I gave Kasey 1/4 c. yogurt Sunday, and then 1/2 c. yesterday. Today the inside of his ears are broken out in a red rash and he's scratching them. I'm wondering if it's just a coincidence or if he's having a reaction to the yogurt. He wasn't out in the grass or anything the last couple of days and I haven't given him anything else new to eat. But he has had a rash in his ears a few times before when I was feeding him kibble.

Just more mystery! But I can't decide whether to keep giving him the yogurt or not!? Isn't this dog just a joy sometimes!!?

Lori

The probiotics may be causing a detox in his system. Sometimes when an animal is detoxing the skin will erupt to clear the toxins. If that is the case with your dog you could try reducing the yogurt to get a slower less severe detox effect.

 Quote: Debbie Bruce

The probiotics may be causing a detox in his system. Sometimes when an animal is detoxing the skin will erupt to clear the toxins.

Yes, true.

It's possible that it's a reaction/sensitivity, too, so I'd stop it completely, and see if the rash stops.

Then I'd use a tiny bit after that and see what happened.

Of all the reading I've done (a lot!), I don't recall anything about yogurt causing or having any detox effect, but I'll definitely go back and look for it. From my non-medical understanding of what probiotics does to the system, I wouldn't expect to see detox at all and, to me, it seems inconsistent with what it does to the immune system. When I started mine on yogurt, the allergy/inflammation symptoms just quietly went away.

I recall from your earlier posts that you've been through elimination diets and various kibble brands, but now he's on raw, is that right? I don't really have any solid advice. I guess if it were my dog, I'd back off to a small dose of yogurt for a day or so. If the ear problem persisted, I'd stop yogurt just to see what happened. Just keep track of what you're doing and write it all down.

JMO

Mike

 Quote: Lori Hall

But he has had a rash in his ears a few times before when I was feeding him kibble.

Because of that, I'd guess that it's NOT the yogurt, but I'd still quit and see what happens.

Well, I stopped and started the yogurt 3 times and he does seem to have a sensitivity to it. He scratches his face and ears a lot more than normal and gets red bumps in his ears. I'm really bummed because he loves the yogurt so much and it's an easy food to be able to add! But I guess it's off his menu list.

I did make an appointment for Kasey with a dermo vet for the middle of July. People come from other states, I guess, to bring their dogs to this dermotology clinic, so it take a while to get the first evaluation appointment. It's very expensive, so I hope it's worth it!

The raw diet has helped Kasey in many ways though! His eyes used to have so much thick gunky stuff coming out all the time - now there's hardly any. I had to empty his anal glands every week! - now I haven't had to do it for 3 weeks and that is a major record!! His energy level and attentiveness is up and his teeth and coat are gorgeous! This is only after 2 1/2 months on raw.Thank you to everyone who helped me get the problems worked out - especially Connie and Mike!
Lori

Mike,
I forgot to mention that while I was giving him the yogurt he had a lot of smelly gas too. That was one of the reasons I switched him from kibble to raw - I tried Evo, Nature's Variety, etc., the good quality kibbles, and he still had a lot of gas. Evo has cottage cheese in it, so maybe dairy was a contributing factor there also. With the raw diet he has no gas at all unless I give him too much organ meat.

I could try the probiotics in capsule or soy yogurt, I guess. I'll look into it! Thanks Mike.
Lori