog has problems with yeast.

My 2 setang.

[gameon]

when my wife suffers from the occasional yeast infection, im sure i over heard her reccomending yakult to a friend.

[mssabai]

Thanks Nienke. I am going to reconsider the raw diet. We have actually had success with taking the food away before after 20 minutes (when we have changed his food) so it stands to reason that it would work with this. I think the most difficult thing will be getting my M-I-L's head around it! She usually prepares half his meals....

Gameon - yes that is exactly right. Yakult is agood because it is a probiotic. However it would have too much sugar in to give to the pooch. Does anyone know if there are any probiotics available in Thailand for dogs? Or digestive enzymes?

[Nienke]

Maybe for a while feed your dog solely yourself, explaining to your MIL that you really want to tackle the problem. Ask her to give you 2 to 3 months to try out. In the meantime, make absolutely sure your pug doesn't eat any snacks that contains grains. If your MIL really likes to give snacks prepare small pieces of dried liver and other pieces of shortly cooked meat (assuming that she doesn't like to give small pieces of raw meat), which she can give.

As for the digestive enzymes for dogs available, I do not know. However, as raw food hasn't been heated the digestive enzymes in there are still okay. That's one of the many good things of raw food.

On another note about raw food: I currently have a 3 1/2 year cocker in boarding. When I collected him I saw he had severe dry eyes and mange with a thickened blackened skin, hair loss, horrible smell, and seborrhea. The owner told me that he had at least 3 seizures a week.

Two days at my place he got 3 seizures. I asked the owner for permission to do more tests at the vet. On the way to the vet he got another seizure and at the vet his 5th one. He received a jab of diazepan (heavy drug). Next day another one seizure, 2 hour after he got fenobarbitol. I changed immediately to a raw food diet, as I had a feeling the dry food diet was contributing to the problem. Now, more than a month later he has had one more seizure and that was a day after he ate one meal of dry food, as I had run out of raw food and didn't want to fast him. (wrong decision but nevertheless good to know) Since no dry food anymore and no seizures as well.

His eyes are almost recovered and his skin and coat are a lot better. As for the anti-seizure pills, I have been able to reduce those from every day 2 x 1/2 a pill, to every 4 days 1/2 a pill. I hope to stop these pills soon.

This is not the first dog that I know of that improved after changing to a raw food diet. But with that, of course, I do not want to say that all seizures are food related or that by changing to a raw food diet all health problems can be solved.

What it is exactly in the dry food that causes the problem for this cocker, I can not tell.

What I do know in case of your pug yeasts love carbs, hence my advice to try out a carb-free raw food diet. I really hope it will tackle the problem for your dog. I have two pugs myself and since I'm totally devoted to both boxers and pugs. I think pugs are mini-boxers, anyway. Similar affectionate and absolutely funny.

[mssabai]

Yeah they are ace. He is actually a rescue dog, I wouldn't have chosen a pedigree myself because of the cost and also because there are so many puppies around that need good homes, but he was homeless and loveable so we couldn't refuse!

I have been reading a lot about raw food now, including the yahoo newsgroup you recommended on another thread. I am thinking of starting him on a chicken neck or thigh tonight. My MIL won't be a problem if she sees an improvement but right now she is badgering me to take him back to the vets where he will just get more antibiotics...and the circle starts again.

Any tips for good meat portions for pugs? What do you regularly feed yours? Are the chopped pork ribs you can get here too small? They seem good as the bones are very soft.

Thanks!

[Nienke]

Well .... uhhhh, good sizes for pugs .... uuhhhh?

Both pugs of mine just swallow whatever they think is edible and that's pretty much everything that comes in front of their noses and smell like meat. They don't think, don't chew, just bite-swallow-gone.

With both pugs I need to crush the bones. With chicken bones a big knife will do, but with the thinner pork bones I need a hammer. Best is to put a piece of cloth over the bone or your walls will be decorated. Then the crushed bones with meat are divided in tiny pieces. One pug gets that in her bowl, but even that's too dangerous for the other pug. With her I need to spread the pieces over the floor, or feed it one by one by hand. I wonder if she was a pig in her former life.

I would start with chicken wings or neck. Give about 100 grams. Then watch the feces carefully. If they become softer stop. Wait till the feces are back to normal and then start maybe with 50 grams for one meal. If the feces remain firm give the normal amount (for my pugs that is in winter time both 150 grams per meal twice a day, in summertime one pug still 150 grams but the other one 100 grams per meal. The increase is because of an increase in exercise during the cooler period).

Do not, however, feed rice or dry food together with the raw food.

If you start with only meat or too much meat chances are high your dog will get a digestive upset.

Good luck. I hope your dog loves it as much as my pugs do.

[mssabai]

Thanks a lot for that. Well day one didn't go so well. I had a chicken neck which a pulled meat off and put in his bowl just to get hi used to it. He was STARVING. He was very curious and came up and sniffed a number of times but...nope. Then I put bits on the floor (his favourite way of eating) and same - would come over and sniff it and then walk away. It is like he is scared of it. I tried this 3 times at different periods, leaving him the bowl to sniff at for 20 minutes each time.

I have put a strict ban on anyone feeding him anything else and I will try again tonight. By then he will be soooo hungry. I will crush everything up like you suggested. But if he doesn't eat it tonight, I am going to have to go back to his kibble as he loses weight very quickly... god it is so frustrating having the world's only fussy pug! Any other tips for getting him to eat it if he continues to turn his nose up?

[Nienke]

I had a very fussy eating boxer pup in boarding and training. She had a bad reaction on the vaccination and the fussiness was one of the symptoms. She even developed meningitis from those bl*** vaccines. She's quite fine now, fortunately.

Anyway, when she came in boarding she was 3-months old and skin-and-bones. The owner was desperate. I put her immediately over on raw food or at least I tried. Same as your pug, she sniffed was visibly hungry but didn't touch it. I crashed the chicken wing and started to feed by hand tiny pieces. The first 2 or 3 pieces I put in her mouth for her to taste. In her case that did the trick together, however, with a homeopathic treatment.

Another method is that you boil water, then dip the neck or wing quickly in it. Not too long, only a second or 2! By doing so the smell from the skin changes and may make change the mind of your dog.

I wouldn't go back to the dry food too quickly though. He's an adult dog and if besides the skin issue he is furthermore bouncing he can go without food for two days or even 3.

Good luck!