Q.After much research and seeing four veterinarians, my three-year-old Australian shepherd female has been diagnosed with Mouth Chewer’s Syndrome, and is re-injuring her frenulum. She is scheduled to have surgery by a very qualified veterinary dentist (in MI). In the meantime, she has been on two courses of antibiotics to try and remedy the wounds in her mouth. After the first episode, she got stubborn yeast infections in both ears and now her vulva-vaginal area. The new vet dentist gave us Animax for the ears, mineral oil, and what human ladies use for yeast infections (he mixes this up himself). He reswabbed her ears and they are sterile. She still has the yeast infection down below, and he wants to reswab her when she comes in for surgery. My question is (keeping in mind she is going to have laser surgery on her frenulum, and probably will be put back on antibiotics) what probiotics do you recommend that I add to her diet? Can one give something vaginally as well? I would also like to add vitamin C to her diet. Should we use ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate, or the esterfied vitamin C?

 

A.The probiotic I prefer over all others on the market are those composed of soil organisms. Initially, I started using Primal Defense by Garden of Life. While others are now becoming available, it is the original and the one I still prefer. As far as topical treatments for yeast go, a product named Malaseb might help; consult with your veterinarian. The true way to know which vitamin C to chose would be determined by blood results and by looking at the enzymes that reference acid and base balance.