Does your dog have itchy skin?
Recurring hot spots?
Gunky Ears?
Does He/she lick and chew at his/her feet?
This doesn't necessarily mean he/she has allergies.
- Yeast infections are particularly common in hot, humid environments.
- Yeast dermatitis is a fairly common inflammatory skin condition in dogs.
- Yeast is a fungus and is in ALL dogs (and People) as a normal part of their flora.
- Yeast lives on your dogs skin and inside his/her gut, where it normally lives with other healthy flora, as part of the balanced immune system.
- This condition is caused by overgrowth of the Malassezia species of yeast, which are normal inhabitants of the skin, ears and mucocutaneous areas.
- Dog skin is the largest organ in his/her body.
- When the yeast population grows out of control, in the gut, the body tries to get rid of the fungus.
"When the Immune System is stressed,
Yeast can begin to over-populate in their gut"
This is when you will start to see the effects in your dog.
It is called a Yeast Infection.
HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YEAST INFECTIONS and ALLERGIES
- Chewing or licking the feet and dark rusty-red hair between toes. The hair between toes. The hair is often red or rust colored because of the yeast. (Not because of licking)
- Scratching the ears, or head shaking. Ear mites can also cause intense itching in the ears, so make sure your vet actually tests for mites, bacteria and fungus before deciding on treatment options.
- Cyclic systems (appearing in the spring and "Going away" in the fall. This is often confused with "Grass Allergies" and other spring and summer systems.
- Hair Loss on the tail and upper back.
- speckles (like tiny black dots) on the underbelly, or grayish or rust coloration around genitals regular grooming should reveal this early indicator of yeast.
- A fowl funky smell and greasy hair (seborrhea) often accompanied by heavy dandruff. This is an active fungal infection of the hair follicles.
- Any black skin, especially there is also hair loss.
The longer your dogs yeast infection goes untreated, the harder it will be to resolve, so its important to look for these early signals.
Products that will help with yeast infections are:
Famous Mites B Gone (Helps Mites be Gone)
(The above information was taken from Dogs Naturally Magazine)