I have a vet appt for Vincent tomorrow afternoon and was just wondering if anyone knows what would cause a dog to have extremely stinky feet. Kind of a cheesy, human body odor stinky feet smell. It’s quite strong.

I’ve completely checked him over, no scrapes or abrasions and he doesn’t smell anywhere else. A bit unusual in that he’s had the runs the last couple of days and flies seem to be hanging around his butt. I’ve been washing it (and I know this sounds weird) but his butt doesn’t stink before I take cloth and soap to it… but why the flies? No smell anywhere else, just the feet. Breath, ears, body and even butt, no smell at all.

The flies are not bothering the other two and no one else has stinky feet or the runs.

I thought the vet should do some blood tests but other than that I have no idea what I should be asking or looking for. Any ideas or insight into what might be causing this and what I should ask the vet to look for?

Anything helpful or resonant in this thread CJ?
http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/186781/page/0/fpart/1

~Natalya

I looked at Connie’s list on there:

He gets no grain products, no fleas, a variety of meats - no food or environmental alergies, his ears don’t smell but have been unusually waxy these last few days. Just checked, no redness between the toes, they seem a bit dry and emitting the smell.

Excellent information on getting the yeast analysis “get a simple skin test”. Common local sites…. Toes and Anal area? That would maybe explain the flies.

Excellent information Natalya. Great find, I thought I did a thorough search. I’ll know to use corn chips next time - I'm gonna try that on the web, couldn't find anything there either.

Thanks so much.

 Quote: CJ Barrett

.... his ears don’t smell but have been unusually waxy these last few days.

You will want to keep checking regularly.

If the dog has a yeast overgrowth, then something (allergies or a few other possibilities) is allowing that imbalance to happen.

You want to catch any ear inflammation immediately, before it develops into a full-blown secondary ear infection.

BTW, if his toes are not itching (with him licking/biting at them), that's a good sign.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

You will want to keep checking regularly.

Yes, will do. And maybe waxy isn’t so much the word as a thinner oily substance, I’ll have the vet check them too.

And no, he doesn’t lick or pick at anything, seems completely normal in all other aspects, even the trots don’t seem to be bothering him, other than the additional hunch time. But these stinky feet, not pleasant and it seems to be getting stronger.

Thanks so much Connie, it's so nice to go the vet a little prepared. Muchly appreciated.

Just curious how the vet appt went and what you found out CJ?

Aww, thanks for asking Joyce.

It’s was definitely yeast, the vet didn’t even have to do a scraping, said he could see it, not to mention the tell tale smell. Said the front right was definitely infected worst than rest but all were yeasty. Two more days of the vinegar and alcohol foot bath twice a day. I think it’s gone now but we’ll finish the treatment (no more stinky feet, yee haw!!) He smells pretty as a rose again and no more flies. 10 days, twice a day and absolutely no swimming.

After a lengthy discussion about diet, at Dr’s prodding, (I don’t ask and I don’t tell unless prompted) he came to the conclusion it was environmental (this was an older male Dr. that I haven’t seen before and totally in favor of raw – gave me a few tips too – surprise, surprise!!) He had just come back from studying with Animal Doctors in China, we had a fascinating conversation.

He felt that our large, warm, slow moving river, at this time of year, is what caused it. Vince was in it every day, sometime 2 and 3 times and his warm, wet feet that never really got a chance to dry out some days (pool in the yard too) were a prime breeding zone. Said he’s seeing a lot of effects from “Beaver Fever” in the waters in our area and the boggier type areas could contain almost anything.

The flies were totally drawn in by the yeast on his feet and detoured to the butt. The vet said he’s never seen such a clean butt and absolutely no yeast in that area. I was really concerned about his ears too and in his words, said they were “perfect”. No wax build up, oils were the right consistency.

Because of the yeast infection though, he wanted to take care of his trots right away (felt because of his nervous nature, all the company and the infection combined, probably all played a role in his gastrointestinal stuff – he heard some gurgling) and a five day prescription of Metronidazole (Flagyl) has him pooping like a trooper again.

However…. In future, he would like to see me incorporating “Bitter Melons” (an old Chinese fruit/herb) into his diet. Said they are rich in iron, have incredible amounts of beta carotene, twice the calcium of spinach, twice the potassium of bananas, contain Vitamins A, C, B1 to B3 and are a good source of dietary fiber for dogs.

I can get into this conversation and his technique a bit more if you like; I found it fascinating but will take up a whole bunch more space.

Vince’s pills and footbaths were a prime focus of discussion/entertainment on our camping trip. It’s funny how these things become a top priority for folks when you’re in vacation mode and all camped out together.

Everyone thought the marker training was cool, how we got him “Okay” with dunking his feet in stinky vinegar. Also, whenever Vince pooped or even so much as looked at the lake, I had concerned folks telling me all about it. It was wonderful and so is he!!

Again, thanks so much for asking Joyce.

Thanks for the update CJ!
How fascinating about the bitter melons, and how lucky are you that you have such a cool and informed vet!!

I just love reading all about different issues related to canine health and it is always good when there is an update to read with it, so I appreciate your post so much.

It's a learning experience every chance I get, and why I love this forum to much.

My female has had issues with her feet. They may have not been as stinky, but she definitely had more of a smell than my other dog. Hers had that tell tale pinkish red looking stain between her toes. I love the effects of the apple cider vinegar, just great stuff for regulating and clearing up skin issues.
My female is forever in our pool and her feet don't always get dried off either. I try, but sometimes she will jump back in right after I have toweled her off!

So, please, if you will CJ, I would love to hear more about his advice and tips for feeding raw.
I have had some ongoing issues with both of my dogs this summer and appetite with their raw diet.
Never thought I would see the day, but this summer, I had days of snubbing. I suspect it was due to our extremely hot conditions. We had weeks of mid 100's and we were all miserable.
Even our pool felt like a hot tub, no joke!
So, I am all eyes and ears, please share the details, I can hardly wait!

 Quote: Joyce Salazar

My female has had issues with her feet. They may have not been as stinky, but she definitely had more of a smell than my other dog. Hers had that tell tale pinkish red looking stain between her toes. I love the effects of the apple cider vinegar, just great stuff for regulating and clearing up skin issues.

Yes, just like our Dr. Connie’s check list, I must admit I didn’t see the red. Vince’s feet are quite black and he wasn’t licking them. I probably didn’t quite understand what I was looking for but this Vet spotted it right away. It didn’t “seem” to bother Vince at all, he was just this little stink ball walking around. And yes, I agree, I now know about the miracle properties of apple cider vinegar.

In any case, the three previous vet visits with Vince (neutered, chipped/vaccinations and hip xrays), did not go well. He’s labeled as a “Dangerous Dog” - he must be muzzled, we get escorted in the side door and I’m with him at all times. This actually works out well for him but my usual vet is still very apprehensive and gets the job done as quickly as possible. This Dr. spent over an hour with us and I think he was equally as fascinated with Vince as I was with him.

Vince runs hot and it’s always bothered me. His head his hot, behind his ears is hot and he just radiates when he’s snuggled up. So running down my checklist, I mentioned this to him and was fully expecting him to put a thermometer in his butt - not. He didn’t say too much at first, just stared at Vince’s body, then he put his hands on his shoulder and down around his girth, then slowly ran both his hands down his spine area, and I mean slowly (thinking to myself, what is this quack doing?) Of course the whole time Vince is breathing this low growl, but no flipping or overt aggression. It turns out he was checking his organs.

His head was hot, shoulder area/sides and butt were cool and his abdomen (liver) was hot. He wanted to know exactly how long I’ve had him and what I’m doing about the fear. He got into this whole holistic thing about how once the fear and misplaced aggression subsides a little further, so will his temperature. But right now he has an “angry” liver and hot head – so much for thermometers eh. He got into this whole thing about how “Hot” doesn’t describe much here but it’s actually a diagnosis in China and Vince fit the bill to a tee.

We also got into the whole carnivore/omnivore discussion (he insists they are omnivores – albeit 1/8) and said that Vince needs a small portion of his meal right now to be “cooling” vegetables (the ones that grow under or close to the ground) like a cucumber/sweet potato. He said think of how cooling it is for you to eat a cucumber, it will cool down his liver just like it cools our bodies.

Of course by this time he’d checked and prescribed his foot stuff and I couldn’t resist… so this alcohol being absorbed by his feet, is that not going to make his liver angrier? He laughed and proceeded to explain that his liver is fine, just very hot due to his diet and mental state.

He wanted very specific information about his trots too. How often, how long, how bad? And Vince does have the odd flare up every 3 or 4 months. I just chalked it up to his sensitivity and different foods - some yogurt and hamburger usually fixes him up pretty quick. (My other two are fine, never any problems). He explained how this is bordering on chronic and the properties in the Bitter Melon are much like North American penicillin, getting rid of any foreign stuff and increasing the health of the digestive tract. He liked the idea that he got plain yogurt too. He also wanted to know where I get my meat. I told him that hubby gets the majority from the butchers at the grocery stores. He liked this stating unregulated meat from some farms is often not healthy for us and should not be given to our animals.

It was just the most interesting hour I have ever spent with a Vet. Regardless of his philosophies (which had me totally sold) Vince was the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him and I walked away feeling so enlightened by the experience, not to mention he had Vince diagnosed and now fixed up in short order.

Funny thing, he looked at me at one point and said, often what comes out in our dogs is an indication of what we ourselves need and he suggested I could probably benefit from the “Bitter Melon” as well. (Yeah, I love my spicy food and I don’t eat enough vegetables – how could he know this?) He told me about the only restaurant in hundreds of miles where I could get a properly cooked dish of “Bitter Melon”. Not on the menu so you’ll have to ask for it. Yeah, okay, maybe one day, but I think the health food store will be my first stop.

But you know what I found the most satisfying was that he truly looked at Vince as a whole, no vet has ever done that. They are generally so nervous themselves and it’s almost like do what she wants and get him out of here as quickly as possible. I have to call him another week, he wants a full follow up on how he’s doing – a phone call, not a visit. Again, I’ve never had a vet ask for this. Just the most unusual vet I have ever met. Oh and he looked like Santa Clause, a skinnier version.