Dog question....hot spots?

[Miss Mary]

Seems our Golden is licking what is probably known as a hot spot. My brother-in-law's assistance dog, also a Golden, has one. He went to our Vet (we use the same one) and I was told the bill was close to $150. Two shots, topical spray cream, oral antibiotics and something else...can't remember right now. I guess a Vet appt. is needed. Hope isn't licking her spot too terribly much, it's just starting. But she's uncomfortable. She's never had a hot spot before.....we brush her and give her Flaxseed oil in her food. But it has been a very hot and dry summer here in Cincinnati (the time hot spots occur I've heard).

Sooo......is this something you HAVE to see Vet for?

She also has the start of a two tiny growth's below her lower lip. She had a button benign tumor once that had to come out, near her lip. Can't remember if these new growths are in the same spot. They look different though. Hopefully they are nothing to worry about. We're crazy about her....

Thanks.

We are being hit with so many bills all of a sudden - college tuition, car repairs and now this. Yikes!

Mary

[breeze]

Mary, are you using something like Frontline Plus on your Golden pal?
Usually, hotspots come from flea bites, and, they chew and scratch until
there are bare spots, thus, "hot spots".

~Annette~

[Miss Mary]

We give her a monthly heart worm pill, with flea protection.....called Sentinel. We also give her Advantage if she's going to the Kennel (the squirt vial for fleas). But I haven't given her Advantage since July. My BIL's Golden was over Labor Day, rubbing all over the places Hope hangs out (couch, carpet). We keep them apart, Hope was upstair in a bedroom. So she never came in contact with him *Note, his golden is a well trained calm dog. Mine is well, very sweet but also very hyper. We've been very reluctant to let them meet. So they never have.

Anyway, no we've never used that flea treatment product. And our Vet says the Sentinel pill takes care of any flea problem, I just bump her up to the Advantage for kennel stays. Now I'm wondering if his dog had fleas....but my BIL didn't say he did.

I will book an appt. tomorrow. I've been reading on the internet and it does seem like the area has to be shaved, treated with shots, pills and creams or sprays. Oh Hope is going to love this appt....she also needs a nail trim!

Mary

[Stephanie]

Mary, are you using something like Frontline Plus on your Golden pal?
Usually, hotspots come from flea bites, and, they chew and scratch until
there are bare spots, thus, "hot spots".

~Annette~

Yeah, my cat has had that before and it's because they are also allergic to the flea bites.

There are many over the counter sprays and creams you can find in PetSmart, etc. that treat hot spots. I'd give that a shot first, but I'd still get those growths checked.

My one cat, Mac, has a squishy lump at the bottom of his neck. I need to make an appointment, but I know my Mom's two cats had them and they were mainly fatty cysts. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[Lindaloo]

No shots required Mary. The reason Hope is licking her skin is because it is itching. Give her some Benedryl.


I just took Honey to the vet yesterday for this. He shaved the area, gave her antibiotics and told me to give her Benedryl for the itching.

And NO MORE Advantage. The fleas have to actually bite Hope for them to die.

[Miss Mary]

I haven't given her Advantage since early July. Before a kennel stay. It should be out of her system by now shouldn't it? And even when I've given Advantage, it's never been every month, only two to three times a year, and spaced out longer than 30 days.

I do think part of it b/c it's been so hot and dry. Very little rain. Many days of temps in the mid 90s and high humidity this summer. We used to hose Hope off occasionally, but didn't use shampoo. The Vet told me the fewer baths the better. I try to give her one every season, no more than 4 a year. We brush her but not enough. We've stepped that up but avoid the itchy area (which believe it or not is not getting worse and she's leaving it completely alone now).

Now I'm wondering if my BIL's therapy dog Sonny had fleas. Jay says he gives him a heart/worm/flea pill each month. But he's had mental impairments in addition to his physical ones, from his stroke. We are all now seeing his mental deficits, big time. He doesn't keep Sonny's water bowl filled up, that greatly upsets me. We all keep pointing this out. Well, Sonny did see our Vet. He would have seen evidence of fleas, didn't hear he had them. Sonny was here at my house a week ago, lying and rubbing up on all surfaces Hope frequents too.

Thanks Linda.

Mary

[O Town]

I tend to agree with breeze. Our dog buddy had the nastiest hot spots on him toward his rear end hind leg area. He had all but chewed his skin off, the hair was gone in that area. When you went to pet his belly or back end area he was literally hot. Hints the word hot spots i suppose. And we do live in Florida where the humity is high, so not sure if the humity level much matters at least not in his case. Needless to say the vet said the same thing, to try some advantage and in the mean time Benedryl.After the advantage treatment a few weeks later his hair started to regrow and now is not so obsesive about licking and chewing those spots. The fleas are probably a little worse here in Florida but we have retreated him every month and a half or so. Its been about 3 months now we have been on this with a regualar schedule and he seems to be healed of the hot spots and licking. So maybe the other dog, Sonny, is depositing fleas in and around Hopes area. And this is causing her hot spot. Hope the Vet trip goes well and you can figure this out, and also hope that Sonnys water bowl is getting filled, how sad. Well let us know how it goes, and good luck!

[Miss Mary]

My dog's hot spot is almost invisible. The only reason we know it's there is b/c the hair is wet. No sign of fleas. I guess I worried b/c my BIL's dog was over here and Hope might have caught something from him. I will watch this one more day and if it looks worse I'll run her in tomorrow. Don't worry, won't neglect it.

I went over my BIL's today and his dog's water bowl and plastic jug he fills it from, both empty. It's humid here today, low 80s. I finally gave him the stern lecture I'd been saving up. How this was probably the 6th time I've discovered his dog w/o water. FYI, my BIL is disabled from a stroke but he has family coming in every other day right now. And he is capable of filling this bowl up, he just neglects this. Well, he's pretty upset with me right now but too bad. His dog has plenty of water right now. I'm about to say leave the toilet lid up and let him drink from the toilet (he doesn't use any of the clip on deodorizers). But I said my schpeel. My BIL grew up with dogs and is very good to his dog. I know he'll be better about this but I didn't win any brownie points with him today! Being the major animal and now dog lover and champion that I am, I could no longer keep quiet.

Mary

[chicagopizza]

Mary,

I feel for you. It was like reading my dogs' lives recently. They are on heartworm and flea preventative, but they broke out really badly. The vet suggested Benadryl first and get them in -but only because they were ripping out their hair. Poor things. Abbey needed everything including the shot, but Hurricane was not so bad -just topical and benadryl. The vet said it could have even been an allergic reaction to something, but that he has seen many more pets than usual this summer for this exact thing. Anyhow, I hope Hope feels better soon. Give her a paw shake from Hurricane and Abbey.

[greeng13]

mary,

my dog (a rhodesian mix mutt/ male) has had hot spots many times. it is not caused by the outside heat but by being allergic to flea bites. sometimes thy prescribe a steroid (i.e. prednisone) to control the itching or i had an ointment that i had to rub on his hind quarters. that worked pretty well and i did not have to take him back for awhile.

then not too long ago (maybe 4 months or so) he started back with the biting and licking around that area. well...with vet costs through the roof already (granted my treatment was never more than $80.00--i don't think---but my girlfriend and i have 3 cats and used to have 2 dogs--we are down to one dog now--long story) i gave him 1/2 a benadryl for about 3-4 days and he was fine.

the othe problem is that once the "hot spot" starts healing it might scab up and we know how "itchy" it is to have scabs...so just try to keep an eye on them.

i do think sometimes that the hot spot might warrant a shot (once again probably a steroid of some kind) and if the dog is "infested" with fleas it might mean that the yard, the house, etc are hoarding them and if you solve one problem there are 2 other areas that keep lettin fleas on your pet. so the solution is that you would want to do all three of these SIMULTANEOUSLY/on the same day at least:

1) flea dip (shampoo the dog with a "prescribed/medicated" shampoo)--read the label though and make sure it is OK to use on open sores.

2) spray the yard for fleas

3) sometimes you might even need to fumigate the house...but definitely wash the dog's bedding!

also my older sister mentioned at one point in time (sevral years ago so the details are sketchy at best) that boric acid placed/vacuumed into? the couches and pet's bedding and on the carpets gets rid of fleas. (it does not affect the animal in such a small amount but the boric acid gets under the flea's exoskeleton and they perish/burn to death i think)......<------don't hold me to this option as i have never tried it but maybe "google" it

[Miss Mary]

Very good call on the bedding....I will wash it tonight. But lately she's been sleeping on hard surfaces...will it ever cool off?

When we got her, she had fleas. She, her litter and their mother were kept in a very well built run, in a barn on a farm. 12' by 20' I'd say. Filled with straw. Not exactly household pets though...that part was sad but it was not a puppy mill. The Vet gave us all sorts of stuff, a spray I had to use on the couches, carpet, etc. and Advantage for her. A shampoo to bathe her in.

But she doesn't have fleas this time! That's what is so odd....I keep looking, I've seen not a trace. I am hoping we caught this very early. She had her heart/worm/flea pill just 15 days ago too. She gets that approx. the first of each month. The Vet doesn't want her on Advantage unless she will be around other dogs a lot, like a kennel stay.

She is booked at 10 tomorrow. I decided I can't ignore this, especially over the weekend. It's just that our Vet is very expensive! Cha-ching....like our dentist. You just step in the door and their bill is over $150. Well, that's not exactly true...the Vet charges $8 for a nail trim, $25.50 for an office visit. It's just all the nickle and dime stuff that adds up, this shot, that shot, this med, that med. He put her fish oil pills one winter, when they ran out I asked for a cheaper form. Couldn't I just give her pills made for humans? He just sighed and said go to the Health Food store and buy liquid flaxseed oil. We just add 1/2 tsp. a day. Her coat is so shiny, not dry but very soft. I am surprised she got this hot spot but as you say they're usually from fleas.

Thanks for your advice though - appreciate it.

Mary

[breeze]

Glad you got her in to see the Vet, Mary! I remember buying some
flea strips that plug into an electrical outlet, once, that actually attracted
the fleas to it, and, they stuck to the paper and died. I thought I'd like
to see if Alex had fleas - in three months, I found ONE flea stuck to
the tape! I can't remember for the life of me what they were called,
but, I do remember plugging them into the outlet closest to where
she liked to lay around. Maybe you can find some of those to, at
least, give you an indication of hidden fleas in the house!

[Cookiely]

Our dachshund had constant skin problems and we were going broke with the vet bills. The vet suggested ivory liquid bath to kill the fleas since Pepper was allergic to the flea products. You leave the foam for a few minutes and it smothers the fleas. The only problem I found was that the soap dried her skin and caused itching. My sister suggested Mane and Tail which is for horses but my sister loved it and uses it. I used the horse shampoo after the ivory and we never had any more skin problems.

[Miss Mary]

Hope had her Vet appt. - it was not a hot spot! A staph infection. She needs the Advantage flea squirt vial stuff thru October they said, before we go into winter. I have 2 or 3 tubes left over from early Summer. I just didn't see the need to add more flea treatment, on top of the Sentinel pill, but with Goldens, he said you have to watch their skin and coat carefully. They are seeing ringworm right now, they checked her stool - negative for that. The small growths below her lower lip are sebatious (sp?) cysts. Almost always benign. We're leaving them for now unless they begin to grow and/or bother her. I have to wash that area once a day with a washcloth and antibacterial liquid soap. He also said to increase the Flaxseed oil from 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp, giving her half in the morning, half at dinner, with her dry food.

My bill came to $77 - nail trim, antibiotic shot, Rx for antibiotic pills, exam. Less than half of my BIL's vet bill for his dog.

She's good to go now and taking a big ole long nap in the laundry room. She ran to the front door, couldn't wait to get inside. Then quickly ran out to the yard to do her business, then straight to the laundry room (where she sleeps), ready to paw the door shut. I turned out the light and 'tucked' her in. Just like a toddler, needing a nap!

Thanks for all of your advice everyone. Going to give her the Advantage at bedtime, I don't like to apply it when she's up and about and we're petting her.

Mary

[MomH]

Mary,

Be very careful about washing your own hands after petting or doctoring your golden. The huge, bad lumps I wrote about many weeks ago are a form of Staph. We know they can transfer from human to dog so I imagine they can go the other way also. We keep some of the antibiotic gel in each bathroom and kitchen and use it everytime we wash our hands now. You sure don't want that particular staph infection---misery.

[Miss Mary]

Mmmm, he didn't even say that to us. She has only one spot, caught very early. We do keep antibacterial soap at every sink. Over 10 years ago, my family and I passed the same intestinal bug around for about 7 weeks. Not fun! I went out then and replaced any bar soap with liquid A. soap. We always wash our hands the minute we come home, after playing with the dog, after her walks and always before eating/cooking.

Thanks for the reminder though. No wonder my hands get dry....from all the regular washing!

Mary

[breeze]

Very good advice there from MOMH, Mary! Good 'ole antibacterial
soap and dry, scaly hands are something I'm all too familiar with!

[kkcool]

Miss Mary-
Glad to hear that your puppy is okay!

Miss Mary & breeze-
I also have a problem with dry hands. Actually mine get so bad that my finger and thumb will split open. My hands will look like I have sliced them with a box cutter. Anyway, not the point. I wanted to tell ya'll about a product that I found that helps me greatly. It's called "Zim's CRACK creme". You can find it in the first aid isle at your local Wal-Mart. It comes in a daytime lotion and a nightime oil (don't forget to pick up a pair of cotton gloves to wear at night). I just LOVE the stuff. Maybe it will work as well for ya'll.

[breeze]

Thanks, kkcool! I remember seeing that commercial on tv, a
while back - "Zimm's Crack Cream" - and, well, my mind being
where it usually stays, I laughed and laughed!

Someone else told me to try it, too. Next trip to Wally-World, I'll
look for it!

[Stephanie]

Well I'm glad that you got Hope there and had the vet check her out and thus get to it before it got any worse. I know my cats and dog head right for their favortie spot as well when they come home from the vet. They get so nervous that it takes alot out of them!