This is what I'm seeing...
Quote:Things cleared up for a few weeks then we were right back where we started.
She is just now about to finish up a 14 day round of Simplicef and again, things seem to be clearing up -- the funky smell and discharge are gone and the skin looks healthy.
It seems likely that if the antibiotics were making room for the yeast to grow that there would be a shorter window between clearing up and symptoms returning. And if it was because of yeast when the signs returned, it shouldn't respond to antibiotics: if anything, it should get worse right away. The pattern of disease --> treatment --> remission --> disease suggests that the treatment is working but the animal isn't able to prevent subsequent flareups.
That makes sense.
I have seen a few recent attempts by her to clean herself which is a good sign that the skin is not as tender and irritated as it was.
I'm hoping that we can promote a "well" cycle long enough that she will go back to maintaining some degree of cleanliness on her own.
My neice did warn me off using tea tree oil in that particular area because she can indeed lick herself and tea tree oil shouldn't be injested.
She also said that acidopilus couldn't hurt and might help so there is no reason not to continue trying it.
Wondering how the Lactobacilli get from the digestive tract to the vagina.
Well, maybe I'm not wondering how it happens in dogs...
Ne'ermind -- prepared as a douche. Don't mind the male in the room...
Further ne'mind -- Medline search turns up a couple of studies (including one that was controlled) where eating live-culture yogurt increased Lactobacillus colonization of the vagina. Crikey.
I don't know how an asprin knows that it is my shoulder that hurts but it always seems to work.
The acidopilus (now in handy capsule form!) trick is just one of those things handed down from woman to woman through the generations.
I don't know why it works only that it works!
An aspirin is a wee tiny drug that travels around in the blood. Bacteria (like Lactobacillus acidophilus) is a relatively huge thing, and if it gets into the blood through the gut in any sort of numbers you'd die. So there's either some biological product produced by the bacteria which can be absorbed by the body and facilitate colonization of the vagina (and other mucosae) by Lactobacillus or they are colonizing the vagina from the anus. Certainly not unheard of -- that's how E. coli and other coliforms get in there -- but not the most pleasant thought, and not the most obvious way to get a drug (or probiotic, if you please) from one place to another.
Sorry, just thinking out loud. Makes sense, I suppose, to use the same route by which nefarious bacteria move to move good ones, too...
Lactobacillus does a wonderful job of staying in the intestinal tract. I think the key here may be the fact that the dog is thirteen years old. Many spayed females of that age are marginally incontinent due to hypoestrinism. My initial inclination would be to think that the odor could be due to tissue irritation from urine exposure. If that be the case, simple antiseptic cleansers are the best solution.
Yes, absolutely, urine burns are a big part of the problem. The Domeboro seems to be helping and I continue with the acidopulis too. (I don't know how it works for women but it works so....)
I have read that waiting until your dog goes though one heat before spaying can alleviate this problem.
Is there any truth to that?
She seems to be doing really well right now. I need to take her in for a recheck in the next week or so.
The biggest problem is that she hates to be rolled over and cleaned up.
Does spaying after one heat cycle hep anything? Only if you consider an increased incidence of mammary tumors helpful. Other than that, no.
@boomerang,
I think it will not induce yest infections. You can find more information on the antibiotics at International Drug Mart. Here is information on one of the antibiotic Fluconazole at
Edit [Moderator]: Link removed
