Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

amhwong · Joined: 05 May 2008 Posts: 15 Location: Kuala Lumpur

I have an 8-year old Golden Retriever with yeast infection on his tail and some parts of his back. Is this infectious? I have other dogs in the household so I wonder if I need to separate my dogs.

Can I still apply tick/flea prevention spot-on for my dog who is still recovering from this problem? Currently he is on a vegetarian diet as it seems to help control the infection. I do give supplements to make up for nutritional needs like protein and vitamin B.

Any good advice please?

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

How do you know if the infection is just a yeast infection and not simultaneously with another infection? If it is just a yeast infection, it is not contagious as it is usually caused more by stress or low immunity, or even having other underlying problems such as mange infection. Mange however, are infectious.

Whether you can use spot-ons or not, depends on the type of treatment your dog is having and also the size of the lesion. If the lesion is relatively small, and the treatment does not involve the dog getting wet for that few days that the spot-on needs to work, then its ok to use it.

Vegetarian diets do not necessarily control the disease. Proper treatment or control of the disease involves investigating the underlying cause and treating that cause. Be wary when you are giving vegetarian diet just to treat this problem. Dogs are also naturally omnivorous, hence, they need essential proteins from animal meat to survive. If you want to proceed with giving your dog purely vegetarian food, then you'd have to consult a nutritionist on the type of supplements to give your dog.

amhwong · Joined: 05 May 2008 Posts: 15 Location: Kuala Lumpur

Thank you Dr Nat. The dog has been to the vet and the problem was diagnosed as yeast infection. I was advised to use medicated shampoo on him when giving baths, and it seemed to reduce incidences of the dog scratching or biting at the affected areas. As for meeting the nutritional intake requirements, I will definitely seek appropriate advice on whether the dog should continue on a vegan diet.

On a related note, the vet said that he could actually "smell" yeast in my dog's ears. While I note that my dog does have a particularly strong odour of late, is it actually really due to his yeast infection problem? Just curious... :)

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

Yeast infection in dogs, or more commonly known as malassezia infection, does have a particular odour.
Read more about the infection here:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1557&articleid=321
http://www.provet.co.uk/health/diseases/malassezia.htm

Like I said earlier, you need to becareful with dogs with this problem because the infection rarely occurs on its own. Usually it happens together with other bacterial infections. Also, there's usually another underlying cause to the disease.

By the way, care to share some pictures?