Yeast infection?

[sophie098567]

Bella's 11 months old, and when we first got her at 5 months, her skin was perfect. Her neck beautifully white and the wrinkles in her face were fine. She did have a bit of soreness under her nose but quickly got better after a few weeks of daily bathing. However we noticed that under her neck quickly got sore and really red, it also seemed to irritate her and she was itching it a lot. At first we thought it was from where she was drinking, and then the water was irritating her skin because it wasn't being dried off immediately, however her wrinkles were quite bad aswell. When we took her for a vet check up they gave us some cream for her wrinkles and some malaseb shampoo for under her neck. It turned out that the shampoo made everything better for about a day and then it just got really bad again within 24 hours. The cream didn't really seem to do much either. The soreness has gone from being a pinky red to just brown gunky horrible stuff and she's starting to wipe her face on cupboards and doors and everything because it's irritating her so much! Her neck has lost a lot of hair aswell. I've done a lot of research and read a lot of posts on this site and reckon she might have a yeast infection. She's also just started in the past few days licking her paws which I also believe is another sign of a yeast infection. I didn't realise how sensitive bullies are to food and how common allergies are with simple things such as type of protein, grain etc. When we first bought her she was on royal canine food, but she didn't seem to like it much. Not realising the damage it could cause I repeatidly changed her food every few weeks to see what she liked, and as well as this, she managed to get hold of some Wagg food, which my other dog, a staffy, eats. I've read what it contains and it appears to have a lot of grains in it and stuff that generally doesn't seem too good for bullies with sensitive bodies! I'm pretty sure it's a yeast infection so since yesterday I've been putting Canesten cream on her neck and wrinkles after cleaning with salt water. I haven't seen any improvement yet and was wondering how long it could take, or if this doesn't work, what could help?​

 

[2BullyMama]

OUCH... poor baby! First - welcome to EBN!

Witch Hazel on a make-up pad will help with the folds and paws. Get her off the grain food ... what are you feeding her now? This all sounds allergy related - not infections.

Any pictures you can post?

 

[sophie098567]

I've stopped her getting access to my other dogs food and I've put her back onto the Royal Canine Bulldog mix which she was on at first, but this is only yesterday so I'm still waiting for change. Anyone have any ideas on how long it'll take? I don't have any photos at the moment but if I can get any in the next few days if there's no improvement then I'll be sure to post them! The reason why I think it's an infection is because of the brown gunkyness, or can that be allergy related too? Her neck is the worst though, irritating her a lot!

 

[2BullyMama]

I've stopped her getting access to my other dogs food and I've put her back onto the Royal Canine Bulldog mix which she was on at first, but this is only yesterday so I'm still waiting for change. Anyone have any ideas on how long it'll take? I don't have any photos at the moment but if I can get any in the next few days if there's no improvement then I'll be sure to post them! The reason why I think it's an infection is because of the brown gunkyness, or can that be allergy related too? Her neck is the worst though, irritating her a lot!

Yes, it can all be allergy related. RC food is not a good food, lots of filler and lots of bullies have issues with chicken. Clean her face a few times a day with the witch hazel... also, are you using stainless steel bowls? If not, get them... bullies get acne from the plastic or ceramic bowls. When you go to the vet -- ask for a full screen blood allergy test - it will give you great info on what to avoid for her.

 

[sophie098567]

I've heard a lot of bullies aren't good on RC but she seemed to be fine when she was on it before so I'm thinking it was the change of dog food! Thanks for all the advice, and yes she does have a stainless steel bowl! Amazing how sensitive their skin is. So much hard work but so worth it for such amazing pets. Would never have another breed. How long do you reckon it'll take to see improvement?

 

[2BullyMama]

Should be a few days to a week to see some improvement.... bigger difference is about two weeks

 

[sophie098567]

brilliant thankyou! :D

 

[kazzy220]

I'm just going to repeat what others have said ... Royal Canine is not a good food and although it doesn't seem to be having too much of an effect right now it really is the equivalent of feeding her McDonalds every day! Whenever, you switch foods do it very slowly increasing the new food gradually ... I usually take a full 10 days to make the switch over completely. I'm going to tag [MENTION=1648]Lucy-licious![/MENTION] on this because a lot of the foods we talk about on here are not available in UK but Angie should be able to give you some pointers on good bully foods that are available in England.

If it's brown and gunky it sounds like a yeast infection. It could be food related or it could be environmental ... is it just the neck and face area?

What it all boils down to with bulldogs .. is usually food is the most common thing. Get that right and you have a good chance that 95% of your problems will go away.

In the meantime, continue with the canesten and you can try the witch hazel or a 50/50 solution of apple cider vinegar and water to bathe the area first. If at any point it looks as if it is actually getting infected rather than just a yeast .... you may need to try the vets for antibiotics. Good luck!!!

 

[karenben]

for the last 9 months ive been battling annies constant itching and myself and the vet put it down to allergy,well i know its not her food as she is raw fed,has no carbs at all,on friday she develpoed an ear infection so off to the vets,i mentioned to him that could it be a yeast overgrowth and he said its possible,ive read that sneezing,scratching,paw licking ,grasy coat,flaky coat,hair loss ,which annie has had all at some point can be yeast overgrowth plus that nasty cheesy smell they can have ,all these symptoms can mimick allergy and as antihistamines dont touch annie im going for yeast overgrowth,so im bathing her in malaseb once weekly and ive ordered some bovine collostrum to give her for 14 days ,also i have read that apple cider vinegar can make yeast worse in some dogs ,so even though im a great believer in it ive stopped it,i know shes not allergic to wool/grass as her itching has gone down by 90%,the vet says thats due to her maturing ,shes 18 months now,she also has a very strange yellow patch on her head which will not wash off!!!,so i would definatly look into the yeast if allergy is ruled out ,karen

 

[Lucy-licious]

I'm just heading out to work so cant really get into this right now...but just quickly a good grain free that has helped Lucy is James Wellbeloved Lamb and Vegetable (not Lamb and Rice) I'll pop by later when I get off work at around 9.30 pm

 

[sophie098567]

for the last 9 months ive been battling annies constant itching and myself and the vet put it down to allergy,well i know its not her food as she is raw fed,has no carbs at all,on friday she develpoed an ear infection so off to the vets,i mentioned to him that could it be a yeast overgrowth and he said its possible,ive read that sneezing,scratching,paw licking ,grasy coat,flaky coat,hair loss ,which annie has had all at some point can be yeast overgrowth plus that nasty cheesy smell they can have ,all these symptoms can mimick allergy and as antihistamines dont touch annie im going for yeast overgrowth,so im bathing her in malaseb once weekly and ive ordered some bovine collostrum to give her for 14 days ,also i have read that apple cider vinegar can make yeast worse in some dogs ,so even though im a great believer in it ive stopped it,i know shes not allergic to wool/grass as her itching has gone down by 90%,the vet says thats due to her maturing ,shes 18 months now,she also has a very strange yellow patch on her head which will not wash off!!!,so i would definatly look into the yeast if allergy is ruled out ,karen

sounds just like bella! except she doesnt have a yellow patch on her head. the reason i think its food is because she was fine when we first got her and it was the change over of food that started it all off. unless it was just crazy coincidence. she didnt paw lick for ages but shes just started. ive taken pictures of her face and im going to see if theres any improvement over the next week, if there isnt i'll take her to the vets and see what they have to say. unfortunately i cant bath her at the moment because she's also got a bad leg which some of you may have read my other post about. i can't think of anything worse than putting her under any more stress that she already has and increasing the risk of her falling over and damaging it more! thankyou for everyones brilliant advice.

 

[sophie098567]

I'm just heading out to work so cant really get into this right now...but just quickly a good grain free that has helped Lucy is James Wellbeloved Lamb and Vegetable (not Lamb and Rice) I'll pop by later when I get off work at around 9.30 pm

thank you! do you know if the food can be purchased from stores, like pets at home? or whether i have to order it online. do you also know prices? im new to owning a bully and just want to do everything i can to make life easy for her! a lot has gone wrong so far, not my fault, or hers, just unlucky but i'm hoping to get everything sorted soon enough, and if RC is as bad as everyone says it is, i will definitely look into changing it! look forward to hearing from you later

 

[karenben]

annie started itching when i changed her kibble so i switched her to raw ,im thinking she had a very slow yeast build up ,she started at about 9 months old,i hope your bully recovers quickly ,karen

 

[Lucy-licious]

thank you! do you know if the food can be purchased from stores, like pets at home? or whether i have to order it online. do you also know prices? im new to owning a bully and just want to do everything i can to make life easy for her! a lot has gone wrong so far, not my fault, or hers, just unlucky but i'm hoping to get everything sorted soon enough, and if RC is as bad as everyone says it is, i will definitely look into changing it! look forward to hearing from you later

You can buy it from pets at home I get the 10kg bag for £40 but you can get a small bag for around £8.50. It took us a lot of food changes to settle with this and I am proud to say Lucy has no yeast, no tear stains and only the occasional teenage spot...and her nose rope is so white and dry
I do recommend JWB and there are many different flavours, Lucy struggles with chicken, turkey and duck that's why we went for lamb, we did try lamb and rice but that was just as bad so we went for the lamb and veg which is their grain free.

Whatever you choose transition slowly mixing old food with new food 1/4 to 3/4 1/2 to 1/2 3/4 to 1/4 over a week or so until she's totally switched, this will help prevent loose stools and tummy aches. If she does get loose slow down even more. Keep in touch and let me know how you do. Changes won't be instant though so be patient good luck xx

 

[sophie098567]

You can buy it from pets at home I get the 10kg bag for £40 but you can get a small bag for around £8.50. It took us a lot of food changes to settle with this and I am proud to say Lucy has no yeast, no tear stains and only the occasional teenage spot...and her nose rope is so white and dry
I do recommend JWB and there are many different flavours, Lucy struggles with chicken, turkey and duck that's why we went for lamb, we did try lamb and rice but that was just as bad so we went for the lamb and veg which is their grain free.

Whatever you choose transition slowly mixing old food with new food 1/4 to 3/4 1/2 to 1/2 3/4 to 1/4 over a week or so until she's totally switched, this will help prevent loose stools and tummy aches. If she does get loose slow down even more. Keep in touch and let me know how you do. Changes won't be instant though so be patient good luck xx

i'm pretty sure she's not allergic to the royal canine as that's what she's been brought up on. i'm going to finish the bags of RC she has at the moment and see if her wrinkles and neck get better. even if they do i'll definitely introduce her to jwb asap if it's better for her health. thankyou so much!