Canine Yeast Dermatitis Testing and Treatment

Professional Guidance for Canine Yeast Dermatitis

My poor itchy legs!

You know the smell. That yeasty, warm, sickly smell coming from your dog’s head or skin or their bed? The skin is red or bright pink. It is dry with flakes and itches like crazy. You have gone to the veterinarian 4-6 times in the past 2 years and you are frustrated with the money spent and the lack of results. You are researching holistic vets on the internet to find relief for your dog. You desperately need professional veterinary guidance.

Here’s What Goes Wrong with Chronic Dog Skin Infections

Which one are you?

1. No one explained to you how important the annoying and difficult baths were. So you and your dog suffered through a few of them. And you saw no benefits and quit doing baths. When your dog started scratching all night again, or smelling bad, you booked a recheck and felt like the visit was all the same stuff all over again. Because it was- you were back to square one.
2. No one explained to you how important it was to recheck your dog’s skin on a proper time schedule. Maybe you thought the vet clinic was trying to make more money by recommending a recheck. Maybe you trust your vet and just could not get back in for the recheck for a few months. Whatever progress your pet made with the treatment faded away over time and you ended up back in the same stinky situation.
3. You were in shock when you got the initial work-up estimate. So much money! For a skin problem?! After all- it’s the outside of the dog. How hard could it be to get rid of it with some medicine? If you felt this way, perhaps you approved some of the meds and maybe some of the tests. Without testing for the predisposing and perpetuating factors, your vet’s hands were tied!
4. Maybe you approved everything your vet recommended at the initial visit and it was a whopper of a bill. But here’s the rub: how do you know your vet tested for everything? You may have done everything you were asked and still not given all of your options.
5. Or maybe you did everything your vet advised, went for your recheck and your vet referred you for a dermatology specialty exam. Now you are rattled. This is getting so expensive and you have to deal with a new medical team. How can you even trust or understand what they say?

Yeast Dermatitis in Dogs Newsletter

The Truth of Dog Yeast Dermatitis

The truth of the matter is, you will need likely 3 visits at the minimum over 3 months to see progress with our dog’s yeast infection. The yeast is easy and inexpensive to diagnose. If it looks like it and smells like it, it likely is yeast. However, your dog needs some more tests to identify predisposing and perpetuating factors. If these factors are not identified, the yeast will persist or recur and your expensive treatment will fail.

Predisposing Factors

• Seborrhea oleosa
• Hypothyroidism
• Atopic dermatitis – allergies
• Immune deficiency – meds, drugs, diseases, other illnesses, hospitalizations
• Genetic
  • Westies, Bassets, Cockers, Silkys, Aussies, Maltese, Chihuahuas Poodles Shelties, Lhasas, Dachshunds

Perpetuating Factors

• bacteria
• ringworm fungus
• mange mites, especially demodex
• not treating predisposing factors
• not avoiding allergens – this is a big one. For example, if you dog is allergic to oak trees, then you will have to manage yeast recurrences sometimes 2-4 times a year in a snappy and timely manner because the trees may be everywhere!

Tests to Consider for Yeasty Dogs

• Skin work-up: scrape, tape, fungal culture, ear cytology, in certain cases, skin biopsies
• Baseline blood work CBC, Chem, T4. Is your dog’s body working right? Did an illness weaken the immune system?
• Fecal- ID yeast or mites in fecal. Also fecal parasites attack digestion and weaken immune system.
• Vitamin D3 level- low D3 is a perpetuating factor for allergies. 75% of dogs are low. Your vet can order Vitamin D3 levels. Do not just supplement D3. Why? Because too much kills the kidneys.
• Omega 3 Fatty Acids in Balance. 95% of dogs are low in Omega 3’s. Your vet can order an OmegaQuant Vet test. Do not do Omega 3’s beyond the label dose without vet advice. Why? Because omegas are fat soluble and you can overdose and poison a dog.

Dr Truli Recheck Schedule

Your veterinarian will determine a correct recheck schedule for your dog. Ask for an overview of how they think the treatment will go. This is basically asking for a prognosis. Your vet team should be able to say, he’ll feel much better in 6-8 weeks. We want to see him monthly. Or we need to see him every 2 weeks. Or perhaps they will offer a telemedicine recheck if you need lots of guidance and space out the in person recheck to obtain yeast counts and do the hands-on tests.

What You Do Not Want From a Dog Skin Visit

• No diagnosis. Ask when test results will be ready and follow up.
• No prognosis, recheck schedule and expected arc of how long to get better.
• No recheck appointment. Book one at the end of the first visit. Skin is tricky, you need professional guidance to know if it is cured or changing or what?
• If you haven’t given the medicine or haven’t done the bathing, let your vet team know at the recheck. Life happens. Make sure you get accurate advice for your money. Your veterinarian needs to know what is really going on at your home!

The bottom line is, skin diagnosis and treatment is some of the most common veterinary care. It is also more expensive than a quick check up and a bottle of pills ad maybe a bottle of shampoo. The skin is a visible (and olfactory!) measure of your dog’s total health. Consider it a bonus that the problem is showing itself in the skin and not the liver or bones or brain or somewhere else invisible and super important.