Question:

My dog has ear infections continuously. She is bathed weekly and is clean but she has a very bad smell and bad breath. She likes dry kibble. We had her on raw meat and she got very sick. What type of food and/or supplements do you recommend to help with 1 – ear infections and 2 – the bad body smell she has.

Answer:

Dear Jan,

Thanks for writing in. The most common cause of persistent bad skin or ear odor is almost always some combination of bacterial skin infection (called pyoderma), yeast infection or a condition called seborrhea. The fact that the condition is persistent (and you say she has ear infections continuously) is evidence that she has some sort of underlying skin disease leading to these recurrent infections. Examples of possible issues include: inhaled allergies (called atopy), food allergies, flea allergies, mange, etc. Most often the infections will respond to appropriate medications and/or shampoos, but if you don’t address the real underlying problem..the infections will continue to come back and cause your pet to smell badly. I advise you to see your veterinarian to discuss this further. As far as bad breath.most often that is caused by periodontal disease (but can also be an indication of other illness). Periodontal disease is very common in dogs-in fact, 80% of dogs are affected by it by the age of 3. Plaque on the teeth contains bacteria and they can invade into the gums around the teeth and even the surface of the tongue-resulting in bad breath. The best thing you can do is to visit your veterinarian to discuss a thorough cleaning and then start with at-home tooth brushing or whatever else your veterinarian recommends.