Infective Endocarditis Clinical Presentation: History, Physical Examination, Complications

The #1 Best Diet For Yeast Infections In Dogs, According To A Vet

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"Hello! My 10-month-old puppy has been having yeast infections for the last 6 months, and I have taken her twice to get treated with antibiotics. It went away but came back. It is mostly in her ears, and I cannot afford to keep taking her to the vet right now, so I am trying to take care of it at home. I will try your recommendation of apple cider vinegar, the shampoo, and coconut oil.

As for her diet, I have been feeding her kibble and cooked meat (beef liver) and veggies, and I am not sure if I can immediately make the switch to raw meat. She is a Chihuahua terrier. Her skin is also flaky/dry, and I bathe her once a week."A: It definitely sounds like you are on the right track. Studies indicate that dogs given a whole-food diet when young have fewer yeast infections in the ears and that the incidence of ear infections may decrease as the dogs become older (1).

Dogs prone to yeast infections need to be taken off of cheap carbohydrate and sugar sources that are promoting their re-infections. Although most of the funding for research in dogs comes from dog food corporations, and whole foods are usually excluded, some research does indicate that a whole diet reduces inflammatory markers that affect the skin (2).

Related: Should I Put My Puppy on a Raw Diet?

Why You Might Not Want to Feed Your Dog Raw Food

However, if your dog has a sensitive stomach and is reluctant to try new foods, I do not think you need to switch your little dog to raw right away. There are several valid reasons why a person would not want to feed raw.

Nutritionally unbalanced: This is a common complaint from veterinarians but so uncommon in actuality that veterinary journals almost never find a case of this. Dogs have been doing fine eating all sorts of food for thousands of years and do not need to solely eat a diet composed by a board-certified veterinary nutritionist.

Bacterial infections: This can be a problem in dogs who are immunocompromised. If your dog has an immune disease, he or she should be given cooked foods. If your dog is healthy, his gastrointestinal system will do fine on a diet of raw food.

Broken teeth: Slab fractures of the molars and canines do happen, but they are rare. If you feed your dog soft bones like chicken wings from poultry that are only eight weeks old, this is not going to happen. Chicken bones do not splinter and are safe as long as they are given raw.

Parasites: This is a possibility if you give meat that is found on the road and not fit for human consumption. If the cow was raised in confinement, this is not an issue.

Related: 12 Reasons a Raw Meat Diet Is Healthy for Dogs

Why You Shouldn't Feed Your Dog Kibble

There are, however, no valid reasons to continue with kibble instead of whole food. Dry dog food is heavily processed and made to earn a profit for the corporation that sells it. All of them are balanced to have just enough vitamins and minerals to maintain life, not to allow the dog to thrive, and contain numerous byproducts that cause health problems like cancer and skin diseases.

The one advantage of kibble, and the reason that so many people use it, is that it is more convenient and cheaper than whole food. The only reason that it is cheaper, however, is that it contains cheap byproducts and fillers not fit for human consumption that the big dog food brands have in excess.

Almost all of the big dog food companies are owned by the giant food corporations that produce waste like brewers' rice and corn gluten. Instead of throwing it away and losing money, they put it in dog food. Dogs do not need those foods, and those cheap carbohydrate sources in dry dog food are the reason your dog continues to have yeast infections.

Recipe for a Whole-Food Diet (Cooked)

If you want to go on cooking your dog's food instead of giving raw, there do need to be some small changes. Instead of giving bones, which must be raw so as not to be excessively brittle, you need to provide another calcium source. The best thing to do is give whole egg shells that you can crush up and add to the cooked food.

In addition to the yeast infections, the following diet will also improve your dog's dry skin. You didn't tell me how much she weighs, so I am going to guess about 10 pounds. To make up a week's worth of food (about 3.5 pounds) for your dog, just add:

1.5 lbs or 24 oz meat: You can use any cut for this, whichever is cheapest. Fatty meats are fine as long as your puppy is not obese and prone to pancreatitis.

0.35 lbs or 5.6 oz eggshells: If you do not eat enough eggs in your household, you can buy these from several sources on the internet. If you do have eggshells at home, you can use them and give the membrane attached to the shell, which also has several health benefits.

0.35 lbs or 5.6 oz liver and internal organs: I prefer to add about half of that amount in liver and give kidneys, pancreas, and other organs to make up the difference. If you want to add liver one week and then the other organs another week, that is fine too.

4 large eggs, about 0.5 lbs or 8 oz: Eggs will provide some protein, but the most important part is the vitamins added from the yolk.

0.35 lbs or 5.6 oz fish: If you do not have fresh fish where you live, it is okay to use canned sardines. Cans vary but are usually about 3.75 ounces, so you may need more than one. The fish will provide the omega-3 fatty acids to keep your dog's skin healthy.

0.35 lbs or 5.6 oz prebiotics and probiotics: As a prebiotic and fiber source, I like to add about 10% canned pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie mix, which contains the spices), squash, and other fibrous veggies like carrots. Dogs cannot digest a lot of these foods, but the fiber feeds the bacteria in the gut. The cheapest probiotic source is whole, non-flavored yogurt, but make sure that no added sweeteners like xylitol are added, as it is toxic to dogs.

3 oz vitamins as fresh fruit: All of the vitamins and antioxidants your dog needs can be provided with eggs and fresh fruit. I try to add about 5% of the diet in blueberries, strawberries, bananas, etc. You only need about 3 ounces a week.

Preparation

Measure. You will need a kitchen scale to measure this out, but it only needs to be done about once a week. I suggest you put it all through a meat grinder to mix it thoroughly. If you do not have one and cannot afford to get one at this time, just add the food to a pot (except the probiotic source) and heat it until the meat is cooked.

Stir. Stir it thoroughly to mix in the vegetables, eggs, and fish. The temperatures used to cook homemade dog food are not extreme and do not produce the glycation products found in the kibble you purchase at the store, which has to be put under very high temperatures to prevent it from going rancid.

Store. Store the daily portions in the freezer and thaw them the night before (in the refrigerator) or in the morning.

Serving

If your dog is a lot smaller than 10 pounds, she will eat less, and this recipe will last a lot longer than a week, so you can give about 5% of her body weight each day, or 8 ounces.

(If she is already grown, she will need less, about 3% of her weight, but you can give a little more if she is growing. Chihuahuas often reach their adult size by this time, but larger dogs take a little longer. Very big dogs do not reach their adult size until one and a half or two years.)

Keep track of her body weight, and if she becomes overweight on this diet, you need to reduce the amount given each day. At her age, twice-a-day feeding is okay, but if you are feeding three times a day, just freeze a container with about one day's ration and give her a third of that each meal.

Alternatives

If you do not have the time to make this food once a week (if you have freezer space, you can make enough for about two weeks if you want to double the recipe) but still want to provide a good diet for your dog, you should start purchasing minimally processed food from the internet.

You can read about more alternatives to processed food in the article below:

Related: Veterinarian Issues Warning on Potential Danger of Ultra-Processed Dry Dog Foods

Sources

Hemida MBM, Vuori KA, Borgström NC, Moore R, Rosendahl S, Anturaniemi J, Estrela-Lima A, Hielm-Björkman A. Early life programming by diet can play a role in risk reduction of otitis in dogs. Front Vet Sci. 2023 Nov 6;10:1186131. Doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1186131. PMID: 38026629; PMCID: PMC10657834. Https://pubmed.Ncbi.Nlm.Nih.Gov/38026629/

Systane Eye Drops Recalled For Possible Fungal Contamination

One lot of Systane brand eye drops were voluntarily recalled due to possible fungal contamination, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

The company said an infection could threaten vision and in very rare cases could potentially be life-threatening, but said it has not received any reports of infections to date.

The affected Systane Lubricant Eye Drops Ultra PF, Single Vials On-the-Go, 25 count is limited to lot number 10101, expiration date 2025/09.

The product can be identified by the green and pink carton design, the presence of "Systane" and "ULTRA PF" brand names on the front of the carton, and the "25 vials" package size.

Anyone in possession of affected product should stop using the drops immediately. Purchasers can seek either a refund or replacement, the FDA said.

People experiencing symptoms of a possible eye infection should consult with their doctor as soon as possible.

More information about the recall from the FDA's website can be found here.

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