My 4 1/2 month old basset has a yeast like odour, and red and quite itchy inside his hind legs. I took him to the vets who prescribed some antibiotics, she also said at the time if the odour does not clear up with the antibiotics then the next step would be allergy testing.

I had been giving a piriton tab each morning which helped for a while but now even those don't seem to be helping, he completed the course of antibiotics but they don't appear to have helped, if fact his stools are now very soft, so he in on chicken & rice.

Does anyone have any ideas? Is there anything else I can do before taking the step of allergy testing? Also, does anyone have any idea of what is involved and the cost?

Any advice would be appreciated.

I may be wrong here but judging by my lasts dogs skin problems I thought a yeast like odour is generally from a fungal (yeast) skin infection, which is normally treated with a topical treatment such as Malesab (shampoo/wash). Any secondary bacterial infection is treated with anti-biotics. severe cases may need sterios treatement (my dog had steriod cream to apply to the skin).
Personally, I would not rush into allergy testing, if the pup resonds to the appropriate treatment, if the symptoms return after treatment has finished then I would discuss with the vet about possibles dietry related causes/changing food.

Before going down the route of allergy testing you should try Neem shampoo to bath your dog:http://www.neemgenie.co.uk/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=HA02&Category_Code=007&Product_Count=1

and there is also another neem treatment which smells awful but is equally brilliant and help heal the skin: http://www.neemgenie.co.uk/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=nead&Category_Code=007&Product_Count=8

Hi, I have an American Cocker with Malasezia (sp)? What you're describing sounds the same as mine.

When I was researching this I found that Basset Hounds were a breed that was particularly prone to it.

Malaseb shampoo is the treatment, but it may be worth googling malasezia, and having a word with your Vet.

Dawn R.

Malassezia is definitely a problem in the breed so talking to your dog's breeder would be a good idea.
Before all the latest chemical treatments, coal tar soap was used for this.

you can get coal tar shampoo from the chemist...my mother was advised to use this for her westie who had a yeast infection

I took Archie to the vets this evening, he definately has a yeast infection, so he's been prescribed some malaseb shampoo and some ear drops. She hinted that the cause was more than likely to Malasezia and not any sort of allergy or intolerance, but she couldn't say 100% without carrying out skin tests. This kind of surprised me as I have already spoken with the breeder and she ruled out Malasezia because Archies too young but the vet contradicted this by saying the malasezia can strike at any age.

So, i'll be bathing him twice a week and administrating the ear drops twice a day and hoping like crazy that this sorts him out, I realised that I probably won't be covered by insurance because I took him to the vets for a 'skin irritation' before taking up the policy. Having spent £75 tonight, I really hope he'll be ok soon, good job he's cute!!

Can I ask how do you use cold tar soap, would I need to bathe him using the soap? Should I use it together with the malaseb or instead of?

Thanks to everyone who has replied.