Understanding Yeast in Dogs: Causes, Misconceptions, and Natural Solutions

Reading time approx 4 minutes

What exactly is yeast and why do some dogs have this problem?

Yeast ‘infections’ are mainly caused by a yeast-like fungus named Candida. This fungus is a normal resident of the body. Usually a healthy body keeps this fungus under control. It’s ability to cause ‘infection’ is said to be triggered by an imbalance in the normal microbial community in the gut, and that it is this imbalance that causes an overgrowth of Candida. We are led to believe that it is the result of an ‘invasion’ or is regarded as a ‘parasite’ which should be destroyed with antibiotics. One of the causes of an imbalance is the overuse of antibiotics so avoid them where possible. Yeast feeds on waste that is built up in the body, so yeast is not the problem like many of us are led to believe, it is the solution not the problem.  When the waste has been removed the yeast will go away, in other words the food it is feeding off has run out. So you see, the body uses yeast, fungus and bacteria for that matter to assist the body in clean-up efforts. Suppressing or killing the yeast (with antibiotics and other drugs or ointments) like many allopathic vets (and human doctors) do, only causes damage further down the road. How many of you may have experienced recurring yeast issues with your dog and used the recommended ‘treatments’ that just didn’t work or they worked short term but the symptoms always came back? Why might you ask? The reason why is because the removal of cause hasn’t taken place. We must remove the cause(s) and I don’t mean by using pharmaceutical drugs to do this. It is possible to eradicate yeast completely by doing a combination of things, for example feeding the correct food, using different types of feeding strategies and digestive rest. The body is always trying to be in balance and wants to stay well so supporting this in a way that nature intended is vital. Generally less is more so looking at removing things, not adding is what is needed.

So how do we prevent yeast from occurring in the first place?

Healthy dogs who are fed correctly with minimal to no chemicals (toxins from vaccines, chemical flea treatments and wormers and adulterated food like kibble) are unlikely to have a yeast issue. Feeding a species appropriate diet using wholesome foods (preferably low fat) is not only key to longevity but can prevent disease from being created in the first place. Many, if not all commercial pet foods are made with inappropriate ingredients, cooked multiple times and to very high temperatures which exacerbate the problem.

‘Every cell in a dog’s body is made from the food that goes into their mouth’.   

Why fat is the issue not sugar.

This may come to a big surprise to some, but did you know that fat is the culprit not sugar? especially when Malassezia dermatitis is present, which is another type of yeast that naturally lives in your dog’s skin, ears and anal sacs. Malassezia is lipophilic. That means it has a natural liking for fats or lipids. Symptoms include: oily or greasy skin, grey or white scales, redness/inflammation and hair loss. Affected areas typically appear on the abdomen, underarm, neck, lips, groin, between toes, inside the ears and/or ear flaps and anal area. All these symptoms can be misdiagnosed as ’allergies’ or ’allergens’ causing the issues. This is why when we’re prescribed steroids such as Prednisone or oral anti-fungals, it becomes a vicious cycle as we’re pushed from one drug to the next in the hope of relieving the symptoms. I wrote about palliation in my previous blog on ‘What to know about Symptoms and Itchy Dogs’. If we are not addressing the root cause, the merry-go-round of using these harmful drugs will sadly continue.

You may have heard that fruits and vegetables should be avoided if your dog is prone to yeast. However, this isn’t always the case. It’s not about avoiding plant-based foods, but rather the type of plants and how they’re fed. Natural sugars found in these foods benefit your dog’s health and do not cause yeast issues.

Dogs have a single chambered stomach in which to digest food. Feeding fruit and/or veg and protein in the same meal is a mistake many make (BARF feeders in particular). Why? Because meat requires an acidic environment and fruit/veg require an alkaline. As acid and alkaline neutralise each other; if both food types are fed together it will result in more of the food not being digested and will instead become waste (or putrefy or ferment) which will overwhelm the primary organs of elimination (skin, large intestine, lungs and kidneys). Unused sugars in the bloodstream and other wastes represent an appealing food supply to yeast, bacteria and other microorganisms that feed on morbid matter. Microorganisms are not to blame as already mentioned. They are nature’s clean up crew, they are intentionally produced by the body to give your dog a helping hand. The body really is that intelligent, we don’t give it enough credit or been educated enough to understand that the body is self healing and is always trying to be in balance. Plants are secondary foods for dogs. In their biological history dogs would have consumed plant matter when prey was scarce or when their stomachs were empty. So they had no opportunity to combine the two macronutrients together.

It is an assumption that wolves and wild dogs eat the stomach contents (as in vegetation) of their prey. In small rodents, rabbits and birds this is unavoidable but it has been observed by researchers they they shake out the stomach content of larger prey animals.

“Wolves usually tear into the body cavity of large prey and consume the larger internal organs, such as the lungs, heart, and liver and all of the other viscera except the stomach contents”

– L. David Mech. American Biologist and Wolf Expert.

When the build up of waste has reached its limits the only way the body can eliminate this is by removing them via other avenues such as the skin, ears, eyes and paws; which is visible to the human eye. Unfortunately we can’t see what is going on inside the dog’s body, so we must observe what we can see on the outside because it’s a good indication that something needs correcting (or removing) on the inside. This is when we see gloopy eyes, brown gunky ears or ear ‘infections’, runny noses, sneezing, skin eruptions and hot spots appearing in different parts of the body. Yeasty paws may well come to mind too and the dog can smell of cheesy Wotsits or smelly old boots! Many fear these symptoms and want to make them stop, which is understandable as it can be distressing for the dog and generally, suppressant drugs will be prescribed. It seems crazy to do this and stop the body in a healing event because it is a natural bodily function and we must try and understand that the symptoms we see is the body trying to cleanse itself so we must remove the cause or causes for them so healing can take place.

Carbohydrates.

Perhaps you think our dogs have no need for carbohydrates? Carbs get a bad rap because of the highly refined type we find in commercial dog food. Freshly prepared fruits and vegetables however are a different kettle of fish. They contain vital nutritional components called phytonutrients that are abundant in antioxidants. Antioxidants are needed for healthy cells to survive, grow, reproduce and die so when the whole process starts again it is important that the cells have an ongoing supply to help keep the body healthy, and neutralise harmful free radicals that cause oxidative stress. Oxidative stress occurs when there’s an imbalance between free radical activity and antioxidant activity. Free radicals are unstable molecules that can damage the cells in the body so it only makes sense to feed these wonderful nutritious foods.

Perhaps you feed PMR (prey model raw) and don’t agree that plant matter is suitable because our dogs are carnivores? Dogs are classed as facultative carnivores which means they are predominately meat eaters but if needed they can survive on plant matter (unlike cats who are obligate carnivores whose diet requires nutrients found only in animal flesh). Wild dogs and wolves have been observed eating apples from trees and other plant materials like grasses and berries so we know their digestive systems are capable of consuming them. I am by no means saying they should be vegetarian, but incorporating fruit and vegetables to some degree is a good idea. Dogs are well equipped to fast for at least 24 hours or longer if needed. Digesting meat takes a lot of energy (this is why humans feel tired after eating a big meal, dogs are no different. Digestive rest, as in fasting/intermittent fasting or feeding plant matter frees up the body to concentrate on the areas that are in need of healing. Plant matter are easier on the digestive system. Feeding a healthy dog this way too, will likely set them up for a long and healthy life. Dr Clare Middle, BVMS CVA Cert. IAVH Cert. FTh, and author of Real Food For Cat and Dogs states that,

“An empty gut allows the liver to complete its metabolic processes fully, which can only happen when the rest of the digestive tract is totally empty…”

She also writes about how dogs are well equipped to fast once or twice weekly. She recommends random feeding times by feeding once daily with a weekly feeding program, where the dog is fed five meals, and two fasting days per week. https://www.claremiddle.com/clares-books

Many people find fasting their beloved dogs very difficult, so this is where plant foods can come in especially if the dog’s health is compromised. Nora Lenz who is a Natural Hygienist, the founder of Rotational MonoFeeding, and author of Dog Nutrition 101 RMF. https://rotationalmonofeeding.com/e-book/ has over 20 years experience healing cats and dogs using these methods. She states that:

“Historically, fruit has been a back-up food for dogs when primary foods (prey) was not available, which means it was always eaten on an empty stomach. Sometimes to bring our dogs to optimal health we must replicate these conditions to create the perceived need for secondary foods and make the food supply seem less predictable to the dog.”

Note: Puppies up until a year old are an exception and will need sufficient amounts of protein so this will need to be considered.

‘All we need to do is take a look at nature’

Let’s talk more about fat.

Dogs evolved on a naturally low-fat diet, primarily from wild prey like rabbits. They hunted, killed, and ate their prey whole, which provided a balance of nutrients along with some plant matter, as we’ve discussed. Today, however, many dogs are primarily fed commercial pet foods that contain excessive amounts of fat (including some raw food brands that use an 80:10:10 ratio). Why is this? Because much of the food in these diets comes from fattened agricultural animals. This modern diet is far different from what dogs evolved to eat in the wild. You might think, “But my dog isn’t a wild animal or a wolf,” right? Well, domesticated dogs share 99.8% of their DNA with their wild relatives—wolves, foxes, coyotes, and jackals. While we don’t know precisely how domesticated dogs should be fed, we can look to nature and the dietary habits of their closest living relative, the grey wolf, for insight

Insulin and fat

Insulin is a hormone that is made by the beta cells in the pancreas. It unlocks the door and allows sugar (glucose) inside the blood to be utilised, and fat prevents that from happening resulting in sugar building up in the bloodstream. This is what we see in humans (and as canine health issues are showing up almost identical to what we are seeing in humans, and as studies are rarely done on our canines we can only go by human studies). Here is a short video explaining how this happens in human diabetes. I thought for a number of years, like many people no doubt, that diabetes was caused by sugar until I watched this documentary called What the Health 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnkw5rVmi2w 

Why antibiotics (Metronidazole and Doxycycline) and antifungal medications (such as Ketoconazole) don’t work long term:

Suppressing or killing the yeast causes damage further down the line, and it’s likely to come back if the cause(s) are not removed. The more we use these drugs the more disease is created and is being pushed deeper inside; or to a different part of the body which can lead to diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Stopping the body from removing the toxins/poisons in the middle of a healing crisis is counterproductive. Yeast is not the enemy. It is a signal to us that the body is in need of detox and in fact the body is trying to do exactly that. Let the body do what it is trying to do – heal itself from the inside out. We must remove the cause(s) or the candida or malassezia will return so regardless of what you have been led to believe this really doesn’t have to be a lifelong battle. It can all be achieved with diet and lifestyle changes.

Does your dog currently have yeast or a recurring yeast issue? Are you looking for a more natural approach in dealing with it? contact me for more information. Thank you for reading.

Teresa