Thank you one and all for the good wishes and ideas. I'll be running those by the vet but mostly I appreciate those who mentioned actual brands they've used without harm. I'm scared to death to just branch out and use something I order off the internet without a referral of some kind!
Tibbe's last blood work was done just before he had his dental cleaning, which was done 12/30/14, and was all normal. His thyroid has been tested last summer and is normal. He's rarely nauseous or lethargic or any of the symptoms he had before he started on the special MVD diet - nor did he have any itching until he started on the hepatic diet. That's why I give him only half of the hepatic canned food - he itches badly if he eats a whole meal of the hepatic diet so cutting it with half of the Hill's ID GI tones the itching down to about 10 or so scratches a day.
I may be wrong but I don't think his MVD is really not the problem right now - it's his bad, yeasty smell, stinky feet and really, his skin. I've tried all the foot/underbelly soaks between baths there are mentioned by you all - been to Dr. Becker's website a lot, watched her videos and many, many other websites that discuss systemic yeast infection in dogs. I've tried all the different paw soaks except the betadine recommended by pstinard, from baking soda and h20, hydrogen peroxide and h20, hydrogen peroxide mixed with white vinegar and h20, and white vinegar and h20 alone - none really stop his stinky feet/underbelly. I swish the solution up onto his undercarriage and chest hotspots during the foot soaks. Only a full bath in the Hexachlor takes the odor completely away for a day before it come right back but I can't bathe him any less than 5 days apart of he gets dry, flaky skin and itchy.
He's itchy as it is now, but not wildly so - again maybe scratches 10 times or so a day when he's up and about - didn't seem worth it to have him on a medication for it, possibly compromising his liver or IBS further, for so little itching so I've not taken him to the vet for it. It's the odor and those hot spots that worry me that he's become yeast-infected systemically and that's scary.
Borderkelpie, the thing is, I don't know a thing about milkthistle and wouldn't know which brand is trusted for a liver-compromised, MVD dog, as OTC drugs have no oversight by anyone to prove they don't have harmful things in them. I'm so scared of products no government agency really tests out or at least reads reports on that someone signs off on. Besides, his liver seems to be doing well for the time being, it's just this awful smell and the two hot spots I'm worried about right now. That and changing his diet to help his yeast problem touching off his hair-trigger IBS.
Ann, I appreciate the ideas and will be asking the vet about all of those - sounds like a comprehensive plan for all of his problems right now and thank you for mentioning the brand names! I believe his yeast is systemic, flared up within the last 2 or 3 weeks from his diet but am soooooo scared to chance sickening him and flaring up his IBS by introducing new, yeast-unfriendly food!
Lisa, I'm likely ordering your recommended products later today after I read the articles - I've scanned the articles and they sound like part of what we need as it's apparently going to take a multi-pronged attack to harness this yeast.
I'm going to buy some extra virgin coconut oil also but need a
brand name recommendation someone has successfully used with a liver-compromised dog. Anyone on YT know of one?
You all are the best - I knew I would get help here and my YT experts would point the way to go to help little stinky, itchy Tibbe!!! He's the BESTEST, sweetest little boy and I really need to get a handle on this but wanted to hear from you all before we see the vet.