[Yorkieville]

Thanks-we need to find out if it is the food, before our Vet runs tests. Poor puppy is already going through so much. He came from a Show Breeder in S. IN and she promised us, after we made the trip down when he was 12 weeks old, that he would be seen by her Vet, before we came back down when he was closer to 17 weeks old.

Ha! He had yeast infections in both ears, Giardia, and worst of all, Lacrimal Gland Aplasia of his left eye.

I’ve always trusted AKC Show breeders. I’ve had 3 oh-so-beautiful girls over the past 32 years, each one from an AKC Show breeder and not one of my sweet girls came home with a single health issue.

[RescueDaneMom]

Does anybody have experience using Nature’s Logic All Food Fortifier? I bought this to replace my current whole food supplement: Fillin N the Wholes formulated by The Great Dane Lady. http://www.firstchoicenaturals.com/Index/showroom.php?pid=2

INGREDIENTS: Cereal Grass (Barley), Organic Sprouted Flax Seed, Dried Whey Concentrate, Ascorbic Acid (source Vit C), Arabinogalactin, Dried Milk (source of Colostrum), MSM, Brewers Yeast (Saccharomyces Cerevisiac), DMG-L, Carnitine, Humic Shale (source of extracted trace minerals), Lethicin, Chicken Cartilage (source of Glucosamine Sulfate),Type IV Collagen & Type II Collagen, (Direct Fed Microbials) & Digestive Enzymes) Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Extract Product, Dried Aspergillus niger Fermentation Extract Product, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium Thermophilum, Enterococcus Faecium, Bacillus Subtilis, Silicon Dioxide, Dried Yucca Schidigera.*Ascorbic Acid (Vit C) min 25mg/lb

The directions for Nature’s Logic say to give 1 tsp per 10 pounds of body weight. My dog weighs 154 pounds. I can’t see giving him 15 tsp per day. Any thoughts on this? I was thinking about giving him 1 tsp per meal. I feed 3 times per day.

Thanks!
-Caroline

[theBCnut]

They do add starch to your dogs diet. I have 2 that it doesn’t matter if they get extra starch, but my third dog has yeast issues so I watch ever bit of starchy food that he gets.

[Samoan81]

My guess is the food…like chicken some dogs respond the same way to lamb. Lamb tends to cause skin allergies and yeasty ears…that’s my experience with it.
Protein levels are a bit low …whats the fat%…cal%—its also a Diamond Product..known for recalls. I would switch imo
Most important thing right now is for him not to gorge into food.
Remember fleas have a 28 day cycle…would use capstar to make sure. then a preventative.
Have you read up on satin balls for weight gain?
Have you tried bitter apple on his paws? Does he have chew toys accessible?

[theBCnut]

For yeast issues, you want to minimize exposure to sugars, which means you want as low a carb level as you can find. Nature’s Variety should be good, but NutriSource should not be used until you have had a handle on the yeast for a while.

[SassyMY]

Hi all, just wanted to let you know I used the dog food locator on here and found a great place (several actually) close by that sell premium foods! Looks like I’m going to try the Natures Variety and Nutrisource.
It appears that my dog may have an overload in yeast, that’s showing through on her right paw. Are these still good foods for yeast? Thank you!

[theBCnut]

Dinovite is how I started on raw. I did his yeast starvation diet for half of my dogs’ food. And then I kept looking into other recipes for raw food and got a couple books. I read every website I could find and talked to other raw feeders. Now, I use Darwin’s commercial raw, grinds from Hare Today and My Pet Carnivore that I have to add stuff to, meat from the butcher, and even one of my buck goats. I use premixes like Dr. Harvey’s Veg to Bowl and Steve Brown’s See Spot Live Longer, that you add to boneless meat. I have used DinoVite and am soon going to try CarnivoreRaw with bone in meat.

I felt like using DinoVite let me start feeding raw quickly and gave me time to learn more, so I could take the next step.

[Nancy M]

Thank you Marie and Patty…..

Patty, for you, my goodness, I had never heard of this. When I was rotating, I was only rotating kibble and usually within the same brand. Didn’t know you do it like you have, which to me, is a great way of maximizing different ingredients and sources. But how in the world did you accomplish this….I’m very curious? Remarkable, in my mind. No doubt, it was very difficult, but when you get some time, I would love to hear more about the process and your strategies!

Marie…..have you looked at the “Dinovite” and the man’s homemade diets? Particularly his very simple recipe for a “No Yeast chicken/rice” cooked diet? He swears it alleviates problems such as yours. Actually, I just ordered some of his products and was planning to give his recipes a try.

Thanks to you both…..

[Duke The Boxer]

Robert I would look into a probiotic called Biostareq eq terra biota k9. I just started giving I to my puppy and within 2 days his stools we’re firm and no more yeast and itchy red ears and feet. The probiotic you listed I think only has one main strain of probiotic. The one I listed has I believe over 10 with each bacteria having a 1.5 billion cfu count. It is really am amazing deal for 25$ since it lasts for months. I really have seen this probiotic completely change my dogs stomach and skin for the better within a week. Super happy with this product.

[betsycam]

My sister has an older dog with the same kinds of problems and I suspect he has had a chronic systemic yeast infection for years. She feeds Taste of the Wild and the dog has not gotten better.

My dog is raw fed but he is old and he developed a systemic yeast infection for while. I started him on the Nzymes.com skin program, and took note of their food recommendations. Since sugar feeds yeast and carbs/starch are sugar, it is very important to eliminate those carbs! I discovered that one of the Bravo Blend formulas I had been feeding my dog contained sweet potatoes, and Nzymes discourages feeding grain-free foods that use sweet potatoes or even potatoes as an alternative carb source. I cut out that formula and fed a raw diet with no grain or starchy veggies, and he cleared up!

The other thing I did was give him a thyroid med that includes T3 in it (dessicated pork thyroid gland). This is trickier to do since vets will usually prescribe thyroxine which is just T4. My dog’s thyroid had been tested by hemovet.com’s lab (Dr. Jean Dodds) and his T4 was normal and his T3 was at the very low end of normal. The vets said he wasn’t hypothyroid, but I went ahead and used an over the counter porcine thyroid pill which I believe also made a huge difference. I would have this dog’s thyroid tested at any rate.

Go over Nzymes.com’s recommended food list for their skin program – they do recommend some diets that aren’t as difficult as feeding raw!

[RescueDaneMom]

Hi InkedMarie!

My Dane has always had slightly yeasty paws and ears. Nothing major. I would just clean his ears once a week or once every 2 weeks and he was fine. His ears are still the same but one of his paws (back right) has exploded with yeast. It’s all brownish red between his toes and underneath between his toes and foot pad. My vet always just prescribes a spray. I’m using zymox now (just started 2 days ago). He’s been off kibble for a few weeks now. He eats THK Embark and Force. I also mix in some Primal Turkey and Beef grinds. He also gets cottage cheese, eggs, kefir or yogurt, and salmon or sardines. The only thing I haven’t done is eliminated potato. THK is the only think I’m giving him that has potato in it and he only gets 1.5 cups of it per day. I don’t think that is enough potato to be exacerbating the problem is it?

I live in South Florida and we have had one of the rainiest summers in recent history. Our yard was waterlogged (it squished when you walked on it) for about a month. This is the first time he’s had a yeast infection like this on his foot. I’m thinking it’s the humidity/ all the rain we’ve gotten too.

[pacer1978]

Can a dog overdose on enzymes? I give my dogs enzymes with each meal since I feed them kibble. I didn’t realize that some dog food already have enzymes in the food such as Nature’s Variety and Nature’s Logic. So, should I still give them enzymes with their meals when I feed them that brand? I switch brands now every few bags as recommended with the understanding that each brand may use specific nutrients, minerals, and vitamins more so than others. So, by switching the brands it ensures my dogs are getting a variety of those things. If I switch between brands, but maintain the same supplements and dosages, could I potentially overdose them on anything?
This is what they get:
Daily: Nordic Naturals Fish Oil for dogs, Swanson’s joint supplement for their hips, coconut oil, enzyme with each meal, and 1 TBS supergreens
Every other Day: Probiotic and Tart Cherry (as part of their superfood). I sometimes will give Mattie a probiotic every day depending on how her ears are…she is kind of “yeasty”.

[KiraLynB]

I will try the pumpkin. Thank you!
This is the ingredient list in Stella and Chewy’s http://www.stellaandchewys.com/dog-frozenduck.php
It doesn’t have tripe, but I feed her freeze dried green lamb tripe as well. Left that out.. sorry!
Is the freeze dried sufficient? The store that I buy her food from does sell frozen green tripe.
This is the ingredients in the ebarf… it has probiotics and enzymes:

Ingredients: Organic Dried Kelp, Organic Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Ground Flaxseed, Dried Yeast, Organic Dried Ground Barley Grass, Organic Dried Ground Wheatgrass, Oat Bran, Dried Ground Barley Malt, Organic Dried Apple Pumice, Pectin, Organic Dried Ground Beet, Dried Ground Parsley, Dried Ground Barley Sprout, Dried Ground Aloe Vera Gel, Organic Dried Ground Carrot, Organic Dried Ground Broccoli, Organic Dried Ground Tomato, Organic Dried Ground Kale, Dried Ground Celery, Dried Ground Cauliflower, Dried Ground Asparagus, Dried Ground Brussels Sprouts, Dried Ground Garlic, Dried Ground Ginger, Dried Aspergillus niger Fermentation Extract, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Extract, Dried Bifidobacterium thermophilum Fermentation Extract, Dried Bifodobacterium longum Fermentation Extract, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Extract, and Bacillus subtilus Fermentation Extract (Source of Amylase, Cellulase, and Hemi-Cellulase)

Let me know if you have any other suggestions! I’m really tired of cleaning her all the time! Poor baby!

[mfulton7]

Brown rice, dried tomato pomace, brewers yeast. I’m thinking maybe that’s why its only a 4 star food. I’ve also been researching this site for weeks and days. Its so overwhelming! I have a doberman puppy and wanted the best food for the best value for her. I chose Earthborn Hollistic coastal catch to start with. I was going to go with fromm 4 star grain free but I felt it was to pricey for the quality of food.

[BlackandBlue]

Oceantide2121- Interesting comments about how you combat yeast in your dog. I never heard about using borax with AVC and warm water for yeast. Can I ask what grain free sweet potato dog food brand you buy?

[Marvins mom]

All i can say is Dinovites and a really good grain free dog food – i have recently becoma an avid believer in the stuff!……..along with some of the apple cider vinegar/H20, if the dog will drink it – as it helps my stomache problems as well! BUT it has to have “the mother” in it. Braggs is a good one!

[InkedMarie]

Take a look at the dog food ingredients forum here; I have a stickie at the top of grain/ white potato free foods. I suggest steering clear of chicken, probably beef as well.

[Scyllarus]

Fair enough. Tavish seems to just not be able to tolerate beef well at all. I guess worse come to worst, my boyfriend’s dog will have a high-quality food for a week or so (he gets Kirkland’s, we’re transitioning him onto the grain-free version atm since I noticed he’s getting yeasty. Unfortunately boyfriend is on a budget and can’t afford to buy his dog a big bag of Origen or Wellness, so Kirkland’s for now and we’ll probably try 4Health))

[Oceantide2121]

I apologize for the inaccuracies of typos in my post replying to the yeast infections. But I had difficulty in making the entry from the device I was using.

[Oceantide2121]

This is what I have done and it works for me On my male German Shepherd. I bought Braggs apple cider. I put 2 teaspoons in his water daily. I bought a grain free sweet potatoes food. I give slightly less than the required amount, I had plain Greek yogurt that has live enzymes. I add to his food a probiotic and digestive enzymes. I also add biotin, Cranberry capsules, I have a boiled egg, And about 2 tablespoons of a mixture of vegetables That I previously steamed and then put into a blender since dogs have trouble digestingwhole vegetables. A common mix that I will do is green beans peas k lol maybe a little bit of spinach very very small amount of garlic with one to two apples. Another thing that I will do with him daily is I will take a container and I had one tablespoon of borax, about one thir and the same amount of apple cider vinegar and I will take a paper towel or soft cloth and wipe that over the areas of the yeast infection. It honestly does workd cup of warm water

[theBCnut]

Read homemadedogfood dot com to understand the issues with chronic yeast infections and read the Brother’s Document at brotherscomplete dot com

There is not a cheap food fix for this, but expensive food is still cheaper than all the vet bills and medications.

[myfourmutts]

My parents have an 11 year-old beagle that has had a persistent and ongoing yeast infection of the skin and ears for about the past 3 years. They have taken her to the vet countless times and have tried multiple steroids, sprays, and medications. They have been feeding her (and their other beagle) Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream formula at the recommendation of their vet. Nothing has seemed to help her, and she is miserable. She scratches and shakes her heads all day long, and the skin on her chest and legs is constantly red and inflamed.

Is there a food that y’all have fed your dogs that you think might help this sweet girl? My parents are good pet owners; they really try their best. They’ve come a long way from feeding the dogs Purina and giving them Milkbones. However, they’re not “crazy dog people” like I know a lot of us are, and they simply don’t have the time to do a lot of trial and error. My dad is the pastor of a large church, and my mom is an English teacher and newspaper advisor. They’re extremely active outside of the home, and their priorities are divided in many different directions. I am hoping that something as simple as a food change might make a difference for their dog. The other beagle has no food or allergy concerns, so I think she’d eat whatever they gave her.

I would really appreciate any advice or help you could give me to pass along to them. We all hate to see her so uncomfortable, but we just don’t know what to do to make it better. The vet just keeps prescribing medications that don’t seem to help, either. I live 12 hours away. Otherwise, I would be available to be a little more hands-on with the situation. Thanks, y’all.

[harp31]

Thanks for the suggestions Olga. I have been feeding Orijin Regional Red which is for all life stages and they are both eating it (although the 4 mo old doesn’t like it as much as the 1 yr old does). I also add a little wet food to the dry (currently Wellness 95% beef, turkey or chicken). I just wonder if the high protein is too much for the little one … Orijen Reg Red is 75% protein plus the wet is high protein but I only add enough to coat the kibble (1/2 tsp or so). I also add a little boiled/chopped chicken breast to the top (1 tablespoon or so). The one year old gobbles it up and eats very well, but the little one is not as fond of it. She eats it just fine when the older one is near “cause she doesn’t want her to get it, though … LOL. We are battling a yeast infection in the little one’s ear right now and she is a little itchy and licking her paws, not sure if it is environmental or food related. Hoping it’s not the food …

[theBCnut]

/forums/topic/dinovite/
Sheesh, I had a hard time finding this. I’ve used DinoVite with good results before and I will use it again. I did not just add it to kibble, however, I made their Yeast Starvation Diet. I don’t think it is some kind of miracle food that will cure food allergies or anything like that, so if your dog is having problems with it’s food, a change of food is in order.

[pugmomsandy]

Here is the list:

/forums/topic/grain-and-potato-free-dog-foods/

You might give the yeast starvation diet a try:

http://homemadedogfood.com/yeast-starvation-dog-food-recipe/

There is also Zymox shampoo in a gallon size. It has 3 enzymes that fight yeast.

There are some water/vinegar rinse recipes in these videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl_X1I1GJ1Q

[ninpiggy]

I have a 2.5 year old blue American pit bull terrier. She’s a rescue dog that spent most of her life being used as a breeder. My girl is spayed and happy now. We adopted her on valentines day (coincidence I swear) earlier this year. I think she finally knows she’s home and has flourished to be one happy dog.

We’ve had problems with her health from the start. Scabs, scratching, rashes, fur falling out when adopted. Problem continued. I had her on nutrish (because it went to a pit bull charity) but that made her worse. Several rounds of prednisone, antibiotics, some crazy immune suppressant drug and nothing helped (except the prednisone but it would only work until about 4 days after the meds stopped). I spent over $1000 in vet care in 1.5 months and as a community mental health therapist that makes less than $30K year, I sat in my vets office crying because I was afraid I’d have to return her to the shelter. I guess the vet took some pity on me and prescribed Luna a medicated shampoo. That, along with avoderm salmon and sweet potatoes was a miracle. Two weeks and she had occasional rashes that would clear up with hydrocortisone cream.

She still has problems with yeast despite the shampoo and I was wondering if the avocados and sweet potatoes were contributing to this. Does anyone know of any dog food that is poultry free, grain free, soy free, white and sweet potato free? She does best with fish but is good with beef. I don’t think she’s allergic to peas and I’ve never given her tapioca so that’s unknown.

I’m not rich by any means either so I can’t afford anything that is over $65/15 lb bag. Avoderm seems to be an okay price for us but if there’s anything cheaper that’d be awesome. Cooking Luna’s food isn’t really an option for me due to time constraints and financial. It would be most convenient to find a pre-mixed bag. I suppose I could supplement it if I had to.

Any help is appreciated.

[Pitonos]

Hi!

This is from Mega:
Giant, adult > 45 kg: mega Regular
http://www.versele-laga.com/NUTRI/Nutrition/Pages/Products/index.jsp?ran=19552&pro=19660&fam=121&ani=7972&rac=7976#Productvoorstelling
Product presentation
Nutritional Balance Chicken Based mega Regular is a specially developed food for adult dogs with normal activity levels and weighing over 45 kg.
Rationing table
Animal weight Daily ration
45 kg 450 – 700 g
50 kg 490 – 750 g
55 kg 520 – 800 g
60 kg 550 – 810 g
65 kg 590 – 900 g
70 kg 620 – 950 g
75 kg 650 – 1.000 g
80 kg 680 – 1.050 g
85 kg 715 – 1.100 g
90 kg 750 – 1.150 g

Analytical constituents
Protein 28 %
Fat content 18 %
Crude fibre 2 %
Crude ash 6,50 %
Calcium 1 %
Phosphorus 0,70 %
Sodium 0,30 %
Taurine 1.000 mg/kg
Nutritional additives
Vitamin A 17.800 IU/kg
Vitamin D3 1.600 IU/kg
Vitamin E 500 mg/kg
Vitamin C 300 mg/kg
β-carotene 10 mg/kg
E1 (iron) 201 mg/kg
E2 (iodine) 3 mg/kg
E4 (copper) 8 mg/kg
E5 (manganese) 63 mg/kg
E6 (zinc) 120 mg/kg
E8 (selenium) 0,2 mg/kg

Composition
Chicken (25 %)
Wheat
Wheat flour
Rice
Animal fat
Beet pulp
Linseed
Dehydrated fish
Hydrolysed chicken protein
Salmon oil
Brewer´s yeast
Dried whole eggs
Minerals
Fructo-oligosaccharides
Lecithin
Marigold
Green lipped mussel
Sea algae
Grape seed

And this is Maxi:
Large, adult 25-45 kg: maxi Regular
http://www.versele-laga.com/NUTRI/Nutrition/Pages/Products/index.jsp?ran=19552&pro=19655&fam=121&ani=2339&rac=2360
Product presentation
Nutritional Balance Chicken Based maxi Regular is a specially developed food for adult dogs with normal activity levels and weighing more than 25 kg but less than 45 kg.

Rationing table
Animal weight Daily ration

25 – 30 kg 270 – 360 g
30 – 35 kg 320 – 400 g
35 – 40 kg 360 – 450 g
40 – 45 kg 400 – 550 g

Analytical constituents
Protein 24 %
Fat content 14 %
Crude fibre 2,50 %
Crude ash 6,50 %
Calcium 1 %
Phosphorus 0,70 %
Sodium 0,35 %
Taurine 1.000 mg/kg
Nutritional additives
Vitamin A 17.800 IU/kg
Vitamin D3 1.600 IU/kg
Vitamin E 500 mg/kg
Vitamin C 300 mg/kg
β-carotene 10 mg/kg
E1 (iron) 201 mg/kg
E2 (iodine) 3 mg/kg
E4 (copper) 8 mg/kg
E5 (manganese) 63 mg/kg
E6 (zinc) 120 mg/kg
E8 (selenium) 0,2 mg/kg

Composition
Chicken (20 %)
Wheat
Wheat flour
Rice
Animal fat
Beet pulp
Linseed
Dehydrated fish
Hydrolysed chicken protein
Salmon oil
Brewer´s yeast
Dried whole eggs
Minerals
Fructo-oligosaccharides
Lecithin
Marigold
Green lipped mussel
Sea algae
Grape seed

[Lara]

It is so hard to wait the 6 weeks or so for a food trial. There are times I think she is doing great then other times….not so much! sounds like I’m in the same boat as you…thanks for the reminder about the oatmeal shampoo. Guess I didn’t realize the white flake were from yeast overgrowth…so now more than before I believe potatoes (white and sweet) are not good for Karma…
Good luck to you and keep me updated.

[somebodysme]

OH I’ve been going insane trying to get a handle on my dog’s allergies. I have heard a lot of people really like the Nutrisca. I had a lady overheard me talking to the manager at the pet shop telling him about my dog’s issues and she came up to me with a bag of Nutrisca in her arms and was saying how this food saved her dog and that she’d gotten friends to change too and their dogs are improved. I can’t use it because of the peas though. I’m pretty sure the pea allergy is pretty rare though but is it what it is. Rare or not, it’s her issue I have to work around. It is extremely limiting on the high end 5 star foods as most of them include peas as a main carb source.

I’m pretty sure that if she seems better, they suggest to give a food 6 weeks. It’s hard to do though when you don’t see that the food has healed them yet! I keep hearing that flare ups are normal. I keep telling myself this, my dog has only been 3 weeks on the food that she is on. I want to give it a fair shake but I want her WELL!!!!!!!! It was drastic the immediate improvement from Nature’s Variety LID Turkey to the NB rabbit formula. Within 2 days I could see the rashes just fading away. Then the improvement slowed down. ACK!

I have also heard a lot of good things about Zymox, it’s supposed to be very gentle and natural and good for yeast. I’m using a RX shampoo right now that’s working. Sebozole is what I’m using now. There’s a hot spot shampoo at walmart they sell that’s very gentle too, brand name is Pro-Sense. Don’t use an oatmeal shampoo if you are dealing with yeast, it helps feed the yeast.

[somebodysme]

How long has she been on Nutrisca? It will take a while on a new food for the crud to get out of their system. I’ve been dealing with an allergy dog too. Your story sounds a lot like mine and my dog started off in a low end type food Pro Plan and I wanted a better food so bought Blue Buffalo and then all he(( broke loose. I kept trying new food changing the proteins and she just got worse and worse with rashes and red ears and raw paws etc. We are on NB potato and rabbit for three weeks now and things are improving but not perfect yet. She also will break out suddenly out of the blue. I’m telling myself it is what they call a “healing crisis”. Supposedly that’s all normal. I will tell you that she looks better now than she has since I switched her off Pro Plan. I’m assuming you took her off the Rachel Ray stuff because you wanted healthier? Or was she having problems on that? On Pro Plan, my dog was scratching a little but had a watering eye and that was pretty much all. Then we finally realized that all the foods she was allergic to had only one common ingredient and it is PEAS. I know she is allergic to other things too though like rawhide and cow bones.

I would suggest that you give her only one food until you find that it is OK. I would also suggest to not give any of those supplements you mentioned because right now you have no idea what she’s allergic to. My dog reacted badly to spirulina! If she has yeast then keep the probiotic. Then once you know the food is OK, add ONE new supplement at a time until you know it’s OK and no reaction. Any of these things can cause problems for a sensitive dog. She could easily be allergic to salmon oil or coconut oil or that glucosamine. Honestly the only thing that I can give my dog without it causing a problem, that I have tried, is her human grade probiotic.

If your dog was NOT allergic to the Rachel Ray food then look at the ingredients and try and find a better quality food with the same basic ingredients. Like if it has chicken then you know that chicken was not the issue. What I have learned from having a dog with allergies is that you can’t just say “oh that food has 5 stars it great for my dog”. It just doesn’t work like that. These dogs have a whole new set of rules when it comes to what to feed.

[GailLouise]

Has anyone read and tried Andi Brown’s “The Whole Pet Diet”? She has published this book and also has a website: http://www.thewholepetdiet.com/

In our extended family, we have 3 Shetland sheepdogs (a senior one with thyroid issues), a young Siberian husky and German short-haired pointer (who have both had bladder infections and urine pH bouncing around up to 9.0, plus a yeast infection in the female husky following antibiotic treatment), and a young very sensitive English springer spaniel with a topical yeast infection (lived with a cone for months due to scratching her chin & licking/biting paws and butt) until we switched her to Nutrisca, a grain-free dry food, based on this website. Finding this website (dogfoodadvisor.com) a month ago has really opened our eyes – the various vets are still recommending Purina & Science Diets as nutritionally sound but when we question them, their reasoning is based on typical marketing (the big companies do research and why would they do anything that would be harmful to pets sort of thing). So, last weekend, we mixed up the EFA oil mixture as best we could and also made the chicken stew, according to the recipes on Andi’s website. Our dogs love it – including the springer spaniel, who often would lie around and not eat except for once a day. My daughter and I cooked the stew together with all of the dogs in the kitchen and they just hovered around us the whole time. I am interested in reading if anyone else has had any experience with this. Thanks!

[BlackandBlue]

Update: Sensitive allergy dog was eating Merrick GF Beef & Sweet Potatoes fine, almost finished a small bag. Transitioned to Nature’s Variety GF LI Lamb. Dog starts shaking head, scratching at mouth (lips itchy?), licking paws. Five days into the transition to NV, I take her to the vet. Microscopic cytology of ears ($28) revealed bacteria and yeast infection. Dog’s on Otibiotic Ointment ($12.50) ear drops for two weeks. No transition switch to Wellness Super5Mix Complete Health Whitefish & Sweet Potato Recipe dry. And dog’s doing much better, no itching and licking but I think her ears will take another week to heal up. So now I’m adding lamb (I think?) to the list of foods she should NOT eat.
Frustrating to say the least.

[Spiritpaws]

I am going to jump in here, as my company BiostarEQ, which is a whole food equine supplement company, recently launched our Canine line. http://www.BiostarEQ.com

Probiotic Miracle appears to have a very good CFU content (2 Billion CFU’s per serving) and are using a nice variety of microorganisms, particularly L. Salivarius (specific to the oral cavity) and L. Reuteri, which is getting a lot of action in European studies for its benefits to the small intestine. The formula does include prebiotics as well. Probiotic Miracle claims to be GMO Free (hopefully they will submit their formula for GMO free certification).

Naturvet, has a much lower CFU of microorganisms, and only lists one active microorganism: Bacillus Coagulans. However, it does contain digestive enzymes, and I would wait for Enzymesforpet to chime in on how therapeutically active the count is on the enzymes in this product.

If you are at all concerned with GMOs, you would probably not want to feed Naturvet, as it has several GMO ingredients in the base (vegetable oil, brewers yeast, papaya,lecithin). The dried fermentation product and solubles are possibly GMO. and the Bacillus Coagulans might be GMO, depending on if it was cultured from GMO yeast, or GMO bovine milk source.

While I am no expert on the micro biome, the research on the micro biota at large is pointing to the necessity of multi strains, capable of colonizing the entire GI tract, oral cavity, and respiratory tract. Colonization rates for canines is still speculative, but the range appears to be 1 billion CFUs to 5 billion CFUs (depending on the health or GI tract imbalance). Each dog, like each person, and each horse, has its own unique blend of micro biota, which is why one probiotic formula doesn’t work the same in every dog.

[somebodysme]

She is still going great on the NB rabbit formula. No yeast problems and her feet are just about all healed up, they had gotten really bad. I am seeing still some pustules pop up then go away quickly which I am hoping is healing crisis. It’s only been just over 2 weeks. She really loves the food. Her ears were always more pink than they should be on all those other foods we’d tried but now they are just normal looking. I’m very happy she can eat without getting a terrible rash.

I’d love to see a list of PEA FREE foods! I’ve got my fingers crossed they don’t go do something stupid like add peas to this formula like they’ve done with some of their others. Why would they add peas to a LID recipe? Isn’t the purpose of a LID to have few ingredients to help dogs with allergies? I just wish they’d quit trying to appeal to the human diet and worry about feeding dogs!

[baileydog]

We are bringing home an 8 week old black lab puppy this weekend and are trying to figure out which food to start him on. He is estimated to grow to about 90 lbs and has been eating Purina Pro Plan Sport. We also have an 11.5 year old chocolate lab (70 lbs) who has been eating Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison for a few years. I would love to be able to have both dogs eating the same (better!) food if possible and we would switch our older dog to the better brand. Our older dog has really slowed down, has had ACL surgeries, has arthritis and is prone to yeast growth in her ears. She has allergies, but I think they are more seasonal, to grasses and such (itchy skin, licks her paws) since they flare in the spring.

After reading through most of this thread, do you think it’d be okay to put both labs on Earthborn or Fromm?

[neezerfan]

I just want to say I don’t think a healthy dog should smell, especially a poodle. I think a vet visit is in order to check for yeast/ ear infections.

[albertboh]

We only use raw-food with our bulldog now. She was having a ton of issues with the grain-filled dog foods that my mom typically bought her (gas, bloating, infections/rashes). I tried all sorts of stuff to change it up too, like adding probiotic supplements to her diet, as well as digestive enzymes. There are a few brands out there are specifically for pets and not just human-grade stuff. We also mixed yogurt in with her dog food helped to help with some yeast issues issues we had. It’s our own special “cocktail” but it seems to work for her brilliantly. It took us forever to find the right mix, but now we are thrilled and she seems much happier. :O)

[theBCnut]

I’m sorry if you’ve answered this elsewhere, but my brain is leaking out right now, I have so much going on. Do you suspect a yeast overgrowth in your dog? Or some other bacterial overgrowth? If You believe you have a bacterial overgrowth, I would possibly not feed that probiotic for a few days, if you were feeding it every day. For a yeast overgrowth, I would wait to use it until you are seeing definite improvements. Now here is the real issue. If you have done everything you can to cut the carbs out of your dogs diet, then I wouldn’t worry about it at all. Simple carbs are the first choice of food for those nasties, so by cutting carbs you are already putting the bad guys on notice. If you cut out all food sources too quickly then you will get a massive die off, which sounds good on paper, but it doesn’t look good on your floor or smell good in your house. Slow die off is preferable, and the FOS you are feeding is not that much or that often.

[terriers4life]

OK. I’ve lurked on this forum for quite a while. I now feel the need to speak up. Dinovite for dogs, which is a product I have used for many, many years for many, many dogs is a high quality whole food supplement. Read the ingredients folks. Good source of vitamins, omega fatty acids, probiotics, enzymes. There’s nothing in it that will cause a dog to have blood in their urine or to get sick, unless there’s something the dog is allergic to. And how the heck would you (or they-Dinovite) know this? It’s sort of like saying “Don’t feed organic, natural peanut butter to your kid, because mine had an allergic reaction to it.”

Seriously, “check with your vet”? Yeah, the one who advises you to buy his dog food (which is garbage, even according to this website) and who would rather you give your dog steroids for life? Give me a break. When was the last time your vet gave you advice about feeding your dog…that was good for him? Vets are not trained in nutrition…well, barely. How long does your dog have to be on steroids for you to realize they are destroying his internal organs? And if steroids or allergy shots were the answer, then WHY DOES THE DOG STILL ITCH or HAVE BALD PATCHES???

Find a 5 star rated food (a Dinovite rep actually pointed me to this site to help me choose a better dog food) and add Dinovite. Get your dog off the darn steroids.

Even the absolute best commercial dog food is heat processed. So enzymes, probiotics and so many vitamins are destroyed. So your dog is walking around with these deficiencies. And you can’t fix that with steroids, creams, sprays, ear cleaners, antibiotics. Use common sense people.

I was a huge skeptic. But in 2009, I had 4 dogs who had some pretty messed up skin and ears. I was feeding a good food (rated 5 stars here) and still so much $$$$ at the vet (and listen folks, not once did a vet offer any money back for crap that didn’t work. In fact, I just kept coming back and spending more. Try this…no, try this…maybe try this…and spending so much money.) So I got enough Dinovite for my worst case. And I used it for a few months. It took about 3 or 4 months but slowly, I began to see a difference. It was really apparent as my other dogs were still just awful.

After a few months, I took my dog in the car, and no stinky smell…no shedding. No bald patches. No butt scooting.

The rest of my dogs have been on this now since then too. I left the country for 4 weeks and had a friend stay at my house. She never added it to my dog’s food. I came home to one of my dogs kinda stinky and the shedding was back. Never again. My dogs won’t go without. Ever. Period.

I have even used this on every foster dog I have had come through my house. And they have all benefitted from it. I send some with each dog when they leave here. I’ve seen some pretty bad skin problems and yeast problems get under control using Dinovite (and I use the fish oil or the other omega supplement too).

And, I actually tried one of their newer products (a different vitamin in a tube). It was supposed to be the same as the one in the box but in a thick like paste. My dogs didn’t really like it much so I went back to the powder. And I sent back a bunch of the tubes. Two were actually empty and 4 were unopened. I got my money back no problem. With a smile.

[somebodysme]

Anyone know why a holistic vet would say that you should not feed a probiotic with FOS? I cannot find the article I read anymore but I specifically remember that it was about treating candida in a dog and the author said to use a probiotic but do not use one containing FOS. I have seen the probiotic recommended over and over and over here that is from Swanson’s and contains FOS. Why would you avoid FOS?

I am currently giving PB8 to my dog and it is absolutely keeping the yeast at bay. I am giving her two pills a day for a 50 lb dog. She is on a potato based kibble right now due to allergies and even at that, the yeast is not causing her issues.

[Murphysmom]

Hello All! So glad to have found this forum, lots of great knowledge! We are getting a 8 week old golden retriever puppy this coming Saturday, very excited! Our last golden lived to 15, we lost him 2 years ago. Amazingly enough, it’s a whole new world in the dog food world for us now…We fed Rusty Nutro Max and he lived 15 years, though it seems that isn’t the best food out there.We want to start off on the right foot with this puppy so are trying to make food decisions. I was wondering about Merrick, looks like a great line, but I see it isn’t included at all on your calcium chart Hound Dog Mom (thank you for putting that together!)….So wondering/assuming the calcium levels are too high? The other food I really liked was Earthborn Holistic Meadow Feast, but a worker at a pet store talked me out of it, saying it’s 1st ingredient is sweet potato, rather than a protein source. My hopes for a food are: grain free, meets safe calcium levels for a large breed puppy, and wondering if I should avoid potatoes as they are “yeasty”, our 15 year old always got ear infections, and wondered if it would be helpful to avoid these. Help save me from this vicious dog food circle I am stuck in! I’d love to hear your expert opinions 🙂 We also can’t afford the way hi end foods….

[somebodysme]

Yes Betsy, I am worried about the potatoes too and yeast. I am feeding a probiotic twice a day. So far she is OK and isn’t stinking from yeast. That is the whole reason I did not want to feed potato in the first place is yeast. The vet said to feed her a novel protein and potato but I did not and now my dog is paying the price for it! At least now she is better. Taught me that maybe my vet might just know a thing or two! HA!

[DogFoodie]

It sounds like you’ve food one great food for your dog, that along makes it a “great” food!

Do you guys think that peas have the same “profile” as garbanzo beans and lentils?

Hopefully you can find at least a couple of others to rotate with. The mere mention of potato in a food would cause yeast issues for one of my dogs.

[DogFoodie]

Hi Marie,

Sorry Boone is still having problems. : (

I can hear my vet at my recent visit for Sam’s yeasty ears, telling me to feed him Darwin’s full time. Is that an option? It’s not for me.

You said Boone is eating potato right now, right? I think I’d eliminate that for sure and either try Zeal full-time to see if it resolves like you mentioned or maybe try something completely different. I tell you, I was shocked and what great luck I had feeding Sam Horizon Legacy. He seems to be doing really well on Earthborn’s Great Plains Feast right now, also. He still does the occasional flap of the ears, which always gets my attention, but when I peek inside, they seem to be clear. He doesn’t show that he’s bored (though he may well be), but getting him clear and stabilized is my priority.

I believe I exacerbated Sam’s ear this most recent time with the Zymox. I used the Zymox with Bio-Active Enzymes. I used it once at night and the next day when I went to use it again, his ear was very red inside. I didn’t use it again and the vet actually said that Sam’s ear infection was limited to the outer ear canal (she said it looked like the Zymox burned his ear). I did recently pick up a bottle of Halo ~ it seems like a lot of others have mentioned that they use it [for cleaning] with good results.

I’m also hoping that the Curcu-VET he’s been taking will help resolve some of his yeast issues as well. I know you were interested in it, but I don’t recall if it was for Boone or Ginger. Here’s a link to Thorne’s product page: http://veterinary.thorne.com/articles/introducing-curcuvet.jsp

Also, what about a visit to a vet who practices TCVM, unless you already are and one of these folks happens to be your vet: http://search.tcvm.com/vetFinding.asp?qtype=state

[somebodysme]

Every food that my dog has had issue with has peas and of all the ingredients I can only find that one common ingredient. Out of desperation, I bought a bag of Natural Balance LID potato and rabbit. It has succeeded in clearing up this rash she has had on her back ever since we began trying to feed her a “healthy” dog food. When we got her, she was on Pro Plan Savor Chicken with NO rash on her back. I actually thought it was from Frontline but then it never cleared up for months after and many baths later. Just now that I switched to this basically lousy food, is the rash vanishing before my eyes!

I’d love a food that had similar but better ingredients…try as I may, I cannot find anything. I fear mostly that it will aggravate her yeast condition though.

Have any of you had a dog break out in a rash from peas? Seems odd but I can find no other ingredient in all the foods. Maybe flaxseed except that it’s in the NB rabbit that is working so it’s not flaxseed.

[InkedMarie]

Regulars may remember that Boone, who hasn’t had an ear issue in years, has had recurring ones, in the right ear, since the spring. On August 5th, I took him to the vet, who diagnosed bacterial and yeast. She put him on meds and it cleared up. Yes, I did try to fix it myself with Zymox, that worked when he was getting them as a puppy. He’s seven now. I don’t know whats causing them, food or environmental (humid up this way this summer).

So, he has another icky ear but this time it’s both ears. Whats new is adding canned into his rotation (new over the last five days is http://weruva.com/dog-cuisine-kurobuta-hero.php. It’s turkey, which he has eaten for seven years with no issues, I see nothing in there that should cause him a problem. It’s also been more humid over the last six days or so.

I’m discouraged. I honestly don’t know what to do. Part of me says to try him on The Honest Kitchen’s Zeal full time but I’d hate to have him eat that only. He has eaten Embark for years, I thought maybe stopping potato might be good but maybe I should rotate him through just THK. He also eats Darwins that he’s eaten for a year (the ear issues are new as of the spring).

Eh. Any suggestions, advice, anyone want a cute pbgv? <G>

[katrina0275]

Awesome!! Thanks to both of you! I went out today and bought him Avoderm Revolving diet dog food and Nature’s Variety dog biscuits. I’m going to try the sugar free route and see what happens. I will keep you all posted!

[Hound Dog Mom]

Switch the dog to a species-appropriate, low carbohydrate diet. A raw, home cooked, dehydrated or canned diet free of any grains or starches is ideal. If you must feed kibble look for a high protein (>30%) grain-free/white potato free kibble. If kibble is necessary, I think somebodysme made a good suggestion with Nature’s Variety Instinct.

I would also highly recommend starting the dog on a high quality, multi-strain probiotic supplement and an enzyme supplement. Probiotics are “friendly” bacteria that will help to get the body’s microflora back in balance (a yeast infection is an imbalance of microflora). Enzymes will help to rid the body of toxins that can contribute to yeast overgrowth and help the dog to more efficiently digest the food.

Yeast infections can also be caused by deficient levels of IgA and German Shepherds are prone to IgA deficiencies. If there is an IgA deficiency the probiotics and enzymes should help and you may also wish to consider an immunoglobulin supplement (such as IgG 2000 DF or colostrum) and coconut oil (the lauric acid in coconut oil is beneficial to immune function). You vet could test for an IgA deficiency.

You should also regularly disinfect the parts of his body that are yeasty. You can use a solution containing 1 gallon water, 1 C. hydrogen peroxide and 1 C. white vinegar. You can also bathe him using an herbal shampoo (such as tea tree) – avoid oatmeal shampoos as oatmeal feeds the yeast.

Good luck! 🙂

[somebodysme]

I’m in the same boat so maybe someone will pipe in. A light bulb finally came on with my dog. What I thought was all caused by food allergies are partly allergies and partly yeast. When I get her on a food that she’s not allergic to, the rash on her back clears right up but her feet flare up. The feet are yeast and the back rash is food allergies. Or at least this seems to be what we are figuring out. On a low carb food such as Nature’s Variety, the feet heal but her back flares. On an brand new meat such as lamb and/or rabbit, the back heals right up but the feet flare because the only food I tried was too high in carbs. SO now I will try lamb Nature’s Variety but the problem is that it’s not readily available and she has some stool issues with NV.

So if yeast is your only issue, I’d suggest giving Nature’s Variety LID a try. Of course, most people will suggest you need a raw or cooked diet. I haven’t crossed that bridge just yet…HA!

[shelties mom]

This sound to be a yeast problem, no. 1 thing to do is to address the diet, preferrably an anti-inflammatory raw diet with no grains. Adding a probiotic supplement will help since antibiotics destroy all good along with the bad bacteria, so these drugs often make a bad situation worse.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/05/03/eating-these-foods-can-make-your-dog-itch-like-crazy.aspx

Be sure not to over-vaccinate or over-medicate.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/08/17/stop-using-pet-steroids-until-you-read-these-disturbing-truths.aspx
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2009/12/23/environmental-allergies-and-your-pet.aspx

Use natural flea control products:
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/03/31/dangers-of-flea-and-tick-problems.aspx

Have you tried this product for his ears?