Another allergy/intolerance question...

[bpenn1980]

Hello all, hoping some of you can tell me if we're on track or our thinking is flawed somehow.

Our dog has been getting ear infections since she was about 1 year, she's 2 now. Vet said it was yeast and gave us some solution to flush her ears. We did that weekly. Recently I noticed yeast around the skin of her vagina, black crud building up in the crease of skin. In addition, she was also scratching her ears and biting at her paws. I discovered yeast building up in between the pads of her paw. We ruled out flea's (she's light colored and we check her daily). We stopped shampooing her except maybe once a month. We moved apartments and cities, so I dont know if it could be airborne...unless she's allergic to us. With all of that, I thought we should go the food allergy/intolerance route.

I decided that we should start playing with her diet and see if anything changes. We had been feeding Bil Jac Select which has top 4 ingredients of --Chicken By-Products (Organs only, Including Chicken Liver), Chicken, Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal--. We changed her food to Canidae Chicken Meal & Rice which has top 4 ingredients of --Chicken meal, brown rice, white rice, rice bran--. We switched over using 2 days 75/25, 2 days 50/50, 2 days 25/75 and today is the first 100% Canidae day. We also suspended putting tuna in her food and stopped giving biscuits. We still put 1 teaspoon of yogurt in her food and have been doing so for a couple months (she was vomiting before). The only other thing the changed was we gave her the first Iverhart Plus pill about a week ago since we're taking a trip to Denver this week.

Here's the problems:

1) 2 days ago we noticed some 1/4"sized sores on her underside. They're not funky, just kind of pink and then crust over and flake off like a scab. She can get at one on the back of her leg and she keeps licking at it and biting it. We coned headed her and put neosporin on it. Its healing fine.

2) The yeast build up in her ears took off at an alarming rate. We cleaned her ears 3 days ago and they're nasty black with crud again. This is faster than its ever been before.

My thinking is that (if) she has an intolerance to chicken then a worsening of her condition and new skin problems could be explained by a diet higher in chicken. I know that food trials say to wait 12 weeks to determine the effect, but I want to change her to Canidae Salmon and see if she gets relief as quickly as things got worse.

What say ye, are we on track or do we need to reassess?

Thanks,
Brad

[ezzy333]

You may be on the right track but doubt if you will find the answer with your present procedure. I rather doubt if its even food related but could be. Try something besides chicken and if it makes a difference then you have found an answer. Sounds also like you are getting hotspots and with those I would restrict the amount she is eating and see if it makes a difference. All of this could be an allergy to a certain pollen or dust she is encountering at this time of year. I do think I would quit batheing an try to keep the spots clean and dry. Your best bet is to take her to the vet and get a professional opinion.

Ezzy

[mcbosco]

The mix with Gentian Violet works well for even really cruddy ears. You can buy it but its easier to mix it yourself.

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/ears.html

If the ears are bad you may want to use Witch Hazel instead of alcohol.

As for foods, some low histamine fish formulas are out there and perhaps they can help. Verus make a food call Opticoat that is from Menhaden Fish and Annamaet makes a food called Option from catfish meal, both of these fish are good for dogs that get reactions I am told.

But I agree with Ezzy, if you think that is yeast on the paws and vagina, you should see a vet.

Good Luck

[kninebirddog]

Here is another thing to check for

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... 02&aid=321

[1vizsla]

We had this problem too and it ended up to be chicken...and guess what most dog foods have some sort of chicken in all of them. I think it probably is food related since it seems to be a systemic problem and not strictly to the ears. Try a food that has no chicken and it not a usual protein source such as Duck, Kanagroo or Bison. All can be found relatively easily such as Taste of the Wild, Natural Balance and Wellness brands. We finally had Elvis tested and he was allergic to a lot more than chicken and ended up feeding a raw diet. He did better. They also suggested that we bathe more frequently (he also had environmental allergies) but make sure the dog is completely dry, including the folds of skin and every nook and cranny. If you need to PM me and I can give you more details.

Carla