# what can i put on hot spots



## landdweller

My english mastiff gets hot spots on her rear by her tail and she digs at them. She only gets them in he summer. The saint we just got last week has reallybad hot spots and I wanted to know if anyone could tell me if their dogs had them and what they use on them and how they keep their dogs from digging at them. All of our dogs are inside dogs.


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## Tawnya

I would like to know too. Our pug cross is getting them as well. 

Can dogs get allergies like hay fever? I know they (allergies) are bad this year - I have 2 kids going nuts with them right now.


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## Honorine

I've used benadryl orally and medicated Gold Bond powder topically, seemed to help. My sister has a corgi that has terrible skin problems, hot spots all year long, dog is on benadryl and she keeps it shaved all year long, makes a big difference. Sure looks funny though.


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## jkhs

My poor dog, Pepper, used to get hot spots every winter. I used to use Sulfodene skin medication for it. It's this smelly yellow liquid that you dab onto the spots twice a day. It seemed to relieve some of the irritation and helped the spots heal. I bought it at a local pet store/groomers. Last year I switched Pepper over to Taste of the Wild brand food-it's grain free, and he hasn't had hot spots since.


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## Wolf Flower

It's hard to treat hot spots topically, as the dog will tend to lick off any medication, but there are some hot spot sprays that have a bitter-tasting ingredient to discourage licking. It works for some dogs, but others will ignore the bitterness.

Yes, seasonal allergies can affect dogs too. Benadryl can help. If it is a flea allergy, make sure the dogs are on flea prevention.

The problem with hot spots is self-perpetuating; the dog gets an itchy spot, he licks and chews the area, which causes a sore, and then he licks it because it's sore, which makes it worse, and then infection can set in. Your vet can give an injection of corticosteroids to break the cycle. This is only a temporary solution, however. Giving too much cortisone can cause a lot more problems.

Diet can also contribute to hot spots, if the dog has a food allergy. Usually grain is the culprit, so try a grain-free food or feed raw and see if it makes a difference. Fish oil can be helpful.


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## Fowler

Neosporin...I clean the area and place neosporin on the spot and it goes away in days....only too form new ones somewhere else......my two dogs get them weekly.

Now you stated it's on their ears...could it possibly be fly bites...if so the local feed store has fly bite cream to put on the ears.


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## mekasmom

landdweller said:


> My english mastiff gets hot spots on her rear by her tail and she digs at them. She only gets them in he summer. The saint we just got last week has reallybad hot spots and I wanted to know if anyone could tell me if their dogs had them and what they use on them and how they keep their dogs from digging at them. All of our dogs are inside dogs.


They are bacterial infections. Just clip the hair away and apply something that will kill bacteria. I use plain tetracycline powder, but anything that kills bacteria will help. It's also a good idea to apply something for a fungus if the antibiotics don't help within a couple of days. Sometimes a fungus(yeast) can cause itching when brings on scratching that causes the bacterial infection to grow. Same can be said for steroids if it is bad enough.


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## NickieL

hot spots could be allergies to fleas and food and other things. My old golden retriever was allergic to jsut about everything and we sometimes had to us a prescription spray and a cream on her poor skin. Other times when the spots were small, we'd use benedryl cream to treat. She was allergic to wool and we found this out one time when someone gave me a wool blanket, she slept on it once and turned into a giant rash . So no wool in the house for her at all.

I'm glad to know that my dog now doesn't seem to have any kind of allergies which makes things a lot easier!


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## SFM in KY

One of the things I found that worked on hot spots was white oak bark. Get the powdered white oak bark in capsules from the health food store. I would clip the hair around the hot spot and get it clean ... witch hazel works well. I'd clean it several times a day, break open one of the capsules and and powder the spot heavily. I actually had better luck with this than any of the medications I got from the vet.


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## Haven

I normally brush the area well to remove any dead hair clogging the follicles and drawing moisture to that spot. Soak in tea tree shampoo, rinse and soak again, then a final really good rinse. Pour a 50/50 vinegar and water rinse over the cleaned area, then blowdry till the fur and skin is bone dry. Final touch is a spray of Bactine...keep the dog dry and out of humidity and rain, plus grain-free or raw food as others mentioned.


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## Ellen West

Sorry darlin', but it sounds like you have fleas in the house.
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7419.html
Maybe talk to your master gardeners to find a regime that works for your area. They're trained on indoor pest management.


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## landdweller

We dont have flees in the house. we keep a constant eye on the cats and dogs. We keep them frontlined etc. I thought that the saint might have fleas but we abthed him last night and I didnt see a single flee on him. He hasnt been digging much since he came to our place, but when we bathed him he is way too skinny for his breed. He looks alot bigger when hes all clean and bushy. We have been feeding him 2 times a day twice as much as the other dogs because he is underweight and I think maybe his food might have caused him these problems/. We will feed him like we feed all the other dogs. I make their food and add just a cup or two of dry food into it. Our mastiff only gets it once in the beginning of the summeron her behind by her tail. We have this really good spray we keep on hand just incase we do see flees in the house that we bought from tractor suply. IT is awesome stuff and safe for animals and kids etc. We used it last year at our old place. We took in 2 sick ferretts and did not realize they were so covered in flees until I had already brought them in my house and was bathing them. IT was a mess but we got rid of all flees and it was a pain. MAybe the saint had flees at the other place and she frontlined him or flee bathed him before we got him so no new ones have hatched yet? We will have had him a week come this thursday evening. We just frontlined him again. Our vet said it would be ok since he weighs so much etc. He weighs almost 200 lbs but is way skinny for a saint. Our other daint came to us way uneder weight also he has put on over 90 lbs since october of last year. He looks so beautifu and more healthy. Peopel seem to et rid of their big dogs because they do not realize how much they eat...Anyway, my vet recommended bag a balm. I may have mispelled it and benadryl so I will try it. We have an awesome vet. He will give us ideas on things to try at home before bringing in the dogs. ( I think they hate trying to get my dogs to open their mouths etc)


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## Wolf Flower

landdweller said:


> We dont have flees in the house. we keep a constant eye on the cats and dogs. We keep them frontlined etc. I thought that the saint might have fleas but we abthed him last night and I didnt see a single flee on him.


Just because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there. Especially with a big hairy dog, there are lots of places for fleas to hide. It sounds like there has been a history of fleas getting onto your property, and once there, they're extremely difficult to get rid of. I prefer Advantage over Frontline for fleas, but of course Advantage doesn't kill ticks. Be sure to keep ALL your pets treated for fleas, all the time. I think you can re-apply Frontline every two weeks if needed (the label should say) and I would recommend doing that to get a jump on any possible infestation. Chewing on the base of the tail is a classic sign of flea allergy.


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## Honorine

I also buy this special dog shampoo that really seems to help, its made by Arm and Hammer, has baking soda and oatmeal in it. Makes the redness and itchiness go away for a little while, and I figure that the baking soda cleans up the infection a bit. Works well. I've also given dogs oatmeal baths, its that Aveeno packet that you'd use for your kid when he gets poison ivy all over his body. Seems to give some relief as well.


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## danielsumner

We had an outside cat at the office for years, her name was Alice and she was a Maine **** type. She got the most awful hotspots in the summer. I gave her Chlorpheniramine Maleate which is the generic for Chlor-Trimeton. What is very important is that you use the one without the Decongestant. I gave her a pill in her food every week during the summer and it stopped the problem. Google for it's use in hotspots. There is a lot of info.


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## belladulcinea

We used Sulfadene from the farm and ranch store. It was a miracle salve. We cleaned the area, shaved it if it needed it and then applied it liberally. Sometimes we would have to do antibiotics but usually cleaning it and letting it get dryer helped. We did not have fleas at all so we know that it was matted fur or something like that most of the times with ours.


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## NickieL

Food allergies CAN do it too...

My poor golden retriever had to also have special food.


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## lonelyfarmgirl

There are a lot of very good suggestions here as to the cause, but a big part of the problem is how to stop the dog from aggrevating the wound?

Two suggestions. The first is bitter apple. Always try that first. Many dogs can't abide it, and many don't care. Wear gloves when you apply it. You don't want to get it on your skin, then accidentally taste it later. It's foul!

If that doesn't work, get one of those permanent markers. The fatter industrial kind where the marker casing is actually aluminum instead of plastic. Dogs HATE the smell of those. They will curl their lips up and make weird nasty taste faces and run away. Never had a dog that didn't. Clip the area, apply whatever medication you are using, then color a circle around the wound with the marker, a nice fat bullseye type circle.

I know it's probably not great for the skin, but the smell will stop most dogs from licking it. 

Last resort, is put an e-collar on her till it's healed.


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## oregon woodsmok

Gold Bond powder works really well. Neosporin almost always works well. Athletes foot cream will usually get rid of hot spots.

Fleas are the most common cause. Some dogs are allergic to fleas, so it only takes one bite.

Allergies can also be a cause. Having the area stay wet all the time causes it, too, like a dog that does a lot of swimming.

Once a dog has a hot spot, then you have to watch them carefully so you can get any new hot spots treated while they are still small.


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## landdweller

we gave him some benadryl and he hasnt been digging as much but now he is gnawing on his front paws. We gave all our dogs and cats a pill from the vet that kills all flees in an hour then we frontlined them. We like the frontline ause the ticks are bad on the property. Hes doing better and not diggin on his behind and back. I trimmed all the long hair off his feet and in between his big toes and he hasnt been chewing so much and since we bought the air conditioners and put them in he hasnt dug as much either.


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## belladulcinea

I have to put acidophilus powder on my dog's food to keep them from chewing their feet. Cheap and easy, works every time. Neither of them have the hot spots like my other dogs got but sure do chew their feet.


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