glb

Looking for advice. My basset is 20 month old male and has a history of yeast infections ears, skin and internal. I am looking to find out why and what to do to prevent it. He is on a good dog food science diet he gets plenty of exercise a two and half mile walk every morning and one to two hours in the dog park every afternoon. Will a change in diet help or is there something I can add to his food that will help. The vet says I can put him on a prescription diet but I do not want to break the bank.

jmwolff

Are you cleaning out the ears and skin folds routinely?

SophieB

Also..... We once rescued an old Basset with a skin infection that often flared up and gave him pink areas and we had to bath him once a week in Malaseb shampoo but we found a much cheaper remedy in CALAMINE LOTION about 90p from the chemist or cheaper online and if his skin flared up, I used to dab Calamine on with cotton wool and it would sooth it istantly as it dries 'powdery'.

Forget the vets with all their expensive ear treatments and get yourself some Thornit powder (a couple of discussions on here if you search "Thornit") it's brilliant stuff and apparently it's natural and is an old recipe from an old gamekeeper going back many years!

I bet vets wished they'd come up with it so they could charge a fortune for it!!!!!

Thornit Ear Powder - original 1907 formula from K9 Centre


These extracts are from discussions on here but you could Google and find all sorts of info.

What a pity you had such an expensive trip to your vet... we all suffer from vets' extortionate fees but I'm sure it will be worth it for the many years of pleasure your hounds will bring you! Can you get 'Thornits' powder where you live as it's excellent for keeping Bassets' ears healthy. If you Google it you'll see much to support its use!

This is from the Champ Dogs website........
"Get a teaspoon and poke the narrow end into the Thornit powder so you have a little "mountain" of it, that is no more than a good "pinch" and tip directly into the ear canal. If the entrance to the canal is very hairy then rub a little thornit into the hair first , leave a few minutes and it plucks out painlessly ( or snip short with scissors) so you can clear the canal and the powder will actually go down it.

Once you put the powder in, massage gently for a minute or two. If my dogs have waxy ears or think they may have mites I do them twice a day for a week and then wait for a few days to see if it has worked. Its not often I have to do it for longer. I always do both ears even if it appears there is a problem in only one.

I dont use any liquid/drops in the ear during the time I am dosing with the Thornit. The Thornit will send any "gunge" up to the surface and I lift it off very gently with a damp cotton bud, but I dont go inside the canal, just around it and the "creases". If I was using Thornit daily for 10 days or so with no improvement or the ear was red and swollen a trip to the vet would be wise I think - though Thornit has always cleared up any ear probs my dogs have had. Its brill!"

After I first heard about this old gamekeeper's remedy a few years ago, I have used it and none of my Bassets have had to go to the vet for their costly antibiotic stuff like it my pre-Thornit days! Google to see where you can get it as it's widely available!

Thornit Ear Powder - CATS_Eye and Ear pet healthcare

SophieB

Another thing glb, forget all the special dietary foods the vet promotes/sells and buy your own online where it's cheaper... something like Royal Canin, Arden Grange or James Wellbeloved is good or maybe IAMS or Eukanuba. What does your dog eat at the moment? I wonder what is in all this 'Science/prescription food'?

Makes me wonder how all our dogs, when I lived at home, all died of old age, not all the dreadful diseases/allergies/skin/ear infections dogs get these days and there was no dried foods, science recipes and prescription foods!!!! An ex boss of mine used to have a huge standard poodle and a b;lack lab and they were never ill, both lived to a good age and he fed them on what I thought was the cheapest tinned food "Chappie" and he didn't think all these dried foods are any good for dogs!

If you do change your dog food, do it gradually by mixing old and new type together and gradually add more of the new and less of the previous food so that your dog's tummy doesn't get upset. Also don't feed your dog for more than an hour after exercise and don't walk your dog for more than an hour after feeding.

Re vets selling food these days..... a really nice vet's assistant who had worked at my vet for about 10 years (until the owner retired and sold to others who also have vets' surgeries in several nearby towns) got so fed up of all her old clients being overcharged x2/3 times with the new owners and also she and the other girls were told to really try and push sales of dog food and all sorts of stuff that was bought from our pet shops before, that she left and went to work for a small one man James Herriott type of vet who only wants to treat pets at realistic cost and he's not interested in selling dog food, dishes etc etc!

glb

I did not explain it well enough. What I have is a dog with a digestive track yeast infection which has spread to the skin and ears. I can temperately fix the ears and the skin but what I am looking to do is find a fix for the digestive tract infection. So is there a food or a supplement or an anything that I can give my dog to help rid of the internal yeast infection

Mikey T

First recurring yeast infections are generally the result of an underlying condition in bassets the two main culprits are alergies and Seborrhea. Most general practicing vets are general poor at dealing with such skin maladies. You will be well advised to get a refferral to a vet specializing in dermatology.

find a dermatologist

Are you dealing with a "homopathic" vet this is not likely as the yeast that is prevellent on the skin is not the same as cause GI problems. But they all can be related to an overall immune system defficiency

Here is an article on "systematic Yeast Infection " which I think is far fetch but since it is what you believe there is some diet and other advice on dealing with it
Understanding Your Pet's Systemic Yeast Problems

Soundtrack

I'd suggest trying anything BUT Science Diet. I don't consider myself to be a "food snob", but I really do think that is one of the worst "mainstream" foods on the market, and certainly very overpriced for what you get.

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Boopus1965

What your vet won't tell and I am surprised it hasn't come up here is that basset's while prone to yeast it can be completely prevented by feeding a grain free food. Yeast needs the right environment to grow and grain will only feed it and give it the source to continue to grow. A grain free food will completely stop that, if you don't want to break the bank try Taste of The Wild formulas available at Tractor Supply. A few months from now not only will your basset not have yeast but will have the cleanest ears your vet has ever seen in a basset hound (my response my vet tells me all the time) I don't clean their ears I wipe them with dry tissue once a month or so, and never get anything out of them.

While your treating the dog now a simple help but you have to go very slow at, is Apple Cider Vinegar, (organic if you can find it) start adding it to the drinking water starting very slowly with 1/4 tsp per bowl several times a day and gradually very very gradually increase it to a couple TBSP per day. The acidity of it will not allow yeast to grow, it can also be poured mixed with water over the skin to help reduce yeast on the skin.

Good Luck!

Mikey T

Um that is because there is not scientific evidence that it is true and not even a theory to suport how it could be true. Grain free food still contain the same complex carobohydrates and stearches as those that contain grain. there is the proposition to the myth that because grains are often fermented by yeast to produce liquor that they support abnormal yeast production in the gut. Convientent however that they don't don't mention potatos a most common substitue for grains is yeast ferment to produce a number of alcohols of which vodka is primary. So the whole theory of the superiorority of grain free falls flat on it face. Grain free is a maketing ploy not a sound nutritional choice. It is an absolute requirement to actual produce kibble. the stearchs are required to bind and hold the product together without them kibble could not exist. In actuality the stearch and carbo sources in grain free foods is less nutrious than grains

What Are The Most Healthy Grains, Legumes And Starches?

corn and Soy

there is a school of though that high protein low carb diet can reduce or eliminate systematic yeast infections again no scientific proof but a more sane rational based theory,. Keep in mind a grain free food may or may not be high protein low carb There are plenty of grain free choices that actual carry more filler i.e. carbs and stearches than the often maligned science diet brand, Dick van Patten's "natural balance" is just one of many brands for which this is true. And there are plenty of High protein low carb food that contain grain as well. BUt to truly get to high protein low/no carb food is impossible with any kibble because as it stands now Science diet hold the pattent on a process to produce the lowest carb content dog food kibble and it is still over 14% carb You need to go canned or home made to reduce carbs further.

DIMENSIONALLY STABLE LOW CARBOHYDRATE PET FOOD

[quote] Applicant HILL'S PET NUTRITION, INC. [US/US]; 400 SW 8th Avenue, Topeka, KS 66603 (US) (All Except US

...a carbohydrate content based on nitrogen free extract of "between about 14 wt% to about 19 wt% all on a dry basis. [/url]
Applicants:HILL'S PET NUTRITION, INC. [US/US]; 400 SW 8th Avenue, Topeka, KS 66603 (US) (All Except US).

licants:HILL'S PET NUTRITION, INC. [US/US]; 400 SW 8th Avenue, Topeka, KS 66603 (US) (All Except US).

Boopus1965

LOL what a joke scientific I went through it twice, dude and it was the only thing that stopped it in my dogs, and my vet does agree. Their health is amazing so whatever, whatever, lol

I am astounded that you feel a dog should have grain, where do wolves in the wild chomp on grain? Where did dogs come from and who told you that grain is good for them? Ask the people who test for allergens in dogs what is the number 1 think they react to? GRAIN! Think back to when you were a kid and what did you see when you walked in yards of people with dogs, white poop everywhere and dogs went to the vet for their yearly exams, unless you contracted something awful then they lived just as long as they do now. Then all of a sudden the dog food companies decided (for their own profit) to throw a ton of fillers, grains and crap in the dog food, and wow amazing now everyone runs to the vet all the time. Where in the world did they get the idea that corn and soy was good for dogs. What is the most common allergies in dogs, corn, soy, wheat, rice. I have a 5 year old lab that I did pay to have tested 3 years ago, and he was allergic to all of the above and then some. He would have break outs that were awful and prednisone is the only thing what clear it up in the last 3 years since I went grain free not a single skin problem ear infection nothing. He had repeated ear infections that would scale and puss, I tried everything the purple stuff you make with witch hazel and stuff as well. Nothing helped till the grain free food.

I adopted an abused basset almost 20 months ago who had yeast so bad you couldn't pet her without your hand getting wet it was horrible, they tried antibiotics out the wazoo to clear it with no affect. I didn't immediately switch her to a grain free because of her health issues when I got her, I didn't want to make too many changes at once and kept her on the food from the foster home. I did my research asked my vet and he agreed it was worth a try and he was indeed amazed by the results, he always comments on my dogs skin, coats and ears. It's GRAIN FREE (by the way when I said Grain Free I indeed meant GRAIN FREE) you state high protein low carb with grain then that isn't a GRAIN FREE food is it? I belong to another basset forum and results in there are amazing as well, since you have no first hand knowledge and are just spouting off why don't you not knock something until you see for yourself? Your simply wrong! Sorry, but you can spout stuff till the cows come home, I wouldn't trade vet bills with you for nothing!!!

Respectfully.

Bo

Had a paragraph that didn't post for some reason so adding to this.

Let's ask any cook about yeast and what you have to do to activate yeast, it must have a complex carbohydrate to activate the cultures. Hmmmm same in the body amazing how those work huh? Well what are grains again loaded with carbohydrates, do you see any relevance here? If "your" theory is indeed untrue then I will contact all the chef's and tell them hey guy in basset forum says your wrong don't add sugar the yeast will be fine! Why don't you stop for 5 min and quit contradicting anyone and everyone on the forum, for every quoted copied and pasted item you put from a book, I can provide you ten more to contradict what you pasted. Just like any other myth out there people refuse to believe in change and when I have seen the results and 100 more people talk about it in my other forum with amazing results you are the first to come and say that is false. Well again I will say dogs with repeated vet trips chronic ear infections chronic skin conditions are amazingly healed when the owners go grain free. How do you explain that?