Beat Pet Yeast Infections: Raw Diet & Natural Remedies

To combat the yeast from the inside out, consider alkalizing your dog's drinking water with baking soda - 1 teaspoon per liter is a typical amount to start, and you can lessen or stop after a week or two. You might also consider Ted's Borax protocol to eliminate yeast in the GI tract:

Posted by Ted (Bangkok, Thailand) on 12/12/2014

"The borax dose is the same regardless of the weight of dogs. In the end small dogs drink less than large dogs. The only difference is the sex of dogs which the female dog requires half the dosages male dogs.

So a female dog is always 1/8 teaspoon per liter dose. And male dogs is 1/4 teaspoon per liter water. Weight is irrelevant.

Timing:
Borax dosage for 1 week. Then 1/2 dosage in week 2. Stop for 1 week. Resume.

or

Borax dosage for 4 days, then no borax/water for 3 to 4 days. Continue on/off schedule until ailment clears."

To combat the yeast from the outside in, consider Ted's Anti-fungal/Anti-staph solution:

Ingredients:

• 1 - 16 oz bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide
• 1 bottle Milk of Magnesia
• 1 box Epsom salts
• 1 box Borax
• Filtered or distilled water

Method:

Dilute the 16 oz brown bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide to a 1% solution by dumping the bottle into a jug and adding 32 oz of filtered or distilled water; I just fill up the empty brown bottle with water and dump it in the jug twice. Now you have 48 ounces of a 1% solution of hydrogen peroxide.

Add 4 table spoons EACH:

Borax, Epsom salts, and Milk of Magnesia.

Shake the dickens out of the solution. I usually run a tub full of hot water and set the jug in the tub, and then when the tub cools where I can bathe my dog the solution is by then an agreeable temperature for the dog. Bathe the dog in doggy shampoo or what have you, get all the crusty lesions gently scrubbed up and loose skin and scabs off and rinse well. Now drain the tub and when empty plug it up again and now pour the jug of prepared solution over the dog. I use a plastic cup to scoop up the solution and keep pouring over the dog. I try to keep this up for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes I pull the plug, squeeze off any extra water with my hands and let the dog drip a bit in the tub, and then I take the wet dog with bare hands and put her in a crate with no bedding. Do not towel the dog off - you want as much of the solution to stay on the dog as possible, so it can 'work'. I allow the dog to drip dry in the crate with no bedding. It helps to have the house heat ON, and a nice tasty bone or high value chewy in the crate to distract the dog for a bit. After half an hour I let the dog out and towel dry as best I can and then let them work themselves dry by running all about the house. You do NOT rinse the solution off - you let it dry completely and that is it, until the next bath.

If you have a tiny dog, if you do not wish to make up such a large quantity of solution, the single batch is as follows:

• 1-1/2 cups of 1% hydrogen peroxide
• 1 tbsp MOM
• 1 tbsp Epsom salts
• 1 tbsp Borax

You may be able to put this into a spritzer bottle and spritz problem areas on your dog, of w hen dealing with the feet make up the solution and stand the dog in a basin or tub to soak just the feet, but I find it best to tackle the entire dog with a full body treatment first, before using the spot treatment approach.

I find the effects of the dipping solution last about 24 hours, so you could dip every other day. Some dogs may find this harsh to the skin, so a follow up with coconut oil applied topically after the dog has dried off may help areas that are getting dried out. Usually you can get a handle on the skin infection if you dip every other day for the first week and then reduce to every few days until it clears - it is something you have to play by ear as each dog is individual.

I would give it 3-6 weeks for results.

Please report back!

I would highly recommend using fresh aloe directly from the plant on hot spots, and the elephant type skin areas along with the ACV. Both tend to break up the yeast. We also have used the red light laser treatment for healing. Both have beautiful coats by the way. We use Orvus shampoo which has gentle healing characteristics, whitens is easy to rinse out; have used it for 40+ years on horses and dogs. You could even mix it with a little blueing to give white and silver dogs that incredible bright look. Will check in in a month or so to update the yeast issue. As for the hound with the cancer tumor, we just found two more lumps that are small and will be removed promptly. Fortunately just under the skin.

Unfortunately one developed a tumor on his shoulder that required major surgery (Malignant) but encapsulated, that because of the long healing process we had to put him on a prophylactic antibiotic and sure enough he started itching on his paws and front legs. However, spraying the ACV on them and rubbing it under his nails and into the skin has helped keep it under control. Once the course of the antibiotic is finished I am confident he will return to normal. Prognosis is good for a few more good years with him without any advanced treatment. Cathy

It sounds like you are on the right track for your girl!

I would only suggest you consider supplementing with raw sauerkraut for the probiotics- my pack LOVES it! Also if you are dealing with systemic yeast overgrowth, you might consider a borax regimen in the water to knock the population way down to really get on top of the yeast.

I have a pit bull/rott mix that is 70 lbs and somewhere around 3 years old (she was a rescue so not certain).

From the moment she came to live with me she had an ear infection;which she spread to her eyes, a recurrent vaginal irritation, anal gland issues, and hair loss. With antibiotics we saw temporary relief and then the ear infections would return. I learned that some people saw the above symptoms as evidence of allergies. So I took her off as many starches as I could (she is eating Castor & Pollux dried food made with duck). We cook liver for her, which we prepare with 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. I also give her 2 tablespoons of yogurt a day. It does make her go with a bit more frequently but it is not a watery go (sorry about that detail).

I am somewhat on the paleo diet (still do carbs occassionally). The diet makes some sense for dogs so no more breads, potatoes, pastas, fruits, corn or sweets for her (we use to give her fruits from time to time--bad I know now). I learned about the HVBO (High Vitamin Butter Oil) and FCLO (Fermented Cod Liver Oil). It is kind of expensive but my dog loves it. I bought it from Radiant Life in gel form plain without cinnamon and stevia (other "flavors" are lemon and carob and have stevia added). It is gross to me but I take it too (much larger dosage for me) and the dog really likes it. I only give her .5 teaspoon and she is getting better slowly--I think. She does not scratch her ears anymore. I will wait for a few more weeks to see if that works for her other symptoms before I bump her up to one full teaspoon. I am keeping close watch on a near bald spot on her head. Amazon also sells the HVBO & FCLO blend Radiant Life sells it the cheapest. Amazon can be as much a $20 more.

I was giving her regular cod liver oil but learned that those synthetic versions that are absorbed into the body as easily as the FCLO--which is more a of a food than a supplement.

Hope this helps others. Will be sure to post an improvement with before and after pics if possible.

Best of luck!

Only PLAIN probiotic yogurt must be given. Never a flavoured one.

As I said, use an antifungal shampoo.

NO steroids or antibiotics. Because they feed the yeast. IF, antibiotics ARE needed, then use Colloidal Silver.

STOP, ALL, commercial food/treats/biscuits.

And feed only raw. Even with raw, there are certain things you MUST avoid, when dealing with yeast. NO, fruit or vegetables. Because they contain, 'natural' sugars. Which will also feed the yeast. So, just RAW meat and bone to start with.

You can try adding other elements of a raw diet, once you have the situation under control. When, you can try one thing at a time, to see if there is a reaction.

You can give a multi mineral and multi vitamin. But check the ingredients. Many contain yeast!!

NO, booster vaccinations either. NO spot on flea treatments. The garlic will deal with fleas.

Do your research.

I would limit any kinds of carbs. Buy dog food that the first five ingredients are not.

Plain yogurt would help replaced the natural flora in the gi tract that yeast took over. Flavor yogurt probably has more sugar in it.

Oatmeal is also a carb. I would avoid bathing my dog in it.

Steroids and antibiotics feed the yeast.

Vegetables can have natural sugars.

Stop feeding any commercial dog food and change to raw. Raw meat and raw bone.

Bathe in an antifungal shampoo. And for a final rinse use half WHITE Distilled vinegar/half water. leave on to dry.

Have a mixture of this in a spray bottle and use daily. Clean out ears also, with the same mixture.

A good probiotic yogurt every day. And fresh, garlic. Turmeric with a little black pepper. A drop of grapefruit seed extract.

Give AND use on the skin, coconut oil. If the skin is really bad, mix in some neem oil.

The most crucial in all of this, is diet. This is the route cause of most skin allergies, particularly yeast.

NO, booster vaccinations. NO chemicals in their environment.

White vinegar is great for cleaning with!!

Go right back to basics to get it under control.

I know from my own experience this works.

When my now, 5 year old, Shihtzu was a puppy, the vets nearly killed him, pumping him full of steroids and antibiotics.

That's when I started raw feeding.

I now have 4 very healthy dogs.

I have 4 Shihtzus. When one of them was a puppy, he started to become quite poorly. Took him to the Vets. Who diagnosed severe Yeast issues. They started pumping him full of steroids and antibiotics. We kept going back to the vets. He was getting worse, to the point, I thought I was going to lose him.

He was fed on commercial puppy food.

I started, doing loads of research. And, discovered that steroids and antibiotics actually 'feed' the yeast!!

So, no more Vets........ I also researched dog food. And that anything with wheat/grain in, was feeding the yeast also. That's when I changed to raw feeding. No fruit or veg for him either as there are natural sugars in many. For that reason, I don't use ACV for him. I started bathing him in a good quality anti-fungal shampoo. Rinse well. And then with a mixture of half water/half, distilled WHITE vinegar. Soak the dog in it. 'Dunk' the paws in a bowl of it. Flush out the ears also with the mixture. (As long as the ear drum is not perforated).Then leave it on the dog, to dry. DON'T rinse off. Get a spray bottle and make up a new solution. Use this every day where there are any skin issues and spray inside the ears. Clean out any 'gunk' with it. Dunk the paws daily in a new solution. Doing it, just before bed time, is the ideal time to do it. Also, after a walk etc.

The crucial thing is diet. Add some probiotic yogurt. Garlic. Good quality, Virgin coconut oil. Every day. Plus of course. Raw meat/Offal/Tripe/fish. Some bone. But, find out about raw feeding, so you know what to give. Minus, fruit and veg for a dog with yeast issues. NO treats or biscuit. Unless home made. For a dog with yeast issues. It has to be done for the lifetime of your dog.

If you need to heal any sores before you get it under control. Use a mixture of neem oil and coconut oil.

If antibiotics are needed. Use Colloidal Silver. Or, it will flare up again.

Don't give tap water to drink. Only, bottled or filtered. NO, table scraps. I now have a very healthy 5 year old.

When he has a bath, it's always with the anti-fungal shampoo, followed by the white vinegar/half water rinse. I also, always clean his ears with it. He has an issue with one ear, because his ear canal is VERY narrow. So, I also shave his ears, inside and out. So, he has no hair irritating his ear.

Cathy

It sounds as if your cocker is experiencing the Herxheimer reaction. As the yeast die, they release a toxic by-product that may cause nausea or fatigue. In addition switching to a more pure diet will also cause the body to flush toxins out. Allow your boy access to plenty of fresh water and fresh air to help him flush the toxins out of his system.

One other thing - you might consider dosing the ACV and probiotics separately, about an hour apart rather than feeding the works in 1 meal; this to avoid any contra-interactions between the two.

You might be over doing it with both the salmon oil and the coconut oil - cutting back to just 1 of those oils may help with the farting; also consider adding enyzmes for digestion: I use chewable papaya from Whole Foods for my pack.

I would also consider something that may have a bit more *kick* than the your vinegar/peroxide/water solution; Ted's Anti-fungal/Anti-staph dip.

You will need:

Milk of Magnesia [magnesium hydroxide]
Epsom salts [magnesium sulfate]
Borax [sodium tetraborate]
1% hydrogen peroxide solution [start with the 3% solution you buy in the brown bottle at the super market or drug store]

Process:

Empty hydrogen peroxide into larger bottle - I use an empty 1 gallon vinegar jug. Add to this 32 oz filtered or distilled water - I just refill the hydrogen peroxide bottle twice - and dump into the jug. What this does is change your 3% hydrogen peroxide into 1% hydrogen peroxide. You now have 48 oz of solution. To this add 4 tablespoons EACH of Milk of Magnesia, Epsom Salts, and Borax. I cap the jug and then let it sit in a sink of hot water to get it up to a nice warm temperature. When the solution is warm, I then bathe my dog in the tub and make sure I rinse out the soap well. I then allow the tub to drain and when the bath tub is empty I then use my hands to wipe down the body to remove as much water from the hair as possible, then I stop up the drain and then pour the jug of warm solution over my dog. I use a plastic cup to scoop up the solution from the bottom of the tub so I can pour it over my dog again. Keep this up for at least 10 minutes - dosing the dog over and over again with the solution, making sure it reaches everywhere and particularly on the affected areas. I let my dog drip off in the tub and then I put her in a crate with no bedding to continue to air dry for another half an hour - temperature permitting; you may need to bump up the heat in the house or crate him in a small room with a space heater. The solution continues to work when wet, so the air dry process in the crate allows the solution to continue the therapeutic action until your dog is dry.

Yeast infections take time to manifest, and can take a while to resolve. You may additionally consider borax to combat the yeast internally. Ted recently updated his borax protocol -here it is again FYI:

Posted by Ted (Bangkok, Thailand) on 2/12/2014 "The borax dose is the same regardless of the weight of dogs. In the end small dogs drink less than large dogs. The only difference is the sex of dogs which the female dog requires half the dosages male dogs.

So a female dog is always 1/8 teaspoon per liter dose. And male dogs is 1/4 teaspoon per liter water. Weight is irrelevant.

Timing:
Borax dosage for 1 week. Then 1/2 dosage in week 2. Stop for 1 week. Resume.

or

Borax dosage for 4 days, then no borax/water for 3 to 4 days. Continue on/off schedule until ailment clears.

Some reduce the dosage depending on weight of dog to prevent side effects but just know that beneficial effects will also take more time to see results when you reduce the dose.

This is most common dosages, just use common sense. Yes borax can be use for many unexplained conditions of dogs and human for simple reason that most unexplained conditions that cannot be cured with bacteria in majority of cases is fungus or parasites which borax does well but also is essential nutrient for the bones and hormones in mammals."

We then started him again on the daily dose. Went back to the vet (for shots) and again prescribed antibiotic/steroid therapy and to discontinue the atopica to clear up his skin before giving him his yearly shots. I knew this was a bad idea but as desperate as we are, we'd do whatever it took to make him well. For three weeks, everything was great. But I knew that once he was off of the therapy, his scratching would resume. It did. My next plan before stumbling upon this website was to take him to a dermatologist, but after reading so many stories, I decided to give some of the recommendation that has been put on here as one last ditch effort to combat this yeast on my own.

This is what I do for Mason:

Wysong Epigen 90 (starch/grain free) about 1/2 cup a feeding with Wysong wet food (about 1/4 can). 1 acidophilus pill, 2 benadryls, and a few squirts of anchovy oil, an about a tablespoon of virgin, unsweeteneded coconut oil. Two times a day.

I also bathe him with anti-fungal/anti-bacterial shampoo with tea tree oil until my order of Malaseb comes in as well as a vinegar/peroxide/water combo rinse and let him soak in it for at least 10 minutes. He hates being in the bathtub so it can be a little difficult keeping him still. I pat him dry, especially his paws. I'll be doing this 2 times a week.

We're on day 4 and his scratching isn't as incessant as it was. He still has a yeasty odor but he'll get another bath/rinse tonight. His stool/farts has the most awful smell ever. I'm going to assume it is from the change to his food and/or the added supplements.

I am hopeful that this will work for him. It breaks my heart to see him like this - he came from an abuse/abandoned situation before ending up at the shelter and then in my home. I promise him everyday that no matter what, if my husband and I end up in the poor house, he will be healthy and happy and itchy free.

You can give both the borax and baking soda at the same time. Monitor the results - you may see loose stools due to the detoxing.

Thank you so much for the additional suggestions. Currently she is getting 1/4 t of borax in a litre of water. Would you replace that with the baking soda?

Sara

It sounds like you are on the right path! You might consider a couple of more things to eliminate the yeast.

I would start by alkalizing the water. Use 1 teaspoon of baking soda into 1 liter of drinking water, and have this as the only source of drinking water. I make up a big pitcher when I alkalize my pack as we change bowls frequently. After 5 days you can cut the baking soda down to 1/2 teaspoon into 1 liter of water, and after another week you can go to a maintenance dose of 1/4 teaspoon. This is fine for the cats too.

For the skin issues, starting with Ted's mange remedy can be very helpful to most any skin condition, however you might consider Ted's Anti-fungal/Anti-staph remedy; I make this up to use in the ears as well.

You will need:

Milk of Magnesia [magnesium hydroxide]
Epsom salts [magnesium sulfate]
Borax [sodium tetraborate]
1% hydrogen peroxide solution [start with the 3% solution you buy in the brown bottle at the super market or drug store]

Process:

Empty hydrogen peroxide into larger bottle - I use an empty 1 gallon vinegar jug. Add to this 32 oz filtered or distilled water - I just refill the hydrogen peroxide bottle twice - and dump into the jug. What this does is change your 3% hydrogen peroxide into 1% hydrogen peroxide. You now have 48 oz of solution. To this add 4 tablespoons EACH of Milk of Magnesia, Epsom Salts, and Borax. I cap the jug and then let it sit in a sink of hot water to get it up to a nice warm temperature. When the solution is warm, I then bathe my dog in the tub and make sure I rinse out the soap well, and then use my hands to wipe down the body to remove as much water from the hair as possible. When the skin is so reactive take care to not rub it harshly or scrub it else you may raise more bumps. I then allow the tub to drain and when the bath tub is empty I stop up the drain and then pour the jug of warm solution over my dog. I use a plastic cup to scoop up the solution from the bottom of the tub so I can pour it over my dog again. Keep this up for at least 10 minutes - dosing the dog over and over again with the solution, making sure it reaches everywhere and particularly on the affected areas. I let my dog drip off in the tub and then I put him in a crate with no bedding to continue to air dry for another half an hour - temperature permitting. The solution continues to work when wet, so the air dry process in the crate allows the solution to continue the therapeutic action until your dog is dry.

After treating the entire dog you can make up a smaller dose of the solution and apply it with a spray or misting bottle to the affected areas - you can spray them down 3-4 times a day.

As to when you can ramp down on all the treatments you are doing, the solution above might replace the topical turmeric/coconut oil salve - or treating the entire dog may reduce the areas that you are treating with the salve. Once the skin is healed you would back off on the topical salve, but if you see signs of itching I would immediately begin alkalizing with the baking soda water.

Lastly, you might also consider putting out a simple flea trap just in case any of those buggers are still in the house. A small desk lamp place on the floor near the dog area, with a white plate or tray filled with dish soapy water underneath - turn the bulb on at night and then check for black specks in the morning. This simple trap can easily eliminate adult fleas in a room.

Can I just say THANK YOU for the suggestion of tumeric? My god what a life saver. Almost immediate relief. No instant cure of course, but for the first night in weeks we got thru without her going outside 5 times during the night and crying in her sleep.

We have instituted a steady regime of tumeric in the morning and coconut oil in the evening internally and externally, with half a monostat suppository vaginally. We also did a ACV bath which seemed soothing to her.

And after two days I could take the cone of shame off. She can't be left alone yet, needs monitoring for when she gets itchy and starts in on her tail, but it is all SO much better. We are on day 6 and the skin is healing, dry not wet and yeasty

She is getting probiotics and fresh yogurt on top of her raw diet, so I don't think there is much there that needs addressing. This was pretty clearly a case of the yeast being opportunistic after the flea infestation.

I use and swear by the standard 'Cocker Spaniel Ear Rinse', it stings a bit but it is the best I have used. And I could write a book, literally, on treating setters with ear issues. Now that the systemic yeast infection is coming under control so are the ears. Using it daily right now and trying to decide when to back off to every other.

Any ideas on how long before I could be optimistically backing off on the external applications of the tumeric and coconut oil? Man, talk about messy! I will of course do it as long as I have to, but have never had such an invasive situation, and am not sure what kind of time line to expect.

Again, Thank You for all the collective wisdom.

Sara (and Cara the Wonder Dog ; -)

I give my dogs all sorts of acidophillus- from the drugstore clearance bin, to the health food store refrigerated section, to natural probiotics that I make myself. Sauerkraut - home made and unpasturized - is an excellent source of probiotics and its cheap to make. Kefir is another excellent source, can be home made also. IMHO the key with giving probiotics is to mix them around so that you give your dog many strains of probiotics and not just one.

The remedy is as follows - just multiply to make a large batch:

1/3 cup [3%] hydrogen peroxide

2/3 cup pure water

1 tablespoon each: Milk of Magnesia, Epsom salts and Borax.

Unlike the mange remedy where you must make a saturated solution, so some grains are undissolved, you want to make sure all the grains of salt and borax are dissolved before you use, particularly if used in the ears.

If you feel you are dealing with a systemic yeast infection, you treat that from the inside out. I know you already dose yogurt and probiotics, however you might consider dosing borax in the water. Doses vary - Ted has recommended 1/4 teaspoon per liter of water down to 1/16 teaspoon so go with your gut on dose. So, if your dog's skin and ears respond to the **topical** remedy/bathing & dipping, Ted advised in 2007:

"If that [anti staph remedy] works then I might add a small amount 1/16 teaspoon of epsom salt in one liter of drinking water for only a couple of days. If the dog has low magnesium, quite often allergy shows up. For a yeast or even most sickness of the dog, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda added to the drinking water for a couple of days will also reduce the yeast infection. The yeast infection issue is due to a fungus, which if borax 1/16 teaspoon is added along with the baking soda in one liter of water can also take care of it. Besides those remedies also addresses dog's nutritional deficiency for bicarbonates and boron, and even if it does not directly address a very specific condition, the dog will generally get better and in some cases get cured, because of a deficiency issue. It's all about trying them out when I know those remedy are designed to address deficiency issue which makes it important that those should at least be addressed first."

Thank you very much. Namaste, Om

Adding chicken stock may add additional salt to your dog's diet, which might create a housebreaking issue if your dog tanks up on water [due to the salt] and then has to urinate more frequently. In addition, your dog may find it too rich, which may cause loose stools. All you can do is try it and evaluate your results.

If all you need to do is 'dress up' the kibble a wee bit, you might try thoroughly mixing in 1 spoonful of a wet food; they have 95%-100% chicken or beef canned diets that may serve very well for this.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for pointing out that you really do need to feed a healthy diet and seek out the correct answers to any health issue! As a pet owner, it really is up to you to do this 'home work' to keep your pet well. Kudos!

I would also like to add, that while your vet could have advised you to change diet etc., that not all vets are well versed in understanding, much less treating, a systemic yeast infection. The **right** vet will pair with the owner to form a healing team. I hope you can find such a team player and thus create a trusting relationship and healing team for Sadie!

A friend told me about applying a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water to the affected areas. Also, make sure to saturate the paws because the infection gets spread to the paws when they scratch. Do this everyday for 6 days. Leave on as long as possible but at least an hour before rinsing off with warm water. On the 7th day you will shampoo the dog with tea tree shampoo. DO NOT use the vinegar and shampoo on the same day as they will cancel each other out.

When the dog is thoroughly dry, you can apply pure coconut oil to soothe the skin. NEVER USE an OATMEAL product, soap, shampoo etc. for a yeast infection as the oatmeal feeds the yeast and makes it worse. Grain free diet helps, I use Blue Buffalo Grain-Free, but it's somewhat expensive. I'm sure there are other brands but believe it or not, my canine is a finicky eater. This next info is VERY IMPORTANT to note! Don't get discouraged, but rather expect the dog to scratch like crazy and even roll around after the vinegar solution is applied for about 1 or 2 minutes. It WILL subside! The 1st couple of minutes, the vinegar is killing the yeast, the yeast spores react by exploding. When they explode there will be a surplus of the bacteria on the surface of the skin making the itching worse but PLEASE be patient as this will go away as the bacteria dies in a few minutes. This reaction will be less and less in following treatments.

The once a week tea tree shampoo part of the treatment kills the bacteria that is in the skin under the surface that the vinegar can't reach. The tea tree oil gets absorbed into the skin and kills bacteria beneath the surface. Leave shampoo lather on the dog for about 10 minutes before rinsing well with warm water. The coconut oil soothes irritation as well as smothers the bacteria from getting more oxygen to grow. Also, spray down bedding with the vinegar mixture, leave on for 10 minutes then launder.This treatment takes time and patience but it's effective for yeast infections, the dog won't be taking antibiotics which are only temporary and bad for their system, and it's a whole lot cheaper than a vet visit! Here's the summary below and good luck!

Equal parts ACV (or white vinegar) and plain water, enough to saturate affected areas. I wear gloves and apply with cotton balls but a spray bottle will also work. Every day for 6 days.

Tea tree oil shampoo on the 7th day (once a week)

Pure coconut oil with no additives. Can apply as needed to soothe the skin. This isn't a mandatory part of the treatment but will aid in your dog's skin healing and comfort

I am devastated now though in that I feel like I killed my bassett hound slowly. I fed him sweet treats and junk food (or he would get into a whole bag of candy or cookies), his dog food was cheap and his ears extra thick. The symptons he had are so EVERY BIT A YEAST INFECTION by what has been described here. Wow! (shaking head sadly from side to side and vowing never to fully trust a veterinarian's diagnoses or cures ever again). Instead of the yeast taking over his body and eventually initially killing my Gus I could have had him back as good as new... :-(

The good news is that I still have a female basset and she has been suffering too. Change in diet immediately and yogurt and vingegar and water are now the order of business. I can't wait to see my Sadie healthy and happy again.

I am so very glad I discovered this website. I know where to go for great information in the future. My animals are everything to me. It's past time I treated them better with a healthier diet and correct answers to any health issues. Thank You so much!

Within two days the fungal rash on her chest improved. Within a week the rash was gone and I took her off the Ketoconazole. She has been rash free for about one month now. She still has a mild case of fungus in her ears, which I cleanse out daily with a Broad Spectrum Cleanser. The acidophilus and yogurt has made a world of difference. She is a 20 pound dog. I give her 1 to 2 teaspoons of nonfat plain yogurt and 1/4 of acidophilus smashed into powder, in her food twice a day. Hopefully everyone will have as much success as I did! She is a wonderful dog and worth all the effort.

Clearing a dog of a yeast infection is usually a long term situation.

Upgrading the diet is a good start! You should also consider adding probiotics/acidipohillus to her diet as well; just choose a human grade product from the cooler section of the health store.

Next, consider alkalizing your dog's drinking water by adding baking soda. I start out with 1 teaspoon baking soda into 3 liters of water, and increase by 1 teaspoon each day until the ratio is 1 teaspoon baking soda to 1 liter water; I then give this dose for 5 days - after 5 days you can reduce to one half teaspoon per liter of water or go back to the ACV water. I would also add once per week one eighth teaspoon of borax to the drinking water OR mix one eighth of a teaspoon of borax into some wet or canned food. This may produce a loose stool, however borax is an excellent anti-yeast/anti-fungal.

Additionally, I would bathe my dog in a solution of 1 part water to two parts Milk of Magnesia. This is an emergency ratio and in conjunction with the baking soda water and borax water should bring some relief.

Please report back!

The bumps sound like a natural effect from the antimicrobial action of the ACV. Likely anything that would cause healing would raise these pustules.

If this were my dog this is what I would do:

1 - Add 1 teaspoon baking soda to 1 liter of pure water and have this be the only water your dog can drink for 7 days. On day 8 you can reduce to one quarter teaspoon of baking soda and use that as a maintenance dose.

2 - I would bathe the *entire dog* in Ted's Anti-fungal/Anti-Staph solution. You will need:

Milk of Magnesia [magnesium hydroxide]
Epsom salts [magnesium sulfate]
Borax [sodium tetraborate]
1% hydrogen peroxide solution [start with the 3% solution you buy in the brown bottle at the super market or drug store]

Process:

Empty hydrogen peroxide into larger bottle - I use an empty 1 gallon vinegar jug. Add to this 32 oz filtered or distilled water - I just refill the hydrogen peroxide bottle twice - and dump into the jug. What this does is change your 3% hydrogen peroxide into 1% hydrogen peroxide. You now have 48 oz of solution. To this add 4 tablespoons EACH of Milk of Magnesia, Epsom Salts, and Borax. I cap the jug and then let it sit in a sink of hot water to get it up to a nice warm temperature. When the solution is warm, I then bathe my dog in the tub and make sure I rinse out the soap well, and then use my hands to wipe down the body to remove as much water from the hair as possible. When the skin is so reactive take care to not rub it harshly or scrub it else you may raise more bumps. I then allow the tub to drain and when the bath tub is empty I stop up the drain and then pour the jug of warm solution over my dog. I use a plastic cup to scoop up the solution from the bottom of the tub so I can pour it over my dog again. Keep this up for at least 10 minutes - dosing the dog over and over again with the solution, making sure it reaches everywhere and particularly on the affected areas. I let my dog drip off in the tub and then I put him in a crate with no bedding to continue to air dry for another half an hour - temperature permitting. The solution continues to work when wet, so the air dry process in the crate allows the solution to continue the therapeutic action until your dog is dry.

3 - After treating the entire dog you can make up a smaller dose of the solution and apply it with a spray or misting bottle to the affected areas - you can spray them down 3-4 times a day.