Education

Does your dog suffer from persistent yeast infections?

Many dogs suffer from canine candida, an organism classified as both a yeast and a fungus. Symptoms are often misdiagnosed as allergies or rashes, and can appear as skin outbreaks on the feet, face, underarm, underbelly, or genital areas. Yeast infections can also appear as recurring hot spots or infections of the ears, eyes, bladder, or urinary tract.

Candida thrives on sugars and carbohydrates, which are present in most commercial pet foods. With carbohydrates as a ready food source, the organism multiplies and starts to kill the beneficial bacteria in the stomach. A common practice is to treat with antibiotics, which does kill some of the candida, but also destroys the beneficial bacteria necessary for proper digestion and body function. Moreover, after the antibiotic treatment is stopped, the overgrowth resumes, causing a vicious cycle that is difficult to reverse.

Proper nutrition is the most critical component to treating your pet. The first step is to eliminate carbohydrates and sugars from your animal’s diet. At All is Well we recommend a raw diet, which is the purest form of nutrition for your dog. We also offer another option: “no grain” canned and kibble foods.

Limiting carbohydrates is the first step; the second step involves destroying the candida organism. This can be done by adding coconut oil to your dog’s food. Unrefined coconut oil is the best option since it retains its medicinal properties. For best results, begin with a small amount and gradually increase to the optimum dose: one teaspoon for every 10 pounds of body weight. Too much coconut oil too quickly can bring about greasy stools, diarrhea, physical fatigue, mental exhaustion, and body aches. It is important to provide plenty of drinking water during this time to help flush out the toxins.

About two weeks after this treatment is started, it is imperative to start rebuilding the beneficial stomach bacteria. This is achieved by adding probiotics to their food. As with the coconut oil, start slowly and build up to the desired amount (as recommended by the manufacturer).

As the environment in the digestive tracts corrects itself and the body rids itself of the physical remains and toxins produced by the organism, flu-like symptoms can develop, including exhaustion, body aches, diarrhea, and nausea. It can take days, weeks, or sometimes months to eliminate the organism. There may be some remaining itching and skin breakouts can increase during this time. Remember that your pet is getting better! Stay the course. Your pet will be rewarded with a healthier system, the holistic way.

In today’s world it seems that pet allergies have taken on a life all their own. As pet parents, we are constantly battling excessive chewing, licking and scratching, recurring ear infections, and idiopathic hair loss. Add to these issues digestive upset, foul body odor, dull and brittle coat, dry and flakey or oily skin and you have the key markers for the allergic pet.

Recent studies have also shown that anxiety and respiratory issues can be caused or exasperated by allergens. With this host of symptoms any owner would feel defeated. So what, you may ask, can we do to alleviate such agonizing problems? The first step is knowing your enemy.

An ‘allergy’ is an exaggerated response by the immune system to a substance or toxin (often called the ‘allergen’). Allergens can be encountered by contact (touch), ingestion (eating/drinking), or inhalation (breathing in). Some researchers argue that food allergies (an ingested allergy) account for twenty percent of all allergy cases thus making this type of allergy the most prevalent. Many veterinarians and other animal professionals feel that this measurement does not reflect the true proportion of allergies due to food. In fact, most feel that this percentage is much higher due to undiagnosed food allergies. However, because the immune system takes a hit when food allergies are present, any other types of allergies can intensify any allergic reaction a pet may exhibit. We call this the “Boiling Pot Effect.” For instance, if a dog is fed food that he is allergic to, his pot (immune system) is always at a boil. If you add inhaled seasonal allergies (let’s say pollen) to his pot, it will boil over every time. However, if the dog is fed a food that he is not allergic to his pot is at a simmer; and, when seasonal allergies are added there will be no boil over. In short, as the body comes into contact with allergens and other toxins they build up in the body causing the immune system to become unbalanced.

The best medicine is to eliminate the allergen or toxin in question. This will help to reduce the symptoms or eliminate the allergy altogether while allowing the immune system to mend. Unfortunately, we cannot always eradicate inhaled or contact allergens. However, doing so can be frustrating. Veterinarians often push medication while such treatments only alleviate the symptoms of the ailment, not the cause of it. Some medications can also have adverse effects on the immune system. The immune system is what keeps the body healthy, and the skin is the immune system’s first defense. With that being said, most immunologic issues manifest as skin allergies in the form of itching, pustules, chewing the feet, etc. We believe that high quality pet foods that use human grade ingredients, proven granular supplements, and homeopathic and herbal remedies can be the key to improving a pet’s life and longevity.

Remember: a balanced immune system equals a healthy, happy pet!