What's the best way to treat dog ear and skin yeast infection at home?

Yeast infections are especially itchy, crusty, and smelly. Often a dog starts with a rash or with simple itching but the skin thickens to an “elephant” skin appearance. The itch is extreme and the odor can be especially troublesome. Parts of the body or the entire body can be affected. Malassezia overgrowth is particularly problematic where there are skin folds ("armpits," eyelids, facial folds, lip folds, throat latch, and especially between the toes).

Treatment can be topical, oral, or both. Topical treatment is best used for localized spots of infection while oral medication would be better applied to larger infected areas. If the yeast infection is recurrent or if one wishes to supplement oral medication, topical and oral treatment can be combined. Oral medications are available through your vet.

Shampoos such as Chlorhexiderm Max® or Malaseb® shampoo both strip skin oil and kill yeast; however, other anti-yeast products include Selsun Blue®, Miconazole® shampoo, Nizoral® shampoo, Douxo® shampoo and more. The pet must be bathed twice a week to start and the shampoo requires a 15 minute contact time (meaning do not rinse the lather for 15 minutes).

It is important to realize that yeast overgrowth occurs in response to a primary problem be it allergy, seborrhea or something else. If the underlying problem is not controlled, yeast dermatitis is likely to periodically recur. It is common for allergic dogs to require some kind of periodic if not on-going anti-yeast therapy.