Hot spots

[Boogity]

We have two beautiful 7 year old golden retrievers. A boy and a girl. This summer the boy, Bogey, is covered with hot-spots. He has never had this before and I feel so sorry for him. He dances around trying to figure out which spot to scratch next. He scratches and digs with his teeth all night long every night and all day long. He has never had any type of rash or hot-spots but this summer he is completely ate up with the problem. We had to treat them for fleas several times this summer and he must have developed an extreme allergy condition to the bites. We have set off spray bombs in the house twice and feel pretty certain that the bugs are gone. And I bought some flea spray for around the house which I hate to use because it probably contains stuff to harm other little critters. We have had him to the vet twice for shots and prescription meds and nothing seems to be doing any good. We have tried special shampoos, cold baths, Benedryl tabs but nothing works. The only thing that seems to help for a short time is Sulfadene but I think it's only a topical anesthetic.

I saw on TV last week that this hot dry spell we have had for the past two months has caused all kinds of allergic problems for dogs.

Any suggestions? It looks like Bogey and I are the itchy twins nowadays.

Oh yeah, the Female never scratches or has any kind of itch problems. She has thicker and longer hair and she never scratches at all. Even when Bogey gets fleas she almost never has them.

 

[Marianne]

Boogity, here's a link to Earthcare that tells of several possible ways to treat hot spots. http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/hot_spots.html

I used DE in our previous house when we ended up with fleas (oh joy). It worked pretty good. I would sprinkle it all over the carpets, then vacuum the next day. I repeated this every night for a week or so, I think. Vacuum, vacuum, wash dog rugs, etc. Paul has an entire section on fighting fleas over at his Permies.com site.

I sprinkled borax all over the yard here after our boxer got a hot spot. It will remain active for 2 -3 years. That seems to help cut down on the bugs. The area doesn't have any landscaping or expensive plants, so no worry about killing some expensive flower.

Still itching, eh? Dang, it's going to be a long haul for ya, huh.

 

[JRmom]

A cortisone injection will provide immediate relief, but it's not something you want to keep doing because of it's possible effects to the liver. However, if he is really suffering, I wouldn't hesitate. Then get the flea situation under control. I had to switch my dogs over to Comfortis because they swim all the time and the Advantage was essentially washing off. I battled the fleas all last summer, but have had no problem whatsoever after putting them on Comfortis.

 

[ORChick]

My mother's English bulldog had a terrible time with hot spots. She found that the only thing that seemed to help in that case was aloe vera gel. And I had a cat once that would scratch himself to bleeding; it was a flea allergy, and that was when I started using Advantage on all my cats. For the one with the allergy it worked like a miracle.

 

[Beekissed]

Nu-Stock. See the pics and read the testimonials...they are impressive! Worked on scale mites also with one treatment and the scales grew back quickly and cleanly.

http://www.nustock.com/

 

[Wifezilla]

It could be the dog's food. Is there corn in it? Soy? Wheat?

 

[Boogity]

He has had two cortisone shots this year and yes they work but only for a short time. The last visit to the doc she gave him some Hydroxyzine 50MG capsules ($$$$) and they don't seem to do anything.

I have had some success with food grade DE and I do not think either dog has fleas at this time. At least we don't see any and cannot get any eggs on the flea combs.

Both of the dogs are on Comfortis and have been since February since they are in the water so much around here. I was a little apprehensive about an internal insect repellent but they seem to be OK with it. Or could it be causing the hot spots!!! Hmmmm.

Marianne, thank you for the link. That website looks very interesting. I'm going to try the tea bag idea.

Beekissed, I think our local feed mill stocks Nu-Stock. I'll get there first thing Monday. I gotta do all I can for my little buddy (not so little at 90#). But I must also be careful not to over do it with too many things.

WZ, of course our bagged dog food (Purina Benefull) has corn and wheat. There's no way we could afford the other bagged food. But they get about 50% BARF and we have been on this diet for 7 years without these problems. It has just started about 8 weeks ago.

 

[savingdogs]

It could be the dog's food. Is there corn in it? Soy? Wheat?

Could be an allergy to the food. WZ is correct, and other times it is the protein source (my golden doesn't do well after eating chicken).

Goldens are prone to this issue unfortunately.

I use Frontline Plus for fleas, does the trick for me.

Whatever you do for the hot spot, make sure you leave the "spot" as dry as you can. Oily or greasy things that leave the area damp will just worsen it. Sometimes if they have been chewing just washing off the area for them and stopping them from chewing it will help (such as wearing an E-collar) and you can give dogs Benedryl, a golden can have a 50-mg dose every 12 hours (if it is a normal size golden retriever).

I'd work on getting rid of all fleas first and then see if you need to switch the food. If you switch food, it takes about a month to see the effect of the new diet.

I hope you find my advice helpful.

 

[Boogity]

Savingdogs - thanks for the advise. I have to tell you that every time I read one of your posts I also read your signature line. For some reason I thoroughly enjoy "Movin to the country, gonna eat lots of peaches" and I smile every time I read it.

 

[savingdogs]

Thanks! We have been in the "country" for awhile now and don't have any peach trees, but it still represents us well, we are from Los Angeles and not "country" folk, that is the kind of tune you would be more likely to hear at our house. I am deaf myself however that song runs through my head sometimes!