Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 5/31/2010

Question
Hi, I found you on allexperts.  My french bulldog is almost 3 and she's had this ongoing problem for a long time.  She'll periodically get irritations (i included a picture to show what it looks like) her vulva area will swell and become all moist looking and she gets frantic trying to scratch it (I'm not sure if it itches or hurts but she tries to rub it on the carpet) but she can't reach the area to lick.  I usually take care of it by putting baby powder and desitin on it which seems to help a lot, I tried the human yeast infection cream because that was recommended but that just made it worse and I don't think it's because of yeast anyway since it doesn't look yeasty at all.  My question is really how do I prevent this from happening to her?  Short of putting her on antibiotics constantly (she was on them for something else and her skin did great) i don't know what to do.  I clean the area every single day without fail (I usually just wipe it with a cotton ball and then put baby powder) and this has seriously cut down on the outbreaks which used to be all but constant.  I also tried feeding her yogurt every day for awhile to counteract yeast but that did no good either and like I said I really don't think it's a yeast issue.  It's not even in the folds it's on top where it should be clear so I just don't get it.  Is there anything I can try that I haven't tried already?  I might have thought it was an allergy but it's always just on her vulva area, never anywhere else.  I clean her tear stain area every day too and those have never had a problem they just get really dark if I neglect them.  Oh, and the brand of food we feed her is called Solid Gold.  Thank you.

Answer
I did not get a photo.  If the antibiotics are the only ting that helps, then you can use them on a pulsed dosage.  That means either giving them on the weekends or giving them a week on and a week off. If you are really concerned, a biopsy of the area can tell you if there is some underlying skin disease causing this.  Usually it is a vulvar fold problem, but if you are sure that the irritation is not in the fold, then use antibiotics.