Yeast: The allergy imitator
Yeast is a fungus that lives in your dog’s intestines in small numbers. It’s a normal inhabitant of our dog’s digestive tract and it helps him digest his food. But when yeast is allowed to overgrow, your dog will start to suffer.
One species of yeast in particular can be a significant problem for your dog … Candida albicans.
Candida is normally held in check by friendly bacteria in your dog’s gut. They compete with Candida for food and attachment sites … and this keeps the yeast numbers down.
But when yeast is allowed to grow out of control, it can irritate the cells lining your dog’s gut. Normally, these cells have tight junctions between them. This stops harmful bacteria, viruses and yeast from exiting the intestines and entering the blood.
But yeast overgrowth will causes inflammation … and this causes the space between the cells lining the intestines to widen. When this happens, yeast and toxic byproducts can exit the digestive tract and enter your dog’s blood.
This is called leaky gut. If there’s leaky gut present, it can complicate the symptoms of yeast infection … many of the symptoms overlap. But yeast infection has a few signs you’ll want to look for.
10 Most Common Signs Of Yeast In Dogs
There are a few telltale signs that will help you figure out whether your dog has a yeast infection, leaky gut or allergies.
One of the key signs is changeability … yeast can change with shifts in pH or temperature.
Here are other signs of yeast infection you’ll want to look for:
- Chewing or licking the feet
- Dark rusty-red hair between the toes
- Black skin (often with hair loss)
- Bad smell and greasy hair (seborrhea)
- Ear infections or head shaking
- Speckles on the underbelly
- Hair loss on the tail and upper back
- Grayish or rust color around the genitals
- Diarrhea
- Seasonal allergies
It’s important to know these signs … the longer your dog’s yeast infection goes untreated, the harder it will be to resolve.