How should I treat hot spots on my dog. He is an Akbash.

-- lane bell (lanelynn@hotmail.com), November 05, 2001

Answers

Shave the spot and apply antibiotic ointment and vitamen e .Is it being caused by allergies or bug bites ? Do you know .Best to prevent them if possible . Look for causes.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), November 05, 2001.

Trim fur as necessary. Rinse with peroxide throughout the day. Keep clean and dry. There is a 'hot spot spray' you can buy from your vet but it is pricey. If you only have the one dog, ask for a smaller size as its shelf life isn't really all that long. Be sure your dog is clean and flea/tick free.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), November 05, 2001.

Our Shepherd/Lab had black crusty spots that responded (short term) to various treatments. A dog groomer at the vets mentioned moving up to Purina One. Within a wek they vanished for good. Nutrition was vital in our case. Note: we have found that our dog's LOVE carrots and most other veggies as a treat!

-- rick K (rick_122@hotmail.com), November 06, 2001.

Happy Jack Kennel Dip is great for clearing up anything on the skin. Makes the skin and hair clean and heals it. Your feed store might carry it. Mix it exactly according to the directions with warm/hot water, and pour over dog in tub outside for 20 full minutes. I use a 5 gallon bucket full, and just keep re-using that on the dog for 20 minutes. Plug up the tub to catch it. You can do it every 10 days till it clears up, and it should. It's about 10 dollars for a bottle that will make allot of dip. It also makes the best fly spray and kennel spray there is. They have a website now too.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), November 06, 2001.

My Golden Retriever used to get hot spots. This was years ago and I don't even know if this product is still available, but we used Sulfodene. I still have an old bottle. The active ingredient is 2-mercaptobenzothiazole. That's the correct spelling, but I have no idea what it means. You just rub a bit on the spots a couple times a day. It worked pretty good.

-- Nancy in Maine (Paintme61@yahoo.com), November 06, 2001.

I think golden retreivers are particularly prone to hot spots. I have a 13 year old who is plagued year round. Trimming the hair away so the spot can dry is very important. Then I use Neosporin. Occasionally I resort to a trip to the vet for a cortisone shot. Good luck.

-- Cathy in NC (planet10@gloryroad.net), November 06, 2001.

Quite often a hot spot has a fungal component to the weepy infection. I usually clip the hair back until I reach unaffected skin. Scrub and clean the area with betadine. Top with a thin coat of cheap triple antibiotic ointment and in bad cases a little hydrocortisone or triamcinolone ointment and top it off with some clotrimasole or lotrimin liquid or ointment in a thin coating. The steroid ointment stops the itch and the clotrimasole take care of the fungus that usually starts the whole mess.

-- Sandra Nelson (Magin@starband.net), November 06, 2001.

I'vd used powdered white oak bark very successfully for hot spots. Trim the hair down to the skin ... clean thoroughly with witch hazel and then open a capsule of white oak bark and sprinkle it on the spot.

-- SFM (timberln@hyperaction.net), November 06, 2001.

Give the dog 2 capsules of colostrum dailey. Or go to the feed store and buy a bag of the powdered colostrum for calves and give about 1/2 tsp. in the dog's food. It will take about 2 or 3 weeks but it will help.

-- ruby (mcfays451@aol.com), November 06, 2001.

As crazy as it sounds, I had a dog handler recommend spraying LISTERENE on the spots. (has salisylic acid in it...same spray the vet had given me and a WHOLE lot cheaper!) All I know is that it worked! Good luck!

-- Susan K. Lyons (slyons@pbtcomm.net), November 06, 2001.

Sometimes a dog will make a hot spot worse by continually licking the spot. The more it bothers him, the more he licks it, the worse it gets. If this happens, you have to apply something nasty tasting to get him to stop. Bitter apple works great. Be sure to spray it in his mouth first so he realizes it tastes real bad.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), November 06, 2001.

SOuthern States carries an antibiotic spray for horses that is purple in color we've used in on our Great Pyrenes with great success. It seems to an almost numbing affect on the sore.

-- Adam (possumdog@yahoo.com), November 07, 2001.

You have had lots of good answers here that have worked for these people .Hot spots are usually caused by 2 things an insect bite or food allergys.If this happens often you need to figure out which one.I would switch a dog to a chicken or lamb and rice meal thats contains no beef or corn .I would also add linatone if in the budget .This has the key essential acid for healthy skin and coat .You can also add yeast / garlic vit c and e to the dogs food to help build up there system and keep them healthy .You may want to look into the barf thread as it could really help out .

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), November 08, 2001.

Lane, I have only practiced on cats for the past 10 years, but I used to see LOTS of hot spots in dogs, especially in the summer. We would always clip the fur short over the problem area, keep it wiped twice a day with WITCH HAZEL (NEVER USE ALCOHOL OR PEROXIDE ON THESE), and control fleas aggressively, as chewing at fleas is a common cause. The newer products such as Advantage and Frontline are worth every penny you pay! They have revolutionized flea control and we can now win the fight. We also often had to give the dog an injection of antiinflammatory drugs such as Depomedrol, or Prednisolone, but only your vet can do this and determine what it needs. I always felt the witch hazel was one of the most important things to do.

-- Gayle Robison, DVM (kestrel91316@aol.com), November 08, 2001.