Help Needed! Serious case of the yeasties

[gigglebox]

Hey there, I'm new to the forum (and to English Bulldogs). Five weeks ago we welcomed a sweet little lady (13 months old) into our home and she came to us a bit of a wreck. She's been passed around since she left the shelter and was apparently on some sort of RX food, but I was given no info as to what it was and no way to get a hold of any vet with her records. She has yeast everywhere. Her paws, nose wrinkles, a little patch on her belly, her bottom and possible even her elbows? It has gotten quite a bit better, but still not gone. I started with trying hazel pads on her, moved onto Monistat 7 and also bought Chlorhexidine pads and have been using those. I've changed her food a few times (sadly, for her belly)- started out with a grain free from Costo, but then read that sweet potato is bad for yeasty dogs, moved on to Instinct grain free beef and then to the Instinct low ingredient turkey. I don't think the low ingredient turkey is quite agreeing with her. I know her stomach has to be on a horrible rollercoaster, but with the grain free low ingredient her BMs aren't very solid usually and happen once or twice a day. I'm not sure what do to from here. She's been taking probiotics on her food once a day (I've been tapering that off, because it doesn't so far appear to be helping. We've been doing it for two weeks I believe.), that also does not appear to help. I'm not against going to a vet about this particular issue with her, I've just been trying to treat the cause of the yeast rather than get tossed into a battery of expensive testing that may not be necessary and possibly not helpful- but if there's nothing I can do on my own to fix her up I suppose that's where we're going.
How long should I try a specific food before ruling it out? What is the most common poop schedule/consistency that I should be aiming for with her (weird question)?

What do you guys recommend? We live in SW FL and I'm not sure when exactly allergy season crops up here or even if that might have an effect on this. Thank you

 

[bullmama]

Awe she has such a cute squishy face!

Food should be given and switched slowly, otherwise the poo may not be consistent as well as severe gas. and results can be a whole month or longer. Sometimes faster though.

For yeast, a good shampoo to help kill the fungus is a great place to start. An antifungal and antibacterial shampoo such as douxo or pharmaseb. Rinse well, and after she's rinsed a vinegar rinse really helps with yeast. Just put a few inches if water in the tub and mix in a few cups of vinegar. Using a cup pour it all over her body.



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[2BullyMama]

Hello and to EBN.... what a sweet face, thank you for giving her a new home and doing all you can to make her healthy and happy!

Yeast is such a bugger! My girl is a yeasty mess if I do not stay on it... best I did with food is Fromm Pork and Peas least yeast issue I have had since placing her on it. Sweet potato is not an issue - it is white potato that add to yeast problems. As Lisa suggested use the vinager rinse as it will help kill it off, and the witch hazel also helps.

I tagged a few other members that may be able to help too.

Best of luck with her --- so glad you found us!

 

[Davidh]

Welcome to the site and your baby is a cutie. You have some good advice above to try. It should help with the yeast. Also if you are feeding a little too much food, her poop will be soft, so try to cut back on her food just a little bit to see if that helps.

 

[Texas Carol]

Whoa...this must be your FIRST BULLY, if so, Congratulations! Your life and
heart will never be the same, both will be stretched to their limits...but only
in the best ways GOD bless you for saving a life, what an adorable girl!

Okay, soft poo is probably from the rapid food changes, bullies are very
sensitive to food changes and need to be transitioned slowly so stay on the
one you're on now. It takes at least a month before OLD FOOD moves out of
system so be patient on results. I'd keep her on probiotics, it will help her thru
these digestive changes and strengthen her immune system. Probiotic results
do take time to see, stay with it. I'd not add anything else just yet and let her
tummy settle with this new food & all the changes prior. How much are you
feeding her?

Yeast can be very difficult to get rid of but not impossible, just stay with it. I'd
bath her weekly with special shampoo then finish with final rinse, use cheap
white vinegar, rinse from neck down then blot dry. I use a big plastic pitcher,
put in 2 cups vinegar, fill with warm water and slowly pour into fur. It will keep
her from doggy smell too. Buy organic, red apple cider vinegar (with the 'mother')
shake well and add a capful each time you fill her water bowl. Use stainless steel
or glass bowls, wash daily and fill with new, fresh water a couple times daily.
You will need to give her an antifungal too but I'll suggest some things and you can
add in a couple weeks. Let's let her get firm poos first. Good luck & let us know how
she does in a couple days. There are great articles on Yeast Control & many other
things to know for bullys, listed under Forums (top bar).

 

[Vikinggirl]

Hi and welcome to EBN, looks like you've been given excellent advice already from above members. Carol has covered everything I was going to mention. We also add apple cider vinegar to our guys drinking water, and we rinse them with apple cider vinegar and warm water. We feed our guys Fromm's Beef Frittata, because our female Blossom is allergic to chicken, salmon, corn and grains. A lot of bullies are allergic or sensitive to chicken and grains, so turkey may also be causing the yeast problems.

 

[gigglebox]

Wow thank you for all the replies and help guys! She is our first bully, my husband and I have only had easy to manage dog breeds so we've got nothing much to go on with these issues. I have been doing a vinegar rinse with baths but wasn't sure how often it is okay to bathe- I'll kick it up a notch with that. I bought antifungal shampoo a couple of days ago so I'll try that out today on her. I've read about the ACV in the water, will have to pick some up and get started with that.
I do believe that she has an allergy to chicken, so maybe turkey isn't the way to go with her? Not sure if poultry in general could set her off. Maybe something like the Blue Buffalo basics Salmon or something similar with beef or pork? I feed her a little over 2 cups per day, which is what is suggested for her weight on the bag. Sometimes she doesn't eat all of it, sometimes it seems like she's looking for more in her bowl I don't think she's a big fan of the Instinct LID turkey kibble at all. She seems to wait it out until she's probably starving before she bothers to touch it. I was wondering to myself earlier today if it could be the case that the people who had her before us possibly had her on super poor quality food and maybe that's what kicked up all the yeast and maybe she really doesn't have many food allergies like I had thought, since it takes so long for the stuff to clear up. I've had her since Jan 5th, and started grain free a few days later when her supposedly RX food was gone.

Any change I should make to the food at all or should I just keep waiting it out and watching. She's been on this food for about two weeks now, and her stools are still more often loose than formed.

Thanks again for the help She is a very silly girl and we hope to give her a happy life. I'm told she spent likely the bulk of her time with one of the last families who had her in her crate (I actually think they put pee pads or towels in there for her to use the bathroom on too). She loved to hang out and go for little walks and she's still super playful. My four year old loves her.

 

[Samantha Orts]

If you do decide to change foods down, maybe it would help trying the Fromm brand because you can switch out flavors without doing the gradual change. I have used the Beef Frittata and now use Surf and Turf which is salmon and duck. They also have a Pork and Peas flavor if you wanted to try pork. All 3 are grain free and there are a couple other grain free flavors too. Just a thought

 

[2BullyMama]

Wow thank you for all the replies and help guys! She is our first bully, my husband and I have only had easy to manage dog breeds so we've got nothing much to go on with these issues. I have been doing a vinegar rinse with baths but wasn't sure how often it is okay to bathe- I'll kick it up a notch with that. I bought antifungal shampoo a couple of days ago so I'll try that out today on her. I've read about the ACV in the water, will have to pick some up and get started with that.
I do believe that she has an allergy to chicken, so maybe turkey isn't the way to go with her? Not sure if poultry in general could set her off. Maybe something like the Blue Buffalo basics Salmon or something similar with beef or pork? I feed her a little over 2 cups per day, which is what is suggested for her weight on the bag. Sometimes she doesn't eat all of it, sometimes it seems like she's looking for more in her bowl I don't think she's a big fan of the Instinct LID turkey kibble at all. She seems to wait it out until she's probably starving before she bothers to touch it. I was wondering to myself earlier today if it could be the case that the people who had her before us possibly had her on super poor quality food and maybe that's what kicked up all the yeast and maybe she really doesn't have many food allergies like I had thought, since it takes so long for the stuff to clear up. I've had her since Jan 5th, and started grain free a few days later when her supposedly RX food was gone.

Any change I should make to the food at all or should I just keep waiting it out and watching. She's been on this food for about two weeks now, and her stools are still more often loose than formed.

Thanks again for the help She is a very silly girl and we hope to give her a happy life. I'm told she spent likely the bulk of her time with one of the last families who had her in her crate (I actually think they put pee pads or towels in there for her to use the bathroom on too). She loved to hang out and go for little walks and she's still super playful. My four year old loves her.

Great update.... Old food issues can take 4-6 weeks to clear up, give it time. Also, chicken does tend to cause issues for a lot of bullies, not all, but a high number. I also feed Fromm pork n peas, Banks does great on the Fromm line and she used to be a yeasty mess too

 

[nubonics]

You've received a lot of great advice here! One thing that our dog's dermatologist instructed us to do when my allergy ridden dog had yeast was to keep the anti fungal shampoo on him for at least 5 minutes before rinsing it off. This way the medication will penetrate the skin. If you have a good anti fungal shampoo you will literally see dirt rinse off of her.

And then for the folds make sure you dry thoroughly!

Good luck she is adorable!


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