Dog Pix and Yeasties

These amazing photos were shot by Seth Casteel. 

You can find a more complete collection at wired.com.

I also want to post on the progress of Mugs and his allergies.

About six months ago I posted on Dr. Dan and his water and how this was prescribed by the new Vet for Mugs.  For a few months I tried this exclusively to treat Mugs and his constant itching and scratching.

Sadly it reduced some of the problems but not all.

Prior to this I had put Mugs on a daily dose of Candidastat.  I had taken him off this for the Dr. Dan's water trial.

Candidastat is an agent that reduces the growth of Candida, which is a fungus.  Candida is commonly found in your digestive system and in the reproductive tract of women (usually seen as a "yeast infection").

Over the years and before he was my dog Mugs was subjected to a variety of antibiotics - agents which are known to trigger Candida infestations.

There is a long history of the medical problems with Candida and antibiotics beginning in the 1950's.  Dr. Orain Truss began investigating something he called "antibiotic syndrome."

The medical community doesn't worry too much about Candida for the usual reasons.  But its a serious threat to your health when its unchecked - and deadly if it enters your blood stream.

I began to suspect that Mugs had become infested with it during the many years I struggled with his itching problems.  According to my own research Candida can infest the skin and ears - usually but not always triggered by antibiotic treatment.

Mrs. Wolf bred English Mastiff's for many years and yeast infections were common in their ears.  Mrs. Wolf often treated this with a mixture of store bought women's "yeast medication" and apple cider vinegar.

We had tried this on Mug's ears but it didn't seem to have a significant effect on this over all itching.

We also tried feeding him yogurt and "rebooted" his digestive flora - which did work for his digestion problems (mostly bad gas) but not the itching.

I had been taking Candidastat for athlete's foot - which it seemed to eliminate - at least while I was taking it.  I reasoned that if Mugs had a similar issue it might help him.  (Ultimately I discovered athlete's foot was eliminated by having a proper level of iodine in my diet so I no longer need the Candidastat.)

It did.

But not completely.  His skin was still often crusty, sensitive and scabby.

So finally last fall I mixed both treatments together - Dr. Dan's water and Candidastat.  A daily does of Dr. Dan's and one Candidastat (served with bologna rather than a spoon full of sugar).

And since then mugs has been mostly symptom free.  By this I mean that his fur does not fall out, his skin is healthy, he has more energy and is much more frisky.

It took about two weeks from the reinstatement of the Candidastat before I noticed an improvement.

He still gets what I call "attacks" about once a month.  By this I mean his ears crud up, smell bad and he starts to itch them (but only them).  A few treatments of Momentamax solves this problem until the next month or so goes by.

A year's supply of Candidastat for Mugs costs about $65.00 USD (see amazon.com).

A year's supply of Dr. Dan's water runs, last I checked, less than $40.00 USD.

So for about $10 USD a month extra I can keep Mugs happy and healthy.

And I don't have to give him steroids that shorten his life.