I think Marley has a hot spot

[MarleysMama]

So the other day I was brushing Marley out and I noticed a little bit of matted fur on the underside of Marley's neck/chin area and a few scabs. Two tiny ones and one about the size of a dime. I got a wash cloth with warm water and tried to clean the area up a bit to see what was going on, and I saw a few little sores. I thought this was actually from his prong collar (the other day we were training when a PEACOCK came into our yard and he went balistic, lunged and hurt himself b/c he was wearing the collar). All he did was yelp at the end of the leash and then returned to me and that was it. He never payed anymind to the spot again.

So anyhow, I've been keeping the spot as clean as I can (it really irritates him) with some antibacterial soap. The large scab I found revieled the largest sore. Well between lastnight and this morning it has gone from the size of a nickel to the circumfrence (sp) of a golf ball. He keeps scratching at it and I know this is only making it worse. I was going to tie a bandana over it but won't for fear that it wont allow any ait at it and make matters worse.

I have an appointment tomorrow at the vet for Marley, unfortunately they have been closed b/c their roof caved in b/c of a sting of strong storm we got a few days ago...and this was the best I could get.

Any ideas or suggestions? Does this sound like a hotspot to you?

[AngelBunny]

Could be a hot spot. They come on quickly and get big fast. Nasty things.

Hot spots benefit from being kept dry. I cut away all the hair to let the air get at the hot spot.

Try to prevent Marley from scratching it.

Doing a search on hot spots will pull up remedies RDNs have used to address them. I've dabbed Listerine on them and ground up plantain leaves in a bit of water and dabbed this solution on them, too.

[MarleysMama]

Okay, thank you.

Should we also take his collar off and leave it off?? Tonight we have training and there is NO WAY I'm putting his prong on him. Since I noticed it, we havent used the prong so training has been a little more difficult, but we did it. I am starting to wonder if he shouldn't go to training tonight and I go instead and watch. Any thoughts?

[AngelBunny]

If the collar comes in contact with the hot spot, off with the collar. Just like you don't want Marley scratching and aggravating the hot spot, you don't want the collar rubbing on it.

If the hot spot is such that he can't wear a collar, I'd go to class and audit it.

My first Rottie was plagued by hot spots (likely diet-induced, as I fed that poor dog SD, not knowing any better).

Our foster Sailor had a hot spot last year, to my horror. That thing grew from a dime sized spot to an mess the size of the palm of my hand in two days. It took me quite sometime to get it under control.

Sailor's hot spot could've also been diet-induced as he's grain intolerant. I didn't know this at the time.

[MarleysMama]

Definately something to think about...we feed him Canidae and mix some yogurt into it..which we just started doing one week ago. I wonder if this could be the culprit.

[JoJo]

I agree about the Listerine! It works. By soaking a cotton ball in the Listerine, dab it on several times a day. It acts not only as a drying agent but also like an antiseptic.

[bliss7373]

I'll second Angelbunny's advice: the key to getting them under control is to keep the area as clean and dry as possible. This isn't easy. My girl, Sofia really did not enjoy having hot spots treated - she tolerated it but it wasn't much fun for either of us. They do take awhile to treat.

I use scissors to clip as much hair as possible from the area. I then give it a good bathing with antibacterials soap - but you have to be sure to rinse really well. After that, I've had good luck spraying them several times a day with hydrogen peroxide. I even had Sofia lay down in front of a fan after being cleaned and sprayed, to help things dry.

They are nasty and seem to get HUGE quickly. Good luck.

[OnyxGold1]

My Mason used to be plagued by hot spots (prior to me having him allergy tested & eliminating the allergen) and something that my vet recommended and that I've successfully used was Gold Bond medicated foot powder to dry out a hotspot. I've always had good success with it in the past....however fortunately since we discovered what Mason's allergy was to I haven't had a hot spot in about 4 years.

Hope this helps!
Heather Peters

[Anton]

I use a product called "Calm Coat" on hot spots. It's actually for horses, but it works great on the dogs.

When I see a hot spot, I trim it, then wash it with soapy warm water to get off as much of the gook as possible, then pour a little Calm Coat on and rub it in. Sometimes you have to do this for a couple of days (it the hot spot is large), but usually within 24-48 hours, there is a nice scab formed on top, and it's healing nicely.

And what ever is in there, tends to make the itching go away, which also helps it heal faster.

[Ayoka]

and tyo add my 2cents, the rottie skin balm you can find on here through search worked wonders for us (we used aloe gel instead of the cream) and also, as suggested by our vet, clipping the area and soaking/washing the spot with an epsom salt/water mixture 2x a day.

I'm not sure if the salts help dry it out or ease the inflammation but the 2 combined worked wonders - the spot scabbed over quickly and of course bear had a bare spot on his bum for a while...

[MarleysMama]

Wow, thank you all so much for all of those helpful tips!!!

I will have to run to the store and buy the plain listerine, I only have the minty kind.

Marley seems so irritable today, he can't seem to get comfortable and keeps constantly shifting positions. He usually rests his head on the floor but I'm sure it hurts him. When I call him, he just looks at me with the saddest eyes...he looks miserable.

I hope I can give him some relief.

Do you guys think it's a good idea to cover it with a bandana to keep him from scratching or will this be worse b/c the air can't get at it?

[AngelBunny]

If lightly tying a bandana around his neck will prevent him from scratchng, go ahead & put on a bandana. From what you say, you can't use a lampshade collar to prevent Marley scratching because of where the thing is on his neck. You want to do everything you can to prevent him from scratching--that's a baad thing to do to hot spots.

OnyxGold1 mentioned Gold Bond--I used this on Sailor's hot spot. His hot spot was so big I liberally doused it with the GB powder. I put so much powder on that it caked on in a big cruddy-looking patch.

GB powder was one of several treatments I used on Sailor. The thing got so big so fast I was very concerned that it was gonna spread and get worse.

[MarleysMama]

So out of the two, which would you recommend??

Or am I supposed to do the listerine and then powder it?

Thanks so much for the help!

[AngelBunny]

I dabbed Sailor's hot spot with Listerine, let it air dry, then doused it with the GB powder. I checked the hot spot whenever I thought of it, replenishing the GB powder & washing the hot spot when the GB powder got really cruddy looking. Then backto dabbing it with Listerine, letting it dry, then the GB powder in an iterative process. At one point, Sailor wore the lampshade collar at night.

I was very lucky in that his hot spot appeared when I was on a mini-vacation at home so I could watch him.

[MarleysMama]

That sounds like a great idea, I will pick up both things.

You guys are so very helpful, I am so grateful for this site :)