Has your dog ever gotten a hotspot?

[transparant]

My 1 year old golden Tugger has gotten 2 of them within 4 weeks time. What in the world causes them and how do you prevent them??

 

[wdwmom2]

I too have a Golden. You want to talk hotspots???? Right now I am treating 2 of them, one on each back leg, on the inside. I clip the hair short and put Sulfodene on them. It does work. One time she had one so bad that my DD called me when she got home from school and asked me what was wrong with the dog. I told her nothing. Well, she had this TERRIBLY smelly, thick pus draining from her ear clear down her neck. Now she was totally fine when I left for work that morning. I was sure she had a horrible ear infection, you know, like maybe the eardrum busted and pus was running out. I took her to the vet the next day. Lo and behold, a hotspot, right under her ear. A big sucker. I never saw it coming.

Hotspots come from irritation. I think my dog's problem is sensitive skin, she has no fleas, is kept clean, etc. I does seem like Goldens tend to be afflicted with this quite often, at least that is what I was told.

Give your Golden a pat on the head for me!!!!!

 

[transparant]

I too have a Golden. You want to talk hotspots???? Right now I am treating 2 of them, one on each back leg, on the inside. I clip the hair short and put Sulfodene on them. It does work. One time she had one so bad that my DD called me when she got home from school and asked me what was wrong with the dog. I told her nothing. Well, she had this TERRIBLY smelly, thick pus draining from her ear clear down her neck. Now she was totally fine when I left for work that morning. I was sure she had a horrible ear infection, you know, like maybe the eardrum busted and pus was running out. I took her to the vet the next day. Lo and behold, a hotspot, right under her ear. A big sucker. I never saw it coming.

Hotspots come from irritation. I think my dog's problem is sensitive skin, she has no fleas, is kept clean, etc. I does seem like Goldens tend to be afflicted with this quite often, at least that is what I was told.

Give your Golden a pat on the head for me!!!!!

He was at the vet and checked for fleas and doesn't have any. I wonder if I should look into changing his food - now that I think about it, I switched him over to adult formula right around the time he got them.

 

[MandM-Mom]

My parents have 2 goldens Oscar and Samantha and Oscar has hot spots all the time, Samantha never! extemely dry irriatated skin is what causes his, poor thing he is always licking at them, I know there vet treats it with something but not sure what.

 

[wdwmom2]

He was at the vet and checked for fleas and doesn't have any. I wonder if I should look into changing his food - now that I think about it, I switched him over to adult formula right around the time he got them.

Maybe you should speak with your vet and see what type of food products tend to cause skin irritations. Corn, soy, some type of filler or by-product maybe???? Then steer clear. Maybe compare the labels of the puppy and adult food to see what could be different.

My vet at one time suggested trying a duck and potato specialty dog food. Crying out loud, I don't even eat duck and potatoes!!!! If the dog starts eating high on the hog, I'm going to be nibbling down around the hocks!!! I do feed her lamb and rice, and she does well on it. Actually, she has been pretty good up until she developed these two, and I caught them quickly. She actually didn't have any last summer. Just keep an eye on your dog. Any red irritated skin, wet spots where they have been licking, that sort of thing, make sure that you check it out.

 

[transparant]

Maybe you should speak with your vet and see what type of food products tend to cause skin irritations. Corn, soy, some type of filler or by-product maybe???? Then steer clear. Maybe compare the labels of the puppy and adult food to see what could be different.

My vet at one time suggested trying a duck and potato specialty dog food. Crying out loud, I don't even eat duck and potatoes!!!! If the dog starts eating high on the hog, I'm going to be nibbling down around the hocks!!! I do feed her lamb and rice, and she does well on it. Actually, she has been pretty good up until she developed these two, and I caught them quickly. She actually didn't have any last summer. Just keep an eye on your dog. Any red irritated skin, wet spots where they have been licking, that sort of thing, make sure that you check it out.

Duck and potato? LOL! They really are gross aren't they?!

 

[chell]

Mine gets them too. I don't know how to prevent them.

 

[wdwmom2]

Here is a link for the Sulfodene. I buy it at my local grocery store. There may be something better, I don't know. But this works for me, everytime. Well, except that big sucker!!!! But hotspots need to get air, dry out. Clip the hair as short as possible and put the Sulfodene on it(or whatever else you vet or someone else recommends).

http://www.sulfodene.com/medfordogs.htm

 

[wfloyd]

We had one once in between his toes. Got some medication and it cleared up within a week and we haven't had any since. Yeast infections in the ear are another story though...

 

[Snowysmom]

My westie gets hotspots that are due to allergies. She is having a rough allergy season now. The vet has her one medication and I give her baths with medicated shampoo. She has flare ups from the spring into the fall, with fall being worse than spring. I also have an ointment that I put on the spots.

 

[Disney Doll]

My dog used to get a terrible excoriated broken out stomach. Finally, I switched him to a wheat free food called California Natural, and it stopped.

Seems he's allergic to wheat, which is usually one of the main ingredients in dog food.

 

[winniedapooh]

Yikes my St. Bernard Daisy got one so bad a few weeks ago on her head. We thought it was a bee sting, she had gotten stung that day, and overnight it turned into this hard oozing thing that closed her eye up. Antibiotics and antibiotic ointment, which was how I was treating it until I could get her a vet appt. later in the day. I was so scared.

 

[Beastlover]

Our other golden had them...poor guy...our vet treated him for skin allergies. He would get shots and pills.

Hope Tugger is better!

 

[paigevz]

My screw-tail Boston had one once. Right at the base of that tail. Very difficult place to get. My vet said it's usually an allergy to fleas..........but I was like you.........there weren't any fleas at all........we keep that under EXTREME control after a time with our Huskies in the country........we just couldn't get rid of them for months........so now more than ten years later, we are very careful, so I knew that wasn't it. I still don't know what caused it, but he's never had another one.

 

[mrsv98]

One of our Labs gets them occasionally. They tend to pop up if she has been swimming a bunch and hasn't really dried off well or if she has a bad run of alleriges. We are very careful about drying her well and then only letting her swim every couple of days rather than every day. When she gets them, the vet gives up a spray to dry them up and stop the itching and an antibiotic to prevent infection.

I think I read once that the retrievers are more prone to them. I think it has something to do with their water-proof coats. Hope your fur baby feels better!

 

[Feralpeg]

My golden gets hotspots on a regular basis. They are usually allergy related. He is currently suffering big time. He has watery eyes and a runny nose just like DD and I. Bad allergy time right now.

Usually they treat hotspots with a topical cream and possibly a cortizone shot. Unfortunately, my Griffin cannot have cortizone. He had a cortizone shot to treat a hotspot about a year ago and almost died due to a reaction to the shot.

I am currently treating a hotspot on Griffin with a topical cream.

 

[goofyforlife]

I see some of you are having trouble with hotspots and/or ear infections...

Yes it could be food related and many dogs do better when switched to better grade food..

I recently switched my dog to Wellness brand Fish and sweet potato (but I think they have the duck kind too. Duck isn't that different than chicken in taste so not too gross I guess) Wellness isn't horribly expensive. (it's just a little harder to get than just at any pet store) This kind of food supposedly works good for pets with allergies, too.

But my dog's coat has gotten much softer and shinier and her ears aren't as gucky (is that a word?) as they used to be....

Guess it works for her.....

 

[kessieann]

The hot spot usually starts with some type of skin irritation which the pet then keeps licking at. You would not believe some of the hot spots we have treated in our clinic over the years. The dr's clip them and they can be just huge and owners were not even aware until the hair was gone how bad they were. As someone else mentioned they can spread very quick and become infected and oozing. At the very first moment you notice a pet excessively licking an area you want to get them to stop. You can use one of the bitter sprays at the pet store or one of the big goofy collars that keeps them from reaching the area. If it looks at all raw, infected or oozy I would get them to the vet for treatment.

We are having an extremely bad allergy season this year and that seems to be setting most of them off. We definitely have a lot of retrievers coming in this season. The reason for the Duck & Potato is to offer a very different protein source. In some pets eating a different protein can cut down or cut out allergies and bad skin. We even sell a food that has kangaroo protein in it!

 

[scoutsmom99]

Scout had a hot spot under his muzzle this past winter and I totally freaked out and thought it was a tumor. It was easily treated with a topical cream. Other than that one time he thankfully, has not had any. He does though from time to time get the brown gunk in his ears, but I clean out his ears with stuff from the vet.

 

[xmelissax]

My dog is prone to getting them and I have her on 2 supplements for her skin/coat. Brewers yeast tablets as well as a fish oil based liquid, they have both helped a lot. I also feed her a lamb and rice formula food (Prairie), and use an oatmeal shampoo for her. All these things have kept her from getting any more since I started this regimen.