★★★★★
I came home from 8 weeks traveling and found my 7 year old Irish Setter bitch in dreadful shape. A late hot spell had ramped up the flea season and she is sensitive. By the time I got home she had chewed herself raw and had yeast infections all over; genitals, groin, pits, ears, muzzle, feet, it was awful. Fast response to the fleas on her, the cats (who were also appreciative of the relief) and the house was the first step, but my usual application of miconazole just was not doing it. It kept coming back and the ears got worse.
Can I just say THANK YOU for the suggestion of tumeric? My god what a life saver. Almost immediate relief. No instant cure of course, but for the first night in weeks we got thru without her going outside 5 times during the night and crying in her sleep.
We have instituted a steady regime of tumeric in the morning and coconut oil in the evening internally and externally, with half a monostat suppository vaginally. We also did a ACV bath which seemed soothing to her.
And after two days I could take the cone of shame off. She can't be left alone yet, needs monitoring for when she gets itchy and starts in on her tail, but it is all SO much better. We are on day 6 and the skin is healing, dry not wet and yeasty
She is getting probiotics and fresh yogurt on top of her raw diet, so I don't think there is much there that needs addressing. This was pretty clearly a case of the yeast being opportunistic after the flea infestation.
I use and swear by the standard 'Cocker Spaniel Ear Rinse', it stings a bit but it is the best I have used. And I could write a book, literally, on treating setters with ear issues. Now that the systemic yeast infection is coming under control so are the ears. Using it daily right now and trying to decide when to back off to every other.
Any ideas on how long before I could be optimistically backing off on the external applications of the tumeric and coconut oil? Man, talk about messy! I will of course do it as long as I have to, but have never had such an invasive situation, and am not sure what kind of time line to expect.
Again, Thank You for all the collective wisdom.
Sara (and Cara the Wonder Dog ; -)
