By Heidi Clayton
One of the most common skin ailments in dogs is the dreaded “hot spot.” Technically called acute moist or pyotraumatic dermatitis, hot spots can be a chronic issue for a lot of dogs and frustrating for their owners. To reduce or eliminate the occurrence of hot spots, you will first need to figure out the underlying cause of them in your dog.
You will most likely learn your dog has a hot spot by hearing them incessantly licking somewhere on their body, which results in a red, crusty, oozing lesion. The hot spot is due to an underlying cause, such as a reaction to flea bites, food or skin allergies, a bacterial or yeast skin infection, dirty coats, or moisture trapped between the fur and the skin. It is important that you identify what is causing the dog to lick in order to prevent them in the future. A hot spot, in my opinion, warrants a trip to the vet for an exam and a skin scrape of the area. A skin scrape at your vet’s office will identify if your dog has a bacterial or yeast skin infection. You should also thoroughly check your dog for fleas, as they are a leading cause of hot spots.
Treatment of hot spots will most likely involve an antibiotic or a steroid to treat the resulting infection. While you are waiting for the spot to clear up, it is very important that your dog is not permitted to continue to lick or bite at it, so you may want to put a cone on them. I recommend shaving any hair around the spot completely away so that moisture does not have a chance to get trapped in the hair against the skin. Your vet may also give you an allergy medication like Apoquel or an allergy shot like Cytopoint to help with the itching. Both treat chronic or seasonal allergies quite effectively. However, I have heard from dog friends that Cytopoint is less effective for long-term use than Apoquel. Consider keeping your dog on either one in the long term if the hot spots return immediately after treatment.
Prevention of hot spots really does depend on the root cause. If your dog gets bathed or groomed frequently, you should always make sure that they are completely dry if they are prone to hot spots. Semidaily brushing your dog, regardless of whether their coat is “non-shedding,” will help keep the coat cleaner. Frequent brushing can also serve as a spot check for fleas. Keeping your dog on a flea preventative year-round should completely eliminate flea bites as a factor. If your dog has allergies to their food, it might be as easy as changing the protein base of the food. For seasonal allergies, I keep a few dog-specific sprays and wipes in the house for use when my dogs get red, itchy feet in the spring. I have shampoo, medicated wipes, and a foamy mousse that all contain chlorhexidine, which is an antiseptic and disinfectant that can keep wounds like hot spots clean and help prevent bacterial and fungal growths. If your dog has a thick coat, I again suggest shaving the area around the spot completely, so that the sprays can reach the hot spots.
Hot spots are ugly and, quite frankly, a pain to deal with. To prevent them, you will have to identify the root cause and be proactive in keeping a plan in place that will lessen the frequency of them occurring.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at heidi@fouronthefloordogtraining.net.
Heidi Clayton started Four On the Floor Dog Training to provide positive, reward-based dog training in South Jersey. She breeds, trains and shows bull terriers under the SoraBully’s Bull Terriers kennel name. Email questions to heidi@fouronthefloordogtraining.net or learn more at https://fouronthefloordogtraining.net
