wondering if any one can help, Tallulah has had recurring vaginitus for months, she has been checked out by the vet and basically they have just said that she will grow out of it..the other alternative is for her to have oestrogen - she has already had a short course, but we really dont want to give her any more.  the vet says that until her system can fight the infection/matures - she will continue to get it.  therefore I am wondering if there is anything we can give her to boost her immune system? pro-biotics? live yoghurts??..Thought maybe Tohme might be able to help??? (Tallulah was speyed at 6 months)..any ideas would be great, Tally isnt in any pain and she is fine, but we would obviously likethis to clear up asap

Thank You!!!

I would want to know why my dog was getting a recurrent infection such as this; is it fungal?

If so there are ways to tackle it.

Fungal/yeast overgrowths can often be tackled by removing grain from the diet; if this is not possible at least remove all sugars from the system (grains are broken down into sugars, sugars feed yeast).

Also remove cheese if given.

Non dairy probiotics would be good and given for a long time if not for ever.  The multi strain ones you can get from health food shops with say a billion bacteria with acidophilus, bifidus, bulgaricus etc I would recommend.  Live yoghurt is fine but the benefits may be lost by the time it gets to the intestine where it is needed. Probiotics are great yeast busters.

It goes without saying do not feed anything with yeast in it eg brewers yeast etc.

Immune stimulators:

Garlic, preferably fresh clove each day
Echinacea - periodically to give system chance to respond on its own, freeze dried is better than alcohol based.

Goldenseal - short periods only as it may impact on normal gut flora.

Hi Tohme - many thanks for your reply, we have had her to the vets so much to see what is wrong and she had had every test under the sun, all negative, therefore they are concluding that due to her having what we thought was cystitis as a pup she actually had vaginitus, then we had her speyed,  if we hadnt her first season would have cleared it all up - hence her having a short course of oestrogen to try and make her mature.  she was doing fine and we thought she was OK then we noticed discharge and blood, so it is obviously back.  we are not going to take her to the vets as they are reluctant to give her any more antibiotics/hormone, and they do think she will gro out of it as her immune system develops.

At the moment she is fed Burns - Lamb, kelties, ocean bites, pork crackling, bonios and a little cheese for training purposes, I really want to get this rectified, what would you suggest I fed her..sorry I am not that familiar with dog nutrician.. many thanks for all your help - it really is apreciated

Burns is probably about the best dry dog food you can feed, I would stay away from the varieties that contain sugar beet pulp and linseed though.

Definitely cut out the cheese and bonios though.

There are lots of things you can give for treats fruit, veg, liver, pepperami etc etc that contain no cereals or yeast.

Hi Tohme

Thanks for this, I will get down to the health food shop and try and sort her out.  she does already get some veggies, so we will step up on those - she usually shares a carrot with the budgies every day!!..and then steals the bit from their cage!!
thanks again

I would give evening primrose oil at least 240mg (GLA Content) daily - this is given to women going through the menopause as it helps regulate hormones also good for skin and coat.
Also vit c is the best booster for the imune system. id give the garlic too has other benefits to heart and blood and also great for repelling fleas.
Also as with women could it be the antibiotics she has been having which has caused the infection?

Sharon