Tia the dog smells like cheese, needs a family

The Nova Scotia SPCA recently sent out an unusual email asking recipients if they like the smell of Doritos.

The animal rescue group is looking for someone to foster a six-year-old lab mix named Tia, but there's a catch. Tia has a bad yeast infection. Her symptoms include patchy fur, itching, flaky, drooping skin and a pungent, cheese-like odour.

Sandra Flemming is the provincial animal care director for the Nova Scotia SPCA. She told CBC's Information Morning the shelter has at least one or two animals with complex skin conditions at any given time.

"They are very costly to treat and people surrender them to us when they no longer have the means to do so, so in Tia's case, unfortunately, she was left for a very long time untreated, and it caused her to have a really bad infection underneath the layers of her skin," she said.

Flemming said Tia's infection was so bad she had to be rushed to emergency care the night she was dropped off.

"We felt so bad for her, because she just couldn't stop itching herself and dragging herself along the floors. She just couldn't settle herself because I think her whole body was on fire," she said.

For an organization funded entirely by donations and fundraisers, "skin dogs" — dogs with skin conditions — draw on a considerable amount of resources. Flemming said private treatment for a dog like Tia would cost somewhere in the thousands of dollars.

She said Tia's condition will continue to improve, but a foster home will have to commit to a strict care regimen that includes a special cocktail of oral medications, medicated baths and bi-weekly or monthly visits to the SPCA. Flemming said the SPCA will pick up the tab for those treatments.

"Skin-condition dogs do take, sometimes, months to resolve, and we wouldn't expect a new owner to take on those costs," she said.

Flemming said Tia's health has improved significantly.

"If they are under the proper treatment and they're given the right care and the right nutrition, they do bounce back," she said. "And in a lot of cases, their fur will come back. They can be eventually weaned off the medication and just live a great, healthy life."

With the right care, the cheese smell will disappear, said Flemming.