My poor doggie

cristina1 · #1 12-06-2006, 01:09 PM

Today as I was brushing Tyson, he growled and nipped at me - something he never does. I pushed apart his fur to see a bright red hot spot on his neck. It's been so long since I had to deal with hot spots (my Lhasa would get them every now and then) that I forgot what to put on it. I'm thinking we used to treat them with peroxide - is that right?

I clipped the fur around the spot. It appears to be the only one, but with his thick coat, I'm going to look again. It's where his tags hang down from his collar, so perhaps the tags are bothering him somehow. I checked him over for ticks (because of Devon's tick problem), but there is no sign that this is caused from a tick bite, and I see nothing on him. We treat him for fleas and ticks, but around here, you just never know.

**theworm**[$] · #2 12-06-2006, 01:11 PM

Poor Tyson! I'm glad that you found it and now you can put something on it. Is it in a spot where he can't lick off the peroxide of antibiotic cream?

**mtomm**[$] · #3 12-06-2006, 01:15 PM

What is a hot spot?

Good thing you are right on top of it, sounds like it hurts.

cristina1 · #4 12-06-2006, 01:16 PM

Yeah - it's on his neck. I'm convinced it is from his tags. I am going to leave his collar off unless I am walking him to help it heal. I know I have another collar around here somewhere, he can wear a tagless one until it's all better.

cristina1 · #5 12-06-2006, 02:16 PM

Margo - a hot spot is a raw patch of skin caused by allergies or irritation. They are common in dogs with long thick coats. My lhasa would get them on occasion, but my mom's Peke got them all the time. He was allergic to everything, though, even his shots.

I gave him a bath, and put some peroxide on it. I'll treat it again later. I'm glad I did catch it early - they can spread if you don't.

**mjfrombuffalo**[$] · #6 12-06-2006, 03:13 PM

poor doggie!

**lynnzop**[$] · #7 12-06-2006, 05:57 PM

I was going to say he probably has a metal allergy. Sort of like some people who can't wear costume jewelry or base metal.

Poor guy! I"m glad you found it early and knew what to do to treat it before it got infected!

cristina1 · #8 12-06-2006, 06:02 PM

You know, when he got his last rabies shot (just before we moved) they gave us a copper colored tag instead of the normal silver. I wonder if he's allergic to that. With his thick coat, it is feasible that it took this long to show.

**lynnzop**[$] · #9 12-06-2006, 06:07 PM

Copper usually doesn't cause allergies. But there could be some nickel or other alloys in the tag that do cause problems.

I'm thinking there were some type of (lucite?) tag covers you could buy for animals - kind of like a luggage tag, but it would keep the metal tag from touching the skin. Maybe something like that so that he can still have his tags on but not have them irritating him.

cristina1 · #10 12-06-2006, 06:29 PM

I can try. He's microchipped so his tags aren't really a huge deal anyway. And we don't let him out alone - we walk him on a leash.

**Helen_B**[$] · #11 12-06-2006, 07:39 PM

Good luck with dealing with his hot spot. If this were a person, I would be thinking antifungal, antibacterial treatment, with something to damp down the inflamation. Cindy's real fond of Bag Balm; would that work on a hot spot? (Neither yeast nor bacteria like peroxide, so you're covered there!)

cristina1 · #12 12-06-2006, 07:48 PM

I read on a site not to use ointments or gels - is Bag Balm either one?

eris esoteric · #13 12-06-2006, 08:47 PM

I would definately call bag balm an ointment. I would guess that they recommend letting hot spots breathe, and bag balm would definately prevent that.

(I'm from Vermont. I KNOW about the bag balm.)

**hadassahchana**[$] · #14 12-07-2006, 03:08 PM

No to the bag balm, not until the spot is completely dry. Libs has had just one hotspot, and it was terrible. It was also caused by not drying her thoroughly after I gave her a bath. One of the major causes of hot spots is moisture held next to their skin by lots of fur.

You're doing great so far- shave the area, apply some sort of antibacterial, and then let it dry out. One of the recommended antibacterials is Neosporing ointment, but that doesn't hold moisture in for too long. If it looks like he's healing well without applying it, then let it heal naturally. I do know, btw, that you need to keep a really close eye on the spot. If it doesn't go away quickly or if it spreads at all, you need to see the vet right away. The bacteria can spread really rapidly, and can cause a lot of problems for your poor dog- and a huge vet bill for you.

Hugs to your puppy, I hope he's better soon.

phoenixx · #15 12-07-2006, 04:35 PM

Gold Bond MEdicated can be put on a hot spot to help it dry out in light quantities - its what our vet uses here when harley gets them

cristina1 · #16 12-07-2006, 10:08 PM

I put some neosporin on it and we'll see what that does. It doesn't look as bright red today, so that's a good sign. And for now, I've been keeping his collar off.

Being caused by wetness makes sense, especially around the collar area. It's been rainy and snowy out there. Perhaps he got wet under the collar and then irritated. I'll have to keep that in mind in the future.