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mys*&@^#r

who had a view of Adam's house? What is this picture ? I was on vacation and I missed something LOL ? ;D

FanoftheMan, thanks for your story. I'm so so sorry you had a bad ending. I don't think Shadow's problems are that severe (thank the universe).

adamuse, thanks for the tip. I'll try it.

I had an experience at my vet that was not pleasant. Hubby and I went in and said "we would like to treat Shadow for canine yeast infection". She got indignant and asked why. I told her that I had researched many sites on the net. She got snippy and said "I don't believe what I read on the internet". She looked at the cysts and patches and said "well you know Shad has ALWAYS had skin issues". NO SHIT! She then said she would give us antibiotics. Poor dog has been on them every few months and they have never ever done anything. I told her that and she said "as a vet, I'm obligated to prescribe them". WTF! So the bitch was offended that I might have finally diagnosed the right problem. She said she would not give us an RX for an oral antifungal medication. Hubby asked if it would do any harm to try. She said no and okay we would try it. She then gave us an antifungal shampoo. So in 10 years, she never suggested this before? She then asked if we gave her antihystamines(sp). I said I'd tried benedryl, but it made her stupid and when she came out of it, would scratch and chew all over again. She gave us another type of antihystamine. side note - I gave it to Shadow on Friday and she got so stupid, she fell over and couldn't walk straight. As soon as she got normal, she was scratching again. So we again asked for the antifungal and she told me I had to wait a week to see if the antibiotics worked. THEY DON'T FUCKING WORK, BITCH! The shampoo does help and so far this morning she is not scratching. However, yesterday she made the spots bleed and she is getting more patches of it. I guess I have no choice but to wait until Wednesday to get the oral medication. Talk about treating the symptoms (ineffectively) and not the cause. When I pick up the meds, I'm asking for her medical records and finding a new vet. If it "won't hurt to try it" why the hell wouldn't she give it to me?

I have been putting an OTC antifungal cream to the spots and it helps for a little while. Then, like any dog, she will lick it off and we're back to square one. Thank the universe that she is otherwise happy and healthy. We have this blow up thing that we put around her neck (nicer and softer than those cone things). She gets pissed when she has it on, but at least she can't reach anything to scratch and chew.

Sorry for going on and on, but it's just very frustrating. I want her to get better, dammit. Worst case scenario is that the meds don't help, but I feel 99% sure that I have the right diagnosis after reading about it everywhere and seeing actual pictures of what it looks like.

Oh, and adamuse, it can't be allergies because she has the problem all year and in any area we visit (from Colorado to Mexico). Believe it or not, that's what the vet said - again - "well you know dogs get allergies during the spring and summer". I asked why she had this problem during her check up in January.

We just left there with our useless medication.

Oh, and I asked her what type of diet she recommends and she said she did not have a recommendation. How did this woman seem to totally change during this visit?

We gave away all of her food and treats to my friend and purchased all natural canned food and goodies since all of the sites said cheap food - especially those who contain grains and sugar - were part of the cause. It's expensive as hell, but my baby's worth it.

Wish me luck.

Go back through your veterinary records to see if they ever did a culture of the ear matter or of from the sores. If they did not and the yeast infection remedies do clear it up then I would scream bloody murder at them ESPECIALLY the dermatologist and try to get them to refund some of your money. As a groomer I am always appalled at how many times vets will go for the quick fix on these symptoms and never even suggest doing a culture. Same for recurring infections, if they don't culture to determine exactly what bacteria are present then they could be treating resistant strains of bacteria with the wrong antibiotic. Also if a dog has had repeated courses of antibiotics you will often have a yeast flare up due to the natural flora of the intestines being destroyed. Just like with people any antibiotic treatment should be pared with Lactobacillus acidophilus to replenish the intestinal tract and cut down on yeast growth.

Unfortunately if you don't push your vet to discover the root cause of the problem many will simply treat the symptoms and never explore further. This is also true for people doctors as well.

ETA: I personally raw feed my dogs and have for years. This is a decision that is very much on a case by case basis but I would recommend researching raw feeding. There was a wonderful Yahoo group called rawfeeding and if it is still around there are many on the group who have raw fed for many many years. I would never go back to processed food for my dogs but there are now many commercial raw foods available even though I think home done is the best.

Commercially prepared yogurt may not work because I believe it has to be live culture but there are many acidophilus supplements available and any health food store should have them. If they were just randomly trying different antibiotics they may not have done a specific culture. I have yet to run across a vet who did one without the customer requesting it unfortunately.

I checked on yahoo and the rawfeeding group still exists, has a lot of links to faq pages on how to do the diet and there are many different types which is why I recommend you doing your own research and not just taking my word for it. Some dogs take longer to switch than others and there is still big debate within raw feeding circles about the necessity of veggies. Definitely no need for any grains. Variety is generally best and 10% organ meats is recommended. Supplements are not recommended with raw as long as you are giving variety. That being said my dog eats chicken the majority of the time has no issues and is very healthy. He doesn't tolerate the fats much at all without getting diarreah but all I do is take the skin off and he eats the rest. My older dog had chronic sinus congestion, ear infections, and bouts or irritable bowel syndrome all of his life until I switched to raw at which point ears cleared up, you couldn't hear him breathing from across the room anymore and no more runs unless he had too much fat or liver. Also his bad breath which could knock you out from ten feet away reduced tremendously. He could breath in my face without me wanting to puke from the smell.

When I first started I joined the rawfeeding group and read backwards in the archives for quite a bit then started asking questions. People were VERY helpful and forthcoming and there are many who had dogs with serious health issues that were improved through raw feeding. Remember that regardless of their looks dogs are essentially wolves still as far as their physiology is concerned. They are primarily carnivores who can subsist as omnivores but their ideal diet is carnivorous. Cats are obligate carnivores meaning they require meat which is why cat foods have to be more carefully balanced than dog foods as lack of things like taurine lead to serious consequences. Which is why dogs can eat cat food but cats can't live on dog food without supplement.