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Hotspot


Carlasl

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So Maya has a horrible hotspot, right at the base of her tail, I think she may have had a tick there and pulled it out herself then licked it into a sore.

 

I noticed it yesterday morning, I trimmed the hair around it, cleaned it really good and put an e-collar on her, I realized about 5hrs later that she could still reach it even with an e-collar on, UGH, so I put a t-shirt on her for the night and that seemed to work pretty well. it was still on this morning.

 

But the hotspot still looks horrible, I decided to take her to the Vet because I just don't like the way the thing looks and now she is getting snappy at me messing with it, I think more hair needs to be shaved and probably needs an anti-inflamatory shot and some antibiotics.

 

I have never had a dog that has gotten hot spots before, she actually had one earlier this spring but she couldn't reach it (it was around her shoulders) and me cleaning it and keeping her from getting to it healed it up quickly.

 

Anyone have tips or tricks for hotspots?

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Are you treating for fleas (successfully)? My Celt was chewing his rump/base of tail, a favored spot for fleas but, as I had not been able to find any (and neither did thevet), I thought it was something else. I finally found one flea, right in that area, and treated for fleas - problem largely solved.

 

What I did use on his irritated area (red, scabby, losing hair) to help was a spray-on antibiotic from the vet that is also drying. Moisture makes it worse for hot spots.

 

Since Celt appears to have some other allergies (and he's always had more problem with itching with fleas than my other dogs), he is also on an antihistamine from the vet and some daily coconut oil (suggested by a few board members) - this combination appears to be helping even though he still does display some itching, but nowhere near the levels he had previous to the meds and coconut oil.

 

Anyway, my long-winded way of wondering if it could be fleas due to location.

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Wonder Dust. Watch her carefully, if she starts to lick/nibble at any one spot, trim the hair away and hit it with Wonder Dust. You can buy it in the horse supply section at a farm/ranch supply store. It's great stuff.

 

Catching it early is key. If it gets oozy and really red, time for the vet. Fleas really like a dog's rump, so make sure there aren't any of the little critters making her miserable.

 

Good luck!

 

Ruh

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Thanks,

 

We are religeous about flea control around her because my son is highly allergic to flea bites and if the dogs get them then he winds up with flea bites.

 

I checked her throughly and no fleas, but I did pull a couple of dead ticks off of her on Monday night and then on Tuesday morning she woke up with the spot so I think she must have had a tick there that she pulled off herself.

 

Vet cleaned it up, lots of shaved hair poor kiddo, and gave her a shot of steroids, penicillin, oral cephalexin, and a spray, with cortisone and an antibotic in it for this and future flare ups if needed.

 

Here is a picture of it (not for the squeamish

 

the sore itself is about the size of a baseball to give some reference, it is already not quite as red and oozy as it was a couple of hours ago

P1070027.jpg

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I had a Rough Collie that started getting hot spots when he was about 6 years old, despite regular baths and applications of Advantage. It turned out that he had a food allergy - wheat - and as soon as we switched to a wheat-free food the hot spots departed, never to return.

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This is probably not at all the same thing, but my male Husky got something similar to that and it started right above the base of his tail. We took care of it at the vet and thought that was that. It came back and each time it came back it made its way further and further up his back until his entire back was a giant sore field. Finally after having enough with meds that obviously weren't killing it, i took him to a new (more expensive, of course :rolleyes:) vet where they did about 10 skin scrapings before finding demodex mites.

 

It's probably not the same at all, but i thought i'd share just in case it did flare back up.

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I have been fighting hotspots with my dog Magic, along with chewing her legs raw for a couple of years. Our vet finally suggested doing allergy test. Before this we had had her on and off of prednisone, which worked for short term. We tried eliminating normal known food allergies like corn and wheat. No matter what we did it would still come back and worse in the spring and summer.

We decided to do a serum allergy test which only requires a blood draw. Well we got our results back about a week ago and what an eye opener. She tested positive for 21 allergens. Doc said that was alot.

The food allergies were the most surprising.

Venison

Corn

Peanuts

Oats

Brewers Yeast

Flax

Carrots

Peas

( she was not allergic to Wheat :rolleyes:

It is hard to find food and treats with out Oats, Flax or Carrots. Her food and treats had these in them and I thought they were all good for dogs. I even added extra flax for awhile for her skin and coat. Man did I feel bad.

She of course has many inhaled allergies also. The vet suggested that we address the food allergies and that its possible that the others will become less severe with time.

We have change her food to Wellness Simple ( which she loves ) , give her Zyrtec every day and so far so good. She had frequent episodes of diahrea which seem to have cleared up.

Sorry for my rambling I just wanted to let you know that this simple allergy test has really made us feel that we are on the right track for having a healty dog. I will do this for all future dogs I have that show any sign of allergies. I won't spend two years trying to figure it out on my own.

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