Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 9/15/2006

Question
My 9 yr old Lab mix neutered male has recently begun to stink to the extreme. He has been on Thyroxin for almost 10months with great results, his coat came back really nicely and lost a ton of weight etc. But within the last month, he has developed an intense odor, seeming to emit from skin or coat. It is almost sweetish but vet has ruled out Yeast Infection. She did skin scrape testing pos+ for some bacteria ( had some raw lesions in the armpit areas)  put on antibiotics and sold us some expensive medicated shampoo. We are to bathe 1x /wk., let sit in for 10 min then rinse. Within an hour of drying the smell is back and getting worse!! Also, his thick black coat seems to be shedding terribly and a weird light color undercoat ( never seen before) is developing.  Any clue what might be happening here? I love this dog but cannot live with the awful smell.Please Help!!

Answer
The dog has some type of inflammed glandular secretion that is stinking.  Ask the vet if your dog can have some low dose steroids to see if that will help.  Continue the shampoos and antibiotics.  Even though the vet did not find yeast, treat for it anyway.  Yeasts are hard to find sometimes.