Lilli (Kenmore, Wa, Usa) on 01/14/2013:

My adopted pal, whose breed is prone to severe skin problems, developed a bad skin yeast infection. His legs and parts of his torso turned black and lost fur. He scratched 24/7 and we had to watch him constantly or he would scratch and bite until he bled. Eventually, we had to keep him in onsies and a plastic cone.

When he lived with his previous family, we think he was given too much prednisone and too many anti-biotics which ruined his immune system. Every vet we took him too wanted to prescribe the same meds including atopica. IMHO I would never give these things to him again! Prednisone shuts down the adrenal glands which stops the itching but causes severe medical problems down the road.

We were at the end of our rope watching our poor guy suffer. Here's what worked for us:

We finally found a naturopathic vet who has been allergy testing and giving him Chinese herbs and tinctures which attacks the yeast internally but takes time to work. We changed his diet to a commercial brand of frozen raw meat with some veggies. (I would not recommend dry kibble of any kind because it is still processed and most have binders, starches, and grain products. ) He lost the extra weight, that he gained due to the prednisone, and was much livelier, but still scratching.

The single most amazing change in him occurred when I started spraying him with ACV/distilled water, 50/50. (I use organic ACV which has the "mother" in it. ) I sprayed the hot spots and black areas of his skin and rubbed the vinegar in. I kept him standing or moving until he air dried. (Do not spray it on open wounds and sores) Then I put him back in a cotton onsie. It is important to keep them from scratching and re-irritating the skin. I did this in the morning, after feeding, and the evening before bed. It reduced his scratching 75% in two days! I also mixed a little ACV in his food. (I would not recommend giving ACV on an empty stomach)

About every three days I mix a lotion of pure aloe vera with pure vegetable glycerin and distilled water and rub it on the troubled areas and let dry. (Do not use straight glycerin on skin because it traps moisture and may cause blistering) After a day or two, the lotion dries the surface yeast and it sloughs off. I clean the areas and new pink skin is underneath.

We are at day four of using this system. My dog is calmer, scratches less, and sleeps better. His skin is pinking up and I do not have to keep an eye on him all day.

(One word of caution: Talk to your naturopathic vet before starting any new remedy. Dogs can have a reaction to most anything whether it is natural or not. Start on a small patch of skin as a test before using any product on your dog.)

Thank you to everyone who posted ACV suggestions. After years of frustrating vet visits, many $$$'s spent, bad drug reactions, and the arrogance of Western medicine, a little $3.00 bottle of ACV did the trick!