# Dog chewing on hotspot-remedies?



## yoopermom (Feb 9, 2009)

I had an older hound ***** 8 years ago who did this, licked on her legs to the point of rawness, but she was super easy going, and the vet gave us medicine, we put baby socks on her, and then vet wrap to hold the socks up:happy2:.

Unfortunately our older hound ***** who's doing this now has a very neurotic, snappish temperment, and won't let us even examine it without muzzling her. I will take her to the vet if it gets much worse, but am still paying off my last vet visit, so would like to remedy it at home, if possible. She's actually licking at the pastern/ankle of one front foot only (I think it's part of her OCD, neurotic self). She shows no signs of lameness or other problems with it. She is on the same food as everyone else, which is a no corn, no soy pretty decent food.

I have prednisone, clomipromine, benadryl, etc at home. My goal is just to get her to leave it alone, because at this point I think it would still heal. She will *not* tolerate me wrapping it, nor a muzzle or e collar long term.

Yes, it would be easier on some days to not deal with her at all, but once we make a commitment to a dog, they're here for life....

Any suggestions, please?

TIA!

Terri


----------



## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

This is usually caused by a lesser quality food. If she is already on a grain free diet, you can probably rule this out. However, try switching to a different food to see if, because she is aging, another food might be better.

It is possible that she got a sliver or something in the spot. Try to get a good look at it to see if there could be something in there. I would put a drop of lavender e.o. or frankincense e.o. on the spot. Either of these are good at healing boo boos. Licking either of these will not hurt her, hopefully, she will be detoured from licking if she doesn't like the smell or taste.


----------



## sherry in Maine (Nov 22, 2007)

if she is indoor dog, this probably wont work for you.

(and I dont know why it worked, but it did)

my g.s. (years ago, before I understood about corn allergies, etc) would develop hot spots on her hips every few months. In summer it was awful, because she wouldn't leave them alone- nor would the flies.

I mixed a large amount of garlic powder up with a drop or so of water til it made a paste.
Smeared it on those spots. First, I covered it with gauze & tape. In Md, where we lived, the summers get pretty hot. After I figured it had set, I took off gauze. It dried to a crust and after one or two times, the dog stopped licking it. (must have tasted nasty) Even the flies stopped trying, but I think because the mixture dried to a crust and couldn't be pierced. That cured it, but it took a bit of combing to get all of it out of her fur.
Just my experiment.


----------



## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

I suspect that you have either food allergies or fleas.

Gold Bond medicated powder does a good job of clearing up hot spots. So does athletes foot medication, but you don't want her licking that.


----------



## yoopermom (Feb 9, 2009)

Thank you everyone for the great ideas. She did it worse when she was an outside dog and ate the high pro hunting dog food. I may have to switch her to no grain senior food.
Terri


----------



## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Whenever dogs chew or lick their feet area, you usually have allergy problems. I would feed her raw meat for a while, no grain. And I would also get some Benedryl to pour on the area, plus to give by mouth. If that doesn't drastically help in a week or two you need some steroids from the vet.


----------



## possom (Jul 27, 2012)

Every time I have had a dog with hot spot problems it has been feed related. Dependent on the protein level in the feed. If you are feeding a high protein feed back off with the feed and give her table scraps for a week or so. I figure that will take care of the problem. 

If she won't let you mess with it much stop by the feed store or vet clinic and get a can of alu-shield. It is a spray on bandage works quiet well on most open sore spots on whatever livestock.


----------



## Ceilismom (Jul 16, 2011)

If the food contains beet pulp, that could be what started the licking and hot spot in the first place. Some dogs are allergic to it.


----------



## libby (Feb 27, 2011)

The only thing that gets my dogs to stop licking a hot spot is burt's bees farmer's salve. I first used it when they had fleas one time because it repels fleas. then later they had a food allergy, and I don't know if it just tastes bad, or what, but they won't lick it off!


----------



## Bat Farm (Apr 21, 2010)

In the meantime iodine or betadine will help heal the spot and it tastes nasty (won't hurt her if she does lick it).


----------



## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

Even in your grain free foods watch for things like beet pulp and yeast products which can set off skin problems. We were recently feeding a new high quality grain free dog food that at first the dogs did wonderful on. After about 4 months though random health problems started popping up like ear fluid, dry skin, itching raw spots.... We tracked it down to the brewers yeast. Also had urinary problems in all dogs for reasons unknown. Switched to FROMM instead and problem solved. We can only afford it because 50% of their diet is rabbit we raise and about 20-30% is random meats we get so they only eat a 40lb bag every 3-4months with over 100lbs of dog.

A good way to test for allergies is boiled meat and rice. Use hamburger or chicken broken up and any white rice. If the problem doesn't go away switch to the other meat or something more exotic if you can get it like venison and bison just to be sure it isn't the protein. Most of the time it works but every now and then you do find a dog or cat allergic to rice. It's a good quick and dirty test though that rules out 99% of the potential problems.


----------



## fffarmergirl (Oct 9, 2008)

When our dog had hot spots last year, we shaved the surrounding area and sprayed the hot spots with tinactin and gave him benadryl. It worked.


----------



## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

Just for an alternative to the good advice you have... Sometimes licking is a self stimulating habit (release endorphins) for pain. The pain might be anywhere or as small as age related stiffness or soreness in the joints. If she is cranky, she might not be feeling so good (though it sounds like general crankiness). 

Also, some dogs with long term weird temperaments have thyroid related issues, which can also cause hot spots and skin problems. Just some ideas to toss around. 

Generally I'd go with allergies or food issues too.


----------



## Tracy (May 2, 2002)

akane said:


> Even in your grain free foods watch for things like beet pulp and yeast products which can set off skin problems. We were recently feeding a new high quality grain free dog food that at first the dogs did wonderful on. After about 4 months though random health problems started popping up like ear fluid, dry skin, itching raw spots.... We tracked it down to the brewers yeast. Also had urinary problems in all dogs for reasons unknown. Switched to FROMM instead and problem solved. We can only afford it because 50% of their diet is rabbit we raise and about 20-30% is random meats we get so they only eat a 40lb bag every 3-4months with over 100lbs of dog.
> 
> A good way to test for allergies is boiled meat and rice. Use hamburger or chicken broken up and any white rice. If the problem doesn't go away switch to the other meat or something more exotic if you can get it like venison and bison just to be sure it isn't the protein. Most of the time it works but every now and then you do find a dog or cat allergic to rice. It's a good quick and dirty test though that rules out 99% of the potential problems.


A good way to test for allergies is an elimination diet. Raw is best. Cooked proteins are not the same as raw protein and even dogs that have shown issues to say cooked chicken often do not show the same issue with raw. No rice, potatoes, fruits or vegetables.

I agree even grain free kibble has a lot of ingredients that can be allergens. Brewers yeast, alfalfa, beet pulp as mentioned as well as
root based crops such as sweet potatoes and carrots and fruits are high in sugar. Sugar can convert to yeast and causes skin and ear problems.


----------



## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

Is compulsive licking and hot spots the same thing? With our German Shepherds I would shave the spot down or take very sharp scissors and cut the hair around the hot spot off, then wash it with some vinegar or witch hazel.
Then I would spray it with AC vinegar with a few drops of tea tree oil in about a qt bottle of vinegar. This would dry the hot spot out and they would heal.

With our Sammi's licking, anything topical she will immediately lick off. I still have part of a bottle of synotic mixed with some kind of horse meds that my Vet mixed up for me. If I can get that on one of Sammi's raw places, then take her for about a 15 minute walk so the med will penetrate the skin, the place will go away in a couple of days.
Good luck. We constantly fight the licking. She is much better but I think getting in the wet grass sometimes breaks her out too. We put sunflower oil on her grain free food. Give her 2 fish oil tablets a day and 25mg Benadryl twice a day. She is much better but we have to fuss at her about licking. especially since it has been raining lately. I dry her off when she gets wet but she still wants to lick herself all over.


----------



## Wolf Flower (Dec 21, 2005)

GrannyCarol said:


> Just for an alternative to the good advice you have... Sometimes licking is a self stimulating habit (release endorphins) for pain. The pain might be anywhere or as small as age related stiffness or soreness in the joints. If she is cranky, she might not be feeling so good (though it sounds like general crankiness).


Often times, a dog will lick a joint that hurts. Pastern, hip, foot, wherever. The dog doesn't know how to relive the pain inside his body, so he licks and chews at the skin over the area. Of course, over a period of time, licking and chewing will irritate the area and break the skin. The hair will be chronically wet and provide a warm, moist enviornment for bacteria to breed. These, in turn, cause skin sores and make the hair fall out, which hurts, so the dog licks it... you see the cycle.

The first thing you should try is to figure out what it is that hurts. Since she is cranky in general, this will not be easy to do. Usually what you do is flex and massage the joints until you feel the dog tense up, struggle, or snap at you (if they're that type). But with a dog that tenses up and snaps at you all the time anyway, it can make it really hard. So first, just look at the joint near where the hot spot is, is it swollen or lumpy looking?

You might just want to try giving her a pain reliever. Do you have any Rimadyl? If not, you can give baby aspirin, buffered aspirin, or Ascriptin. In a pinch, you can give regular aspirin, but it can cause tummy upset. Don't use Tylenol (Acetominophen), Ibuprofen, Naproxan, or any other human pain medication unless your vet says it's okay.

After a few days of being on a pain reliever, see if you notice less chewing. In the meantime, keep the area as clean as you can, spray with an antiseptic, then try putting something on the hotspot like Bitter Apple, or anything that tastes really bitter. I like the idea of the garlic paste, never tried it but in theory it should be helpful in healing.


----------



## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

> A good way to test for allergies is an elimination diet. Raw is best. Cooked proteins are not the same as raw protein and even dogs that have shown issues to say cooked chicken often do not show the same issue with raw. No rice, potatoes, fruits or vegetables.


Not everyone is willing or able to do a raw diet even temporarily. Boiled meat and rice is the next best thing and simple. That's the only reason I mentioned it.


----------

