Fleeced by our vet and dog still got yeast infection!

[Verbena17]

Hi
So we were pretty sure our 6yr old healthy golden retriever had a yeast infection - he definitely had/has yeasty ears and he developed quite a pink pelvic area.

We took him to our registered vets and I explained to the vet that he had yeasty ears (she agreed) and that we felt it could mean a yeast imbalance through his body making his pelvic area/groin the same. She agreed it could be that…..and then proceeded to totally ignore that, say it was a sudden allergy to his food (🤔) and put him on a course of antibiotics for some little sore, weeping scabs (understandable) and then when DH took him back 2 weeks later after zero change in pinkness, she put him on Apoquel. Which made him incontinent having never been before and also doing zero to help his issue. Eventually it cleared up (mostly) on its own.

Now we are a couple of months later and his ears are again yeasty and the pinkness is back and he’s licking and nibbling again.

How do I get an anti fungal tablet without going to our vet (for all the treatment and hypoallergenic food and wipes my DH bought from them, it cost us almost £1000!!!) ?

Or would probiotics be a good idea? although that being said, the second vet did give him sachets of probiotics to put on his food and he had diarrhoea all day long for days!
I think just anti fungal tablets would clear his system of yeast - how do I get some?

Our lab developed an allergy to chicken if all things which manifested as yeasty ears!

Hi, the best way for you to be able to get anti-fungal tablets for your dog without going to your vet is to apply for a place at vet school (if you have the A levels needed, if not add on 2 years to get those) and after 5 years full time study if you pass your exams you can become a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and will be legally allowed to diagnose and prescribe. HTH.

Fungal (yeast) skin and ear infections can certainly happen in dogs but are almost always secondary to another cause. This could be a food or environmental allergy, or parasites or a bacterial infection. Yeasts live happily on healthy skin and usually only start to cause a problem when something else disrupts the health and integrity of the skin barrier.

Anti-fungal tablets are not commonly used in dogs, although topical treatments such as anti-fungal shampoos are used (often with an antibacterial ingredient too). However, if you do not address the underlying cause the yeast will continue to flourish and the shampoo will provide only temporary relief.

A vet may prescribe a shampoo for you but will need to examine your dog (this is a legal requirement as anti-fungal shampoos are prescription medications) and a good vet (like the one you saw) will try to get to the bottom of the underlying issue rather than just provide temporary relief.

Skin complaints can take a lot of investigation (which can take the form of tests and/or treatment or dietary trials like the vet gave your dog) and cost a lot to get to a diagnosis. Once diagnosed, many skin conditions can only be managed not cured, and will flare up from time to time even if well managed. Pet insurance will usually cover these costs but only if you were insured before your dog first had the problem.

My recommendation is to make an appointment with your vet, explain your dogs clinical signs and response (or non response) to what's been tried so far, and ask questions of the vet rather than coming in with your own diagnosis and medication request.

Be totally honest if you did not give the previous treatment exactly as prescribed (not saying you didn't but some people miss doses or stop it prematurely if they think it's not helping), or if you used anything else (supplements, flea treatments, shampoos) in addition, otherwise it is almost impossible for the vet to truly understand what's going on. Be prepared for this to take a while to solve, and it may require trying different treatments or even diets to get to one which works. It wouldn't take 5 years to become a vet if animal health conditions were simple to diagnose and treat with one look and a couple of tablets.

@Labracadabra not sure why you were so sarcastic. I wasn’t implying I want black market vet meds 😂😂😂.

I meant whether there is an online vet pharmacy just like there is for humans! Where you have to fill out a form and answer questions etc.

We were not dismissive of what the vet said or advised, however they agreed totally with my yeast suggestion and then prescribed and spoke only of allergy.
Compared to £750of apoquel, a yeast med for a few pounds would have been a first line of trial I’d have thought….or as I read online, a mega cheap antihistamine tablet to see if it was allergy based.

And like you say, if it’s throughout his body, a shampoo is unlikely to clear his system of it long term. The vet smelt his ears and literally said “oh yes, that’s yeast” ! Then gave nothing for it!

No, there's no online pharmacy to get prescription meds for pets without a vet examination and prescription (vets can only prescribe for animals "under their care" and there are legal requirements associated with that).
There is no cheap "yeast med" for dogs and no oral anti-fungals which treat the most likely skin yeast (malassezia spp.). There are some for ringworm but that is a completely different fungus, not a yeast
Anti-histamines have low efficacy in dogs for skin allergies. They may be used in combination with other treatments like the shampoo, but usually aren't enough to control it if it's a generalised allergy (more useful for local reaction e.g. insect bite or sting etc)
I'm sorry you feel frustrated with how your vet has explained things, I think this may be a misunderstanding of what they were doing to tackle the problem. You could call the practice and ask for the vet to call you for a chat?

I’m not frustrated with how she explained things - I’m annoyed that she agreed with me and then did zilch to try and treat a fungal infection.
I’m really surprised she didn’t try and treat for fungal first, having agreed with me.

I'm not a vet I'm a human Dr but certainly in people systemic yeast infections 'candida overgrowth' (rather than localised ones like thrush that are obviously are real) are something that Dr Google and quacks believe in but real Drs generally don't (outside very rare situations in hospitalised people) There's a huge industry of people blaming 'candida overgrowth' for all kinds of vague symptoms and recommending weird diets but very little evidence that this is a genuine medical problem outside of very rare scenarios.

My suspicion is that she appeared to agree with you in a nodding along way but really she didn't because otherwise, as you say, she would have prescribed something different.

Eliminate chicken from the diet.
My dog has been diagnosed with IBD after sickness and diarrhoea flare in the last 2 months, but has previously always had yeasty ears and prone to skin flare ups for 6 yrs

Her sensitivity to foods culminating in her stomach getting inflamed.
I'm 3k spent and as frustrating as it is because there is no cure, diet is key.

Since starting this trial and error elimination of proteins she smells 100% better.

We're doing well with fish.

I'd definitely look into gut sensitivity and re assess what you're feeding.

Thanks both.

So took him back to the same practice but it was a different vet yesterday.
He said he thinks it’s this….

‘Yeast dermatitis or Malassezia dermatitis is caused by the fungus Malassezia pachydermatis. It is an extremely common cause of skin disease in dogs. This yeast is normally found on the skin, but its abnormal overgrowth can cause dermatitis, or inflammation of the skin.’

So he’s given us ear dogs, antibiotics to clear up infected scabs from itching and prednisolone to calm his system. He also said to bath him weekly with anti fungal shampoo .

We have a big bag of grain free food but it is chicken flavour so will replace with a bag of salmon and rice sort instead.
Hopefully this won’t be forever but if it continues, we’ll get an allergy panel done I guess.